10 WWE Superstars Who Will Leave In 2019

5. Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE.com

Boy, Shinsuke Nakamura looks delighted with his lot, doesn't he? That is a smart-a*sed comment, albeit one with yet more apprehension to back it up. The fact that Shinsuke is less of a star now than he ever was on NXT should worry WWE too. Their booking of the Japanese rockstar has been rather erratic.

Shinsuke has had his shots at the WWE Title and was booked to fail repeatedly. Now, he's the reigning United States Champion and being written to talk about his new home as though he owns it. That's fine, he's a heel, but it's hardly the most stable of spots.

Deep down, it'd be interesting to find out if Nakamura wonders what it might be like if he returned to Japan.

There's a glass ceiling resting against the top of his head on SmackDown, so WWE will try a Raw move sometime in the next year or so. That's unless Shinsuke rightly questions what the hell WWE's long-term plans are for him and doesn't decide he'd be better off running the comeback king gig in New Japan.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.