6 Ups & 3 Downs From WWE SmackDown (10 May - Results & Review)
Downs...
3. Sorry, Shinsuke. Don’t Believe You!
Shinsuke Nakamura moved from Raw > SmackDown in the Draft, and the blue brand's latest acquisition received a short vignette promising that nobody is safe and SmackDown will "never be the same again" now he's here. It was all standard stuff and well-produced, but the key message falls a little short.
No-one's buying Shin's bold claims in 2024.
Nakamura did have a neat and tidy mini-feud vs. Cody Rhodes over on Mondays, but he's hardly going to make a big splash on Fridays going forwards. If anything, Naka will be used in a 'jobber to the stars' role. That's fine, but it was a bit OTT of WWE to proudly decree that SmackDown will "never be the same again".
It will - it will be the same again. Shinsuke warring with folks like Bobby Lashley, LA Knight and Andrade on the undercard is hardly going to shake the foundations of WWE completely. Maybe this grandiose speech should've been saved for a bigger signing than SmackDown's 12th overall pick.