3 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE SmackDown (Oct 3)

1. Nakamura's Nightmare Promo

Shinsuke Nakamura should never cut a promo. Ever.

The language barrier is an obvious reason, but this is only part of the equation. Having him speak at length exposes his already overexposed character even more, diminishing what remains of his mystique and allure to the point where he now resembles a "normal" WWE superstar, just like everyone else.

This is a massive problem. Nakamura is special, he's different, but he loses this when he's presented like Dolph Ziggler or Tye Dillinger. Like Asuka, he should be restricted to only a couple of words every other week in order to protect his character. Nak's natural charisma is all he needs to stay over, so why risk burning the crowd out with lengthy talking segments?

That's exactly what WWE did last night. Interviewed by Renee Young, Shinsuke was forced to cut the most generic, clichéd babyface promo imaginable, before Jinder Mahal and The Singh Brothers interrupted and laid him out. The champion standing tall was fine, but the rest of the segment stunk, and stands as a perfect example of how not to protect a wrestler's superstar aura. Sadly, Nakamura's may already be beyond saving.