12 Ups & 2 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Apr 23)

4. Kofi Brings Out Nakamura's Best

Kofi Kingston Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE.com

Kofi Kingston's non-title match with Shinsuke Nakamura was about as good as we're going to get from the old, broken down, mailing-it-in 'King Of Strong Style' in 2019. It was a solid singles match elevated by the WWE Champion's high effort that lagged when the heel was in control, but still offered enough plus points to finish as a net positive, making it one of Nakamura's best matches in some time.

This was a slow-building affair with little excitement early on. That's fine: not every bout needs to blow the doors off right away, and the methodical pacing meant the bigger spots felt earned, as a fired-up Kofi chopped Nak down in the third act, leading, eventually, to Shinsuke hitting a German suplex to set-up the Kinshasa, only for Kingston to counter into a double stomp. Counters to counters to counters followed. An SOS scored Kofi a close two-count, and the DQ came with Rusev rushed in for the save.

The whole thing was down as a table-setter for the show-closing turn. To that end, it succeeded greatly.

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Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.