12 Wrestlers Who Suffered The Most From WWE WrestleMania 36

8. Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura WrestleMania 36
WWE.com

Just two years ago, a Royal Rumble winning Shinsuke Nakamura entered WrestleMania 34 as the number one contender for AJ Styles' WWE Championship.

A 'dream match' was on the cards, ladies and gentlemen!

Yet, as we all know by now, the pair's eventual contest didn't live up to the hype and instead a d*ck punching 'Artist' was introduced to the world on that night in New Orleans.

Fast forward to WrestleMania 36 and a highly anticipated match-up for the charismatic former main eventer was now nowhere to be seen.

Remarkably, Nakamura was relegated to the role of cheerleader alongside Cesaro (who was lucky enough to earn a pre-show match) for Sami Zayn's defence of Nak's old Intercontinental title against Daniel Bryan.

How did it come to this?

Even when Nakamura was suddenly turned heel at 'Mania 34, there was still a hope that he could become a merciless piece of sh*t who found joy in brutalising his babyface foes with his vicious knees.

Despite being pals with the winning dog on the night, Nakamura's low placement in the current WWE pecking order was only further established in his wasted appearance on Night One of 'Mania 36.

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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.

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Contributor

Lifts rubber and metal. Watches people flip in spandex and pretends to be other individuals from time to time...