Ranking The Subsequent Success Of Every NXT Champion

Pitting Shinsuke Nakamura against Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam was a questionable decision, given that it was too soon for him to win given his lack of involvement in a major program. It was also too soon for him to take his first loss in an unspectacular match to further the experiment that is Jinder's reign.

Despite the fact that they have catapulted him straight to the top of the card, the writing team has been unable to figure out how to build up Nakamura properly. Their insistence that he cuts promos through a mouthguard in his second language isn't doing anybody any favours. Moreover, his insertion into a match on television every week is rapidly diluting his appeal as a special attraction.

NXT did things correctly from the off, letting Nakamura's in-ring work do the talking in a phenomenal Takeover match against Sami Zayn. He was then built through showcase victories against lower card performers before commencing the long title programme with Samoa Joe that saw him win the NXT Championship on two separate occasions.

Crowds remain patient with Nakamura for the time being (his entrance certainly helps there), regardless of whether they are familiar with his work in NXT or storied career in Japan. There's only so much goodwill that they can offer if the company offers them nothing but garbled nonsense and Michael Jackson references in return, though, particularly if he's fed to Jinder again...