Will Shinsuke Nakamura Be WWE Champion?

[OYDK]

I get your point but looking at the list of exemple, except for khali, everybody else while not being great promo could cut interesting promo that get you interesting in them. Yoko had one of the greatest promo guy in the business to cut is promo for him in jim cornette.

The majority of Yokozuna's time on top was spent beside Mr. Fuji, another guy who could barely string two words together in English. Yoko said one word for like 3 years, bonzai... that was literally it. Cornette only came into the picture near the end of his last World title run. I don't think Sid or Warrior ever cut a promo longer than 10 minutes.

What I'm saying is if you look at the history of the wwe championship and to a degree the world championship, the one thing that every champion has in common is that they have to either have somebody to be able to cut a 20 minute promo or themselves being able to carried a long promo segment.

Not true. I just gave you 3 examples. I could go on though. Diesel, RVD, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio... you get the point. I'm not going to say these guys couldn't cut a sufficient 5 minute promo when it came down to it, but the point is, they were rarely memorable. Most of the time they were cringe-worthy, and none of these guys stood out there for 15 minutes cutting a promo by themselves. That's my point. You can't lump everybody into that Hogan/Austin/Cena mold, it doesn't work that way.

Nakumara is an interesting character but his style of promo scream mid card comedy wrestler and I'm sure that's how vince will see it as well because while I really enjoy nakumura's work in nxt, he make me thinking of a japanese version of santino everytime he open's his mouth and that bad for a guy that as the potential to be a main event talent.

That's how you see it. If you think Nakamura is a comedy character than I suggest you go back and watch other comedy characters to learn the difference. Comparing Nakamura to Santino literally offends me as a wrestling fan.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The majority of Yokozuna's time on top was spent beside Mr. Fuji, another guy who could barely string two words togetEnglish. Yoko said one word for like 3 years, bonzai... that was literally it. Cornette only came into the picture near the end of his last World title run. I don't think Sid or Warrior ever cut a promo longer than 10 minutes.



Not true. I just gave you 3 examples. I could go on though. Diesel, RVD, Jeff Hardy, Rey Mysterio... you get the point. I'm not going to say these guys couldn't cut a sufficient 5 minute promo when it came down to it, but the point is, they were rarely memorable. Most of the time they were cringe-worthy, and none of these guys stood out there for 15 minutes cutting a promo by themselves. That's my point. You can't lump everybody into that Hogan/Austin/Cena mold, it doesn't work that way.



That's how you see it. If you think Nakamura is a comedy character than I suggest you go back and watch other comedy characters to learn the difference. Comparing Nakamura to Santino literally offends me as a wrestling fan.

First of all, go back and watch the wwe network and watch for yokozuna matches, the first five month of his run in wwe, he was only with mr.fuji, then after winning the belt from hogan and starting the feud with luger in july, cornette was brought in to be his month piece and he was with yokozuna until yoko turn babyface

as far as your exemple again, diesel was cutting 10 minutes promo during is title regn, rvd and jeff hardy don't really count because of the elngh of their title reigns and even then, they did cut long promos. Rey same as rvd and hardy, except fo his first run as champion we're he did have to cut the occasional long promo, the other times, he didn't have too because he didn't have the belt long enough

finally, my comparation to santino was mostly promo based and not in ring wise because is in ring is way better then santino, I was just saying the if I see him as a comedy character based on his promo, vince will surely see him the same way and their a lot of casual fans that might not get his character based on his promo.

Personally, I really hope that he's gets the big push and become champion because I actually think the guy as potential but vince might not get it or understand how to promote him and in that case, nakumura has a hard road ahead of him.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Within the past year or so, I've become a bit more familiar with these guys thanks to YouTube and I've come to realize that just like many of us in regards to American wrestlers, guys like Dave Meltzer have exaggerated the abilities of these guys because he's just a flat out huge mark for Japanese wrestling.

Oh, you've watched some youtube videos of them in the past 12 months. You certainly are on the cutting edge of puroresu knowledge. You're right, midcarder at best; fuck him.

Nakamura is the most charismatic wrestler WWE have hired in about 20 years and English is his second language. With a couple of facial expressions and a promo where he said 'you' dramatically, he's become the most over person NXT has ever had on their roster, barring maybe title-win Zayn.

So in any normal company, he'd be WWE Champion sooner rather than later. But of course as mentioned WWE isn't a meritocracy rather than a Vinceocracy, so anything goes. I can only guarantee he will be over enough to be WWE Champion within a month of main roster debut, before an inevitable booking him off a cliff - see: AJ Styles

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Oh, you've watched some youtube videos of them in the past 12 months. You certainly are on the cutting edge of puroresu knowledge. You're right, midcarder at best; fuck him.

Nakamura is the most charismatic wrestler WWE have hired in about 20 years and English is his second language. With a couple of facial expressions and a promo where he said 'you' dramatically, he's become the most over person NXT has ever had on their roster, barring maybe title-win Zayn.

So in any normal company, he'd be WWE Champion sooner rather than later. But of course as mentioned WWE isn't a meritocracy rather than a Vinceocracy, so anything goes. I can only guarantee he will be over enough to be WWE Champion within a month of main roster debut, before an inevitable booking him off a cliff - see: AJ Styles

After reading both of your comment, I've got to say that jack hammer does bring in a good point, we are discussing ths like if he going to be called up to the main roster in the near future. He's probably in the same category as asuka and austin aries and got sign to bring some credibility to the nxt brand and that's o.k. because in this environment, he's a major star. On the main roster, it's a crap shot because the guy looks a lot like another japanese wrestler that wwe had 10 years ago called kenzo sazuki. Physically, he looks a lot like kenzo, his in ring and charisma is better then kenzo but vince might not see it like that and just book him the same way he did sazuki.

 

[OYDK]

First of all, go back and watch the wwe network and watch for yokozuna matches, the first five month of his run in wwe, he was only with mr.fuji, then after winning the belt from hogan and starting the feud with luger in july, cornette was brought in to be his month piece and he was with yokozuna until yoko turn babyface.

I don't need to go back and watch, I know what I'm talking about. Fuji was there for nearly a year before Cornette got introduced. Pretty sure Yoko debuted in October, Cornette came in July of the next year, near the end of Yoko's last title run as I said. That's besides the point. The point I was trying to make was that Yokozuna was a champion and defeated Hogan before he had a great speaker talking for him. Why? Because he was a big motherfucker with presence, in other words, he was a different mold from Hogan. Just like Nakamura is completely different compared to say, John Cena. Not everybody fits into one little bubble, man.

as far as your exemple again, diesel was cutting 10 minutes promo during is title regn

Yes, really shitty, cringe-worthy promos as I said. And most of them were around the 5-7 minute mark, not 10 or more.

rvd and jeff hardy don't really count because of the elngh of their title reigns and even then, they did cut long promos.

No they didn't. You just pulling this stuff out of your ass? They may have went back and forth with their opponents but rarely did they stand out there alone and talk for longer than 10 minutes.

finally, my comparation to santino was mostly promo based and not in ring wise because is in ring is way better then santino, I was just saying the if I see him as a comedy character based on his promo, vince will surely see him the same way and their a lot of casual fans that might not get his character based on his promo.

Do you and Vince share a brain? Others have said they see world championship material in him, are we all wrong and your right? What makes you think Vince sympathizes with you at all?

Personally, I really hope that he's gets the big push and become champion because I actually think the guy as potential but vince might not get it or understand how to promote him and in that case, nakumura has a hard road ahead of him.

Something we can agree on. Now I'll let this thread continue uninterrupted. Sorry friends.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I don't need to go back and watch, I know what I'm talking about. Fuji was there for nearly a year before Cornette got introduced. Pretty sure Yoko debuted in October, Cornette came in July of the next year, near the end of Yoko's last title run as I said. That's besides the point. The point I was trying to make was that Yokozuna was a champion and defeated Hogan before he had a great speaker talking for him. Why? Because he was a big motherfucker with presence, in other words, he was a different mold from Hogan. Just like Nakamura is completely different compared to say, John Cena. Not everybody fits into one little bubble, man.



Yes, really shitty, cringe-worthy promos as I said. And most of them were around the 5-7 minute mark, not 10 or more.



No they didn't. You just pulling this stuff out of your ass? They may have went back and forth with their opponents but rarely did they stand out there alone and talk for longer than 10 minutes.



Do you and Vince share a brain? Others have said they see world championship material in him, are we all wrong and your right? What makes you think Vince sympathizes with you at all?



Something we can agree on. Now I'll let this thread continue uninterrupted. Sorry friends.

sadly, it seem like you got your timeline mix up as far as yoko is concern but that's o.k, it was a long time ago but just to help you out on the timeline, yoko started in november 1992, won the belt from bret at wrestlemania, then won the back from hogan in june of that year, did the 4th of july thing then jim started 2 week later and was paired with yoko a week later. So technicly, jim was paired with yoko seven month after his debut but that beside the point.

Being wwe champion means that you have to be able to cut long promos and also being able to represent the company outside of what we see on tv. Nakamura might be able to be that guy maybe not time will tell but the one thing I just realise is that we might never even see him on the main roster because they might have sign him just to be the face of nxt when all the other big names will move on just like they are doing with asuka.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

sadly, it seem like you got your timeline mix up as far as yoko is concern but that's o.k, it was a long time ago but just to help you out on the timeline, yoko started in november 1992, won the belt from bret at wrestlemania, then won the back from hogan in june of that year, did the 4th of july thing then jim started 2 week later and was paired with yoko a week later. So technicly, jim was paired with yoko seven month after his debut but that beside the point.

Being wwe champion means that you have to be able to cut long promos and also being able to represent the company outside of what we see on tv. Nakamura might be able to be that guy maybe not time will tell but the one thing I just realise is that we might never even see him on the main roster because they might have sign him just to be the face of nxt when all the other big names will move on just like they are doing with asuka.

The Great Khali didn't cut very many long promos. Jack Swagger lisped his way through his for roughly five minutes at a time, Mark Henry growled about his Hall of Pain for about three minutes at best. The Big Show was very unmemorable with his promos as champion, Alberto Del Rio sucked at giving promos as champion. Dolph Ziggler barely had a chance to cut any length of a promo while he had the world title. Kane shit out crap for a promo as champion. Ect ect ect

 

[therockiswwf]

You know there is something I don't get from reading the posts on this thread. A some people seem to think that Nakamura wouldn't make it because of the following reasons. He is from outside the US, English isn't his first language and he wouldn't be able to cut a decent promo.

Well who the hell cares? Firstly he can speak English and does so quite well. The guy has more charisma than most on the main roster right now. Fans get into his matches because he can go like a son of a bitch in the ring. If someone like Roman Reigns who has zero charisma, can't cut a decent promo to save his life and isn't near as good as Nakamura in the ring, can be a 3 time WWE champ, then anyone can.

Nakamura has one thing that a lot of wrestler's on the roster don't have and that is the connection with the crowd. They don't give a shit that English isn't his first language or that he might be a little unique. To me that's a bonus not being a cookie cutter WWE protege. I'll take the uniqueness any day of the week. If you are going to hold Nakamura to a standard then hold all wrestlers to the same standard.

If I'm implied in this, you're wrong. I think his biggest problem is his style. He isn't a big, jacked up guy but most of his offense are strikes. I'm not sure that will look good with a bigger guy (no one in NXT he has faced is particularly big). I'm not used to this style as I haven't seen it before. I think he needs to adopt more moves into his moveset and sort of copy Sheamus. A guy who beats the crap out of you and does moves. Maybe his style will work on bigger guys but I have to wait until I see it. Otherwise I think he is good to go.

Nakamura has a connection with the NXT crowd. That doesn't always translate to the main roster.

In my view, to get over without promo ability, you need to have something special. Khali had India and he is gigantic. Don't really need promos when you are 100 ft tall. Roman Reigns has a great look, which is important for casual fans. Jeff Hardy killed himself in every match. Nakamura doesn't need something special because he does have promo ability. Now can he battle back and forth on the mic with Cena? Probably not. Does he need to? Probably not.

You don't need to speak English to succeed in WWE but it's going to be hard to get over that hump without it. I was excited for Sin Cara when he was first announced. Basically a younger Rey Mysterio. I thought he is going to be awesome and I knew he couldn't speak English. It didn't matter, I thought he was going to be great. Then he botched every single thing he did. Had he not been a botch machine, I thought he could have gone far.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

The Great Khali didn't cut very many long promos. Jack Swagger lisped his way through his for roughly five minutes at a time, Mark Henry growled about his Hall of Pain for about three minutes at best. The Big Show was very unmemorable with his promos as champion, Alberto Del Rio sucked at giving promos as champion. Dolph Ziggler barely had a chance to cut any length of a promo while he had the world title. Kane shit out crap for a promo as champion. Ect ect ect

0you are talking about world champions amd not wwe champion which isn't the same thing. The world title was always threated as a second rate title and didn't matter in the big picture. If we are talking about the world title and not the wwe title then I could see nakamura win that title as soon as he's called up if he ever called up because that was always the midcard version of the world title, but I don't see vince going with nakamura to represent the whole company unless somebody inside the company force him to do it.

 

[D_Feds]

No word of a lie, you could literally make Shinsuke Nakamura the WWE Champion right now! They won't for at least 2 years though because it takes them an age to see money in people nowadays.

 

[hollowpoint]

WWE Champion? I voted no, but that doesn't mean he won't have an IC run or US Champion run. He's definitely unorthodox when it comes to in ring abilities but he's super over with the crowd on his ring entrance alone. I don't know if Vince is ready to accept that kind of change in his organization. I could be wrong though.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

You say you're a mark for Nakamura yet you don't even know that he speaks English very well, and has done since he arrived. Yes he does it with a fairly heavy accent, but he can hold a conversation with anyone. Itami is the one who couldn't hardly speak English at all.

Speaking a language and speaking it well enough to emote in promos are two totally different things. The point I was trying to make was that if Vince thought Cesaro (who speaks perfect English) wasn't connecting with the crowd because he's Swiss, how would someone who speaks English at Nakamura's level ever get pushed to the top?

I personally don't care what language he speaks, his ring work transcends language. The thread topic was if I ever thought he'd be champ, and I think the language barrier is going to be a strike against him getting there.

 

[Charismatic Enigma]

Zack Ryder was never world title material. He had great midcard potential but never world title. Cesaro's promos were awful. That is why he was depushed, not because he is Swiss (remember the context in which McMahon said that). That tag team he was in was perfect. Cesaro wouldn't have to be the main focus so he could work on his outside the ring stuff. He is almost like Reigns where the less talking he does, the better. I don't see him as a long reign world title guy. Maybe a transitional reign but never the main focus.

I will say Cesaro today is better than Cesaro of WM XXX.

I'd debate either of these points. Go back in watch the reactions Ryder was getting in 2011, despite every effort they made to bury him in stupid crap angles with Kane, Eve, Cena, etc. he was SO over, for a few months he was the biggest pop of the night. Look at some of the absolute duds that have had short runs as champ, if WWE was really in the business of giving people what the want, I assure you a Ryder run with the belt at that time would've been huge business. His merch sales were rivaling Cena's at that time.

Cesaro's promos could stand to improve (even still), but you think Andre, Bret, Warrior, Backlund, Jeff Hardy, etc. etc. were good promos? There's been tons of guys over the years that were bad promos but got the belt. Sometimes if a guy is over, and can wrestle his ass off, that's really all it takes.

Well you know except The Rock, Mark Henry and Booker T.

I know this will be debated for all eternity, but the Rock is half Samoan, so by definition he isn't really African American. He himself even seems to play up his Samoan heritage far more. As for Henry and Booker they were both WHC/Smackdown Champion which I think if were being honest was always viewed as the consolation price title, which is the same reason why guys like Christian and Ziggler got to hold it. Because it was acknowledgement of a job well done, but there was no mistaking that you were ever THE guy. In WCW Booker was (and he deserved to be in WWE too) but they never had that level of faith in him.

 

[ShinChan]

In one sentence,

He should be but he may or may not be.

He is really a unique wrestler. In-ring work is good enough to warrant him an ultimate title stint. I have doubts about Vince letting him become the ultimate Champion but I think that Triple H could surely allow it to happen.

He has all the potential to be a main eventer and great champion. His theatrics are too good and that's what makes him an interesting character. Like Balor's demon persona.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

In one sentence,

He should be but he may or may not be.

He is really a unique wrestler. In-ring work is good enough to warrant him an ultimate title stint. I have doubts about Vince letting him become the ultimate Champion but I think that Triple H could surely allow it to happen.

He has all the potential to be a main eventer and great champion. His theatrics are too good and that's what makes him an interesting character. Like Balor's demon persona.

The key word in your comment is theatrics and that's why I think vince will see him as a mid carder and not a main event level star because of his theatrics, he's the japanese version of dean ambrose and even if ambrose is wwe champion right now, it's mostly because he didn't have a choice in the matter because vince still don't see ambrose as wwe championship material so because of theatrics, I think nakamura will have a hard time becoming a main event level wrestler just like finn balor if he use the demon persona.

 

[ShinChan]

The key word in your comment is theatrics and that's why I think vince will see him as a mid carder and not a main event level star because of his theatrics, he's the japanese version of dean ambrose and even if ambrose is wwe champion right now, it's mostly because he didn't have a choice in the matter because vince still don't see ambrose as wwe championship material so because of theatrics, I think nakamura will have a hard time becoming a main event level wrestler just like finn balor if he use the demon persona.

I respectfully disagree, sir.

First of all, Shinsuke Nakamura and Dean Ambrose are in no way comparable. Secondly, Theatrics used by Nakamura are totally different from that of Dean Ambrose. Ambrose plays the gimmick of a lunatic who could do anything to his opponent. Whereas Nakamura is a wrestler of unique style.

And the in-ring work of Nakamura is too much better than that of Ambrose'. What I want to convey is that he surely is a potential main eventer and is deserving enough to be the ultimate champion.

 

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

The key word in your comment is theatrics and that's why I think vince will see him as a mid carder and not a main event level star because of his theatrics

Vince McMahon of course being famous for hating theatricality.

[youtube]BxtCTaCxDUc[/youtube]

Vince pushed the sexy boy Shawn Michaels as the face of his company in the 90s. There's lots of reasons why Shinsuke won't be pushed, but his theatricality isn't one of them.

 

[Navi]

Speaking a language and speaking it well enough to emote in promos are two totally different things. The point I was trying to make was that if Vince thought Cesaro (who speaks perfect English) wasn't connecting with the crowd because he's Swiss, how would someone who speaks English at Nakamura's level ever get pushed to the top?

if I remember the podcast correctly I believe that Vince said something about him being boring, or that was implied. He tried to cover it by saying he was Swiss, which made no sense at all. Even though the fans and other wrestlers say Cesaro should be pushed, Vince is using the fact that he's Swiss not too. It's a stupid reason and shows just how out of touch he is. He also didn't mention that the WWE changed Cesaro's gimmick umpteen times, turning him heel, putting him with Heyman, taking away the swing, you know sort of trying to show the fans he was right.

The fans said "fuck you" and cheered for Cesaro anyway. Listen I know Cesaro will never be in the main event, that's pretty obvious from his booking. Vince got away with it once, we as fans shouldn't allow it to continue. His chosen one is getting boo'd out of the arena and it's hurting the product.

I personally don't care what language he speaks, his ring work transcends language. The thread topic was if I ever thought he'd be champ, and I think the language barrier is going to be a strike against him getting there.

Exactly he is magic in the ring. He is not a comedy character as others have suggested. Comparing him to Santino is an insult, and who cares if he can't cut a promo like Cena can. Not many do. And I don't care if Reigns has a great look, like I said he can't cut a promo and he's had almost 5 years to get it right.

There are a lot of fans saying Reigns should just be a badass heel. Come out to the ring, beat the crap out of someone and leave. Sort of like what Corbin did in NXT. That might work for him. But you can't say let Reigns away without saying a damm word, and say Nakamura who is miles better than Reigns in the charisma, wrestling and connecting with the fans department than Reigns will ever be, not be champ because people might not understand him. They don't have too. What he says and does in the ring speaks volumes.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

Exactly he is magic in the ring. He is not a comedy character as others have suggested. Comparing him to Santino is an insult, and who cares if he can't cut a promo like Cena can. Not many do. And I don't care if Reigns has a great look, like I said he can't cut a promo and he's had almost 5 years to get it right.

There are a lot of fans saying Reigns should just be a badass heel. Come out to the ring, beat the crap out of someone and leave. Sort of like what Corbin did in NXT. That might work for him. But you can't say let Reigns away without saying a damm word, and say Nakamura who is miles better than Reigns in the charisma, wrestling and connecting with the fans department than Reigns will ever be, not be champ because people might not understand him. They don't have too. What he says and does in the ring speaks volumes.

You're right in a sense, nakamura is miles better then a whole lot of the main guys on the rosters but at the same time, you mention Corbin in your comment so let's use him as an exemple, here a guy, that got given a huge push at wrestlemania based on the reaction he was getting in nxt, Then he started on the main roster, got a decent reaction for a heel, not as big as what he was getting in nxt but still decent, got in a feud with ziggler and the normal fans started to just not care anymore. It happens with a lot of nxt guys. The problem is that Vince & co. thinks that just because these guys are super over in NXT, they will be as over on the main roster and the performers thinks the same think because they don't know any better so they continue with doing the same think.

Nakamura could be a main event talent, i really believe it but it all depends on 2 things, first that vince & co. understand what he brings to the table and secondly, that nakamura understand that he need to step up is game to make sure that everybody in every market love him and react to him from the minute his music hits to the last minute he's in front of the crowd. If he'S just costing on the fact that he super over in NXT, he going to be in the same positions as most of the NXT talent by the end of the year because if Vince doesn't understand what he got and their no proof that he got a star on his hand then to him, nakamura is just better version of kensuki sasaki

 

[Papa Pillman]

I agree with JH that Vince might stop it mainly because of where he came from, the indies,

I don't mean to offend, and I hate to nitpick or veer off topic, but...

Can we retire the act of classifying New Japan as "the indies"??

Its the number two company in the world by a WIDE margin. They ran nearly 200 events last year; have their own network like WWE; their biggest show draws 30,000-50,000 fans; they routinely draw 6000-12,000 fans for other big events; their low-to-mid level events to build to those shows draw similarly to small market WWE B-house shows; the company has existed since the early 70s; and their roster has arguably as much talent as the WWE main roster, includes a couple of the top 5 or 6 guys in the world, and like WWE still boasts a handful of aging legends that are all-time greats in the business.

NJPW is the closest thing to WWE since the folding of WCW and has established itself as the largest and most prestigious wrestling federation the world has produced outside of North America. I also believe WWE sees NJPW as something on a level entirely different than any other promotion that they "compete" with. An "indy" it is not.

 

[Richard Blonoff]

I'd like to see it happen, mostly because it would show to me that Vince and the other higher ups are willing to give top billing to a guy they didn't build themselves.

We have seen a few of indy guys like Bryan, Ambrose, and Rollins have their time in the sun, but by and large WWE made them into stars. Guys like Nakamura and Styles, they were stars before they came to WWE. They didn't need the WWE hype machine to turn them into wrestling elite.

So, I'd like to see it, but I think Styles would be the non WWE star to get the prize before Nakamura. If they give it to Styles, then I think Nakamura will get it. If no to Styles, then no to Nakamura.

 

[Psykohurricane55]

I'd like to see it happen, mostly because it would show to me that Vince and the other higher ups are willing to give top billing to a guy they didn't build themselves.

We have seen a few of indy guys like Bryan, Ambrose, and Rollins have their time in the sun, but by and large WWE made them into stars. Guys like Nakamura and Styles, they were stars before they came to WWE. They didn't need the WWE hype machine to turn them into wrestling elite.

So, I'd like to see it, but I think Styles would be the non WWE star to get the prize before Nakamura. If they give it to Styles, then I think Nakamura will get it. If no to Styles, then no to Nakamura.

I agree with you 100%, it would be fun to see nakamura win the wwe championship but like you say, I think aj might win the title first because look at the history of the wwe championship, outside of yokozuna, the wwe championship ever went to a non-american. In fact, outside of yoko and the rock, their really hasn't been a colored wwe champion in the wwe. Their been a lot of colored world champion and if they bring back that title for the smackdown brand, I wouldn't be surprised to see nakamura win that belt but the wwe championship will be a long shot.

 

[stingray11214]

As long as VKM is alive, Nakamura will NEVER hold the WWE strap. In fact, I will go so far to say that Nakamura will stay in NXT for his career in WWE. The only way this changes is when, and if, Trips takes over. Trips has far more respect for Nakamura's accomplishments in New Japan than VKM ever will. You also have to take into account what Kevin Dunn will do with Nakamura. Remember, Dunn is on the E-Board of WWE. He is going to look at how much money he will draw. In NXT? Probably shitloads. For Raw and Smackdown? Probably peanuts. VERY different audience with Raw and SmackDown than it is with NXT.

To touch on a couple of statements made on this board: Booker T was a 5-Time WCW Champion. You could not effectively NOT make him one after the merger, and not get accused of some form of racism. Rock and Yokozuna are/were members of the Anoa'i family. The Anoa'i's have a long history with the McMahon family going back to Vince Sr. We are talking a 50+ year relationship here. So, we can say that VKM has never developed a "non-connected" minority champion. If Roman Reigns was not Anoa'i, he would NEVER have won the World strap. That I can promise you.

As for NJPW being called an "Indy": Look, a LOT of people, including Admins on this very site, have long had their mouths fused to WWE's Kool-Aid tank, proudly taking in whatever BS Stamford wishes to feed them with. "It's the biggest!, It's the best! It's on TV every week!". Bruno Sammartino, Lou Thesz, Strangler Lewis and Jim Londos could all sign with TNA or RoH tomorrow, and 99.9% of the people on this board will say "Oh, Thesz sucks!", "Wait! Sammartino was still employed?" "Now Lewis will strangle Dixie's paychecks." "Didn't Londos job on "Superstars?" This would be real sad if this was not the truth. New Japan is the biggest WRESTLING company on the planet. Notice the word I used: Wrestling. Not SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT. How can ANYONE pay homage to a company that is ashamed to call themselves a Pro Wrestling company? As for me, I spent more money at St. Finbar's Church hall for Five Borough Wrestling (Mike Verna defeated Brian Myers for the FBW Strap in a great six-man elimination match) in one night than on WWE products over the last 10 years.

And, I would gladly pay WWE's price to see a Nakamura vs. Balor Main Event WWE Strap match at WrestleMania. Sadly, I do not think that will ever happen.

 

[thekooljt]

I looked at this question and immediately voted NO. Ask yourselves who was the last WWE Heavyweight champion of asian descent? Please don't say Yokozuna, Yoko was Samoan/ Polynesian. The Answer is NONE. The WWE never had a WWE heavyweight champion. I'm assuming in the WWE's eyes, Nakamura may intrigue us with his fancy ring entrance and wrestling ability, but he's going to need more than that to be successful on the main roster much less WWE champion.

 

[Noshowers]

Honestly, I think he will. I get the whole "he's of foreign descent" argument... but Nakamura is different. He can cut a promo. He has more charisma than 90% of the locker room. He's already polarizing and hasn't been around more than like 3 months. His entrance alone gets people on their feet. It's special. And he's got that rare quality that he's a face... and he's already got about 100% of the crowd behind him in a match. Now obviously that will be a little different in his match with Balor, but your typical face/heel match, people pull for the guy. He's different enough that it's crazy enough to work but not so different that it would feel weird with him as champion. Picture the WWE Championship on his shoulder. You know you can do it. It just fits there.

If we wind up with two world titles, he will certainly be a champion. Which is the way things are looking right now. Honestly... he's a guy that just LOOKS like a world champion. There's something about the belt on him that just seems very very legit. I won't even pretend to know a lot about Nakamura because I don't. I've seen very little of his pre-WWE work. Something about him just seems special. I can't put my finger on it. As someone else said, look who was champion during the brand split before. Nakamura is so much better than over half of them. If not all of them. Plus just look at the matches. Against a heel Owens, a heel Ambrose, Rollins, Cena, Balor, AJ, etc... This guy could have just amazing feuds.

It's going to happen. It's going to happen multiple times. That group of Cena, Orton, HHH, etc... don't need that title anymore. Maybe Cena and Orton get it one more time or something to help legitimize a new champion, but AJ Styles and The Shield guys can't hold both titles forever. Nakamura will hold it multiple times and it wouldn't shock me to see him hold both titles multiple times.

Couple defining matches of Nakamura IMO if you are curious:

vs Ibushi (Wrestle Kingdom 9) (I am crossing my fingers he somehow signs long term after Global Cruiserweight Series, that guy is a superstar too)
vs Tanahashi (Couple to choose from, one for Int belt and the G1 CLIMAX FINAL one are quality)
vs AJ Styles at (Wrestle Kingdom 10)

and yes, there is something special about the guy when you see him walk to the ring and when he is inside it. His wrestling or charisma won't be the problem if he never becomes champion