10 Wrestlers You Can’t Believe WWE Ruined

1. Shinsuke Nakamura

alexa bliss bayley
WWE.com

If Shinsuke Nakamura hasn't been ruined yet, he's pretty bloody close.

Those who blast WWE are always going to get blasted themselves. Why don't you stop watching? Why can't you give them credit where it's due? The company is the biggest of its kind by a ridiculous margin, do you think they even care?

Maybe these points are valid. Maybe not. What really isn't up for debate is the extent to which Nakamura no longer feels special. In the span of eighteen months, Nakamura has devolved - from wrestling epic, state of the art matches (in - yes! - the Tokyo Dome) to wrestling nothing matches with Baron Corbin. Their match at Battleground wasn't offensive. As gauged by the crowd noise, most watching were just bored sh*tless. In those same eighteen months, he has left New Japan Pro Wrestling and joined WWE. That isn't a coincidence. WWE, sadly, just doesn't seem to get him. They don't even get which 1980s pop icon he models himself after. He'll be fine. He's wrestling John Cena on SmackDown next week. Calm down.

What has WWE done to earn this trust?

Scaling back his stiffness on the house show circuit and television is one thing - but on pay-per-view? They - and Nakamura - are meant to be special.

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Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!