16 Wrestlers Who Must Feature In WWE's Crown Jewel World Cup

5. Japan - Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura AJ Styles
WWE.com

Is there anybody on the whole WWE roster who needs some sort of face-saving accomplishment to salvage their 2018 quite like Nakamura?

Yes, he won the Rumble, but that merely led to a feud with Styles that made us question if any of them were any good anymore, then he punched Jeff Hardy in the dangles and won the US title. This was supposed to be his year, and that's quite literally it.

Some tinpot cup on the other side of the world will not give him a successful 2018, but being a key part of it, as well as one of its major draws helps show that he's still to be taken seriously in the company.

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Articles published under the WhatCulture name denote collective efforts of a number of our writers, both past and present.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!