WWE News: Shinsuke Nakamura Debut WWE Main Roster Match Finally Announced, Who Will He Face?

The first main roster match for Shinsuke Nakamura has been announced and it won’t happen for a few more weeks. Michael Cole announced at Fastlane, the WWE Monday Night Raw exclusive pay-per-view, that Shinsuke Nakamura would not have his first main roster match until the next SmackDown Live exclusive pay-per-view Backlash.

Shinsuke Nakamura made his WWE main roster debut as a member of SmackDown Live and it looked like his first major feud would be against The Miz. However, The Miz was traded to Monday Night Raw and the first feud for Shinsuke Nakamura was changed up.

The next time that Shinsuke Nakamura showed up in the SmackDown Live ring, it was Dolph Ziggler who came down and made fun of Shinsuke, calling him a Michael Jackson-wannabe and then poking more fun before Nakamura got the mic and asked what Dolph’s problem was.

Dolph Ziggler then attacked but Shinsuke Nakamura got the upper hand before Dolph Ziggler ran and lived to fight another day. For SmackDown Live fans who hoped to see Shinsuke Nakamura turn in some preliminary matches on his way to his first pay-per-view, they will be disappointed.

While Shinsuke Nakamura will surely appear on SmackDown Live, he won’t step into the ring for a match until WWE Backlash, which takes place on May 21 in Chicago. That should be a great crowd for Shinsuke Nakamura to make his debut. However, that is still a few weeks before WWE fans can see Shinsuke Nakamura compete.

Shinsuke Nakamura made his name in New Japan, wrestling names like Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, and Finn Balor. He was a multi-time champion in New Japan and held the same IWGP title that Lesnar once held on three different occasions.

Shinsuke Nakamura then showed up at NXT and was an immediate success. Shinsuke Nakamura beat Samoa Joe for the NXT Championship, lost it back to Samoa Joe, and then became the second person in NXT history to win the NXT Championship twice. He also won the 2016 NXT Wrestler of the Year award.

Shinsuke Nakamura has said that he wanted to go to SmackDown Live because he wants to wrestle names like Randy Orton and AJ Styles and he will probably get that chance down the line. Sportskeeda reported that the WWE wants to book Shinsuke Nakamura vs. AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34.

This means that the WWE wants to push Shinsuke Nakamura hard on SmackDown Live over the next year. Right now, AJ Styles is a heel who happens to be in a feud with another heel in former United States Champion Kevin Owens. However, with Chris Jericho winning the United States Championship at Fastlane, there might be the chance that the WWE keeps AJ Styles a heel and works in Shinsuke Nakamura as the top face on the brand.

Right now, Backlash is looking at some interesting matches. Randy Orton is scheduled to defend his WWE world championship against Jinder Mahal, the number one contender. Jinder Mahal attacked Randy Orton at Fastlane and helped Bray Wyatt win their match.

There should also be a United States championship match with AJ Styles either fighting Kevin Owens or whoever happens to hold the title at the time. Chris Jericho and his band Fozzy have a concert on July 21 in Morgantown, so he won’t be at the Backlash pay-per-view.

Backlash also looks like it will include a women’s title match that might include multiple women. Charlotte Flair is looking for another title shot against Naomi while Natalya and her group also want in on it. That doesn’t even include Becky Lynch.

Finally, there is now the Shinsuke Nakamura match against probably Dolph Ziggler, which might be the best match on the entire WWE Backlash card.

[Featured Image by WWE]