10 WWE Superstars Who Have Been Hurt The Most By The Wild Card Rule
2. Shinsuke Nakamura
Despite The Miz's best efforts a few years ago to bring prestige back to the Intercontinental Championship, the title has once again been reduced to a prop. In other words, Shinsuke Nakamura winning it over the summer meant absolutely nothing.
Prior to that, Nakamura had been away from WWE TV for months following the collapse of his partnership with Rusev and Lana. When the Wild Card Rule was instituted by Mr. McMahon in May, there simply wasn't a place for Nakamura on the show, even though he had been at the forefront of the WWE Championship picture one year earlier.
His surprise Intercontinental title win at Extreme Rules and subsequent pairing with Sami Zayn seemed to be a sign that he was back on the ascent, but it has barely led to more television time for The King of Strong Style. In fact, it feels like he's left off SmackDown Live more often than not, which has rendered the title he holds completely irrelevant.
One can only hope that Nakamura and the Intercontinental Championship will become more of a focal point once the Brand Split is brought back. If not, his stock will continue to plummet.