5 Best Options To Dethrone Shinsuke Nakamura As NXT Champion

3. Hideo Itami

Austin Aries Hideo Itami
WWE.com

When Hideo Itami finally returned from injury in August of this year, there was a chance that his time in NXT may have passed. Nakamura had come in, making Itami the second most popular Japanese guy with a famous running-knee, and the signings of Austin Aries, Bobby Roode, and Samoa Joe had seen Itami left behind somewhat.

A man this talented doesn't get left behind however, and Itami is right back in the mix as he should be. The real masterstroke however may have been holding off on giving him the GTS as a finishing move. Itami has only just begun to use it since NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn, and the crowd is still losing its collective sh*t whenever he hits it.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hideo Itami is a main event match waiting to happen, and would signify a monumental change in tack for WWE when it comes to the portrayal of Japanese talent.

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Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.