Nic Nemeth Discusses Past Disappointment With WWE Booking Of Shinsuke Nakamura

The booking of WWE star Shinsuke Nakamura remains a constant source of confusion amongst wrestling fans and pundits. The former NJPW standout was seemingly on a fast track to success as he arrived to "WWE NXT" to loud ovations in 2016, then won the 2018 Men's Royal Rumble on WWE's main roster. As many viewers, such as "Busted Open Radio" host Dave LaGreca have seen, though, Nakamura's momentum following his subsequent WrestleMania 34 match hasn't quite reached the same heights since.

"He was big. Everyone was singing his song on the entrance," said "Busted Open" co-host and former WWE star Nic Nemeth, referencing Nakamura's main roster PLE debut match against him from Backlash 2017. "I'm like, 'Holy s***, this is incredible.' Let's do 90 seconds and he knocks me out. I'll pop one of my fake teeth out. I'll spit a piece of gum, do something, like out cold. I think it would have helped, but man, Shinsuke is a killer. He's a sweetheart. That guy is so good. And I think they're redoing something now with him, but I wanted it to happen ten years ago."

As Nemeth alluded to, Nakamura resurfaced on "WWE SmackDown" last week after another hiatus from WWE programming. The former United States Champion last wrestled on the May 22 edition of "SmackDown," where the MFTs followed his loss to Talla Tonga with a post-match attack. Upon his return, Nakamura suggested he's found a tag team partner to help him take revenge on the group; the identity of Nakamura's potential ally has yet to be revealed.

Further reflecting on Nakamura's first main roster premium live event match against him, Nemeth noted that he made a pitch for it to include MMA-like moves and ending. Then-WWE CEO Vince McMahon, however, turned down the idea, opting for a traditional WWE faceoff instead.

"I went to Vince and said, 'Vince, we're going strong style. We're introducing this guy on pay-per-view tonight. Do we do something MMA wise to where I come out, throw a superkick in, and we throw some stuff? He gets some MMA strikes in, hits me with a knee, I take it as a knockout, and we call a TKO and we stop the fight?' He was intrigued by it, but we didn't go with it," Nemeth said. "He goes, 'No, I want an old-school WWE match. I want it like 20 minutes for you guys, ten for you and ten for him' ... that's fine, but like, it really could have been something that stood out big time."

Nakamura and Nemeth, then known as Dolph Ziggler, went on to deliver a back-and-forth, 16-minute performance before the Chicago crowd at Backlash, with Nakamura securing the win after blasting Nemeth with Kinshasa. Elsewhere on the PLE, Jinder Mahal famously dethroned "The Viper" Randy Orton as WWE Champion in the main event.

In the years following his main roster debut, Nakamura has captured the WWE United States Championship on three different occasions and the Intercontinental Title on two. Alongside Cesaro, he also reigned as a SmackDown Tag Team Champion in 2020.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.