10 WWE Wrestlers That Bumped The Best For Braun Strowman

3. Shinsuke Nakamura

Braun Strowman Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE

Or where "best" becomes "worst" because the company forgot to play showbiz songs.

A weird sentence this, but one relatively in keeping with the confines of Sports Entertainment - gimmick a f*cking piano if you insist on putting somebody through one. A failure to do that reflected a profound failure to take basic steps in protecting talent. In this case, one wrestler's bravery compounded with a company's stupidity saw Shinsuke Nakamura take a full force elevated powerslam on a real piano for an audio/visual gag that provided neither of either.

An otherwise-enjoyable and completely chaotic "Symphony Of Destruction" match on the 21st February edition of SmackDown was dampened by this absurd moment of misery for the 'King Of Strong Style'. A prop piano breaking like a wrestling table would have added tremendous noise to a first-of-its-kind weapon spot. Instead, the former Intercontinental Champion cracked the back of his head open and knocked a few years off his bump clock for good measure.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett