20 WWE Stars STRUGGLING Since WrestleMania 40
1. Shinsuke Nakamura
At the beginning of 2024, Shinsuke Nakamura was one of the most interesting heels in WWE as he feuded with Cody Rhodes, the top babyface who would soon get one of the biggest wins in WrestleMania history.
That storyline had more than enough meat on its bones to revisit, but WWE kept the follow-up to the live event circuit.
Instead of walking into WrestleMania red hot, Nakamura cooled down so much that he couldn't even get a spot in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal and has since lost every single match he's been in.
He was served on a platter to Ilja Dragunov and Sheamus on Raw, and everything else has been a house show loss to Braun Strowman or LA Knight.
These losses sting so much because the longer he spends off-air, the harder it will be to regain that clout from earlier this year. Being used as live event filler is beneath him, and it's confusing, considering how well he was booked under Triple H during his run in NXT.
There are nine wrestlers on SmackDown competing to earn three spots in the Money in the Bank ladder match, but Nakamura isn't even in the running to try, which is sad.