WWE News: Real Reason Why WWE Officials Are Delaying Shinsuke Nakamura’s First Match Until WWE ‘Backlash’

The WWE Universe is thrilled to have Shinsuke Nakamura on SmackDown, but WWE officials are making the fans wait until WWE Backlash to see him wrestle on WWE programming for a specific reason. Thus far, “The King of Strong Style” hasn’t wrestled a match for SmackDown Live. Nakamura has worked with Dolph Ziggler during dark matches, and he’s wrestled during live events, but nothing on WWE television as of yet.

In light of John Cena’s hiatus from WWE, WWE officials brought Shinsuke Nakamura to SmackDown Live from NXT to replace him. His popularity during his time in NXT was so strong that the powers that be knew he would be over immediately with the WWE Universe. From the moment that Shinsuke debuted on WWE television, the fans made it clear that Shinsuke Nakamura was the next big thing for the company.

It’s understandable that WWE officials would be careful about featuring Nakamura after his main roster debut. They’ve set up him well in a feud with Dolph Ziggler, but the powers that be have booked little to no physicality between Nakamura and Ziggler. It’s been announced that Shinsuke Nakamura will have his first match against Ziggler at WWE Backlash, but a lot of people want to know why his first match was delayed.

The obvious answer is WWE officials want his first match to be as big as possible. That’s part of the logic for the delay, but it’s also being reported that WWE officials are keeping Nakamura from wrestling on television because it will result in a stronger build for the upcoming match against Dolph Ziggler at WWE Backlash.

Simply put, WWE officials don’t want to waste Shinsuke Nakamura’s first match on SmackDown. He could have had a handful of squash matches by now, but there isn’t anything that can be accomplished with those matches that could be done by delaying his first match and having it on a WWE PPV against a talent such as Dolph Ziggler. The build to the match may be a bit lackluster, but the match at WWE Backlash will be great.

Also, the WWE Universe has already embraced Shinsuke Nakamura as a top babyface on SmackDown. His momentum will make him a main event player extremely quickly. Because of that, WWE officials will need to be careful about pushing him too fast after WWE Backlash. If the powers that be wanted, Shinsuke could challenge for the WWE Championship as soon as WWE Summerslam, but they seem to have other plans.

There have been rumors about WWE officials planning a couple of big matches for Shinsuke Nakamura down the line. A rematch between Shinsuke and Sami Zayn is reportedly in the works. The powers that be believe the magic of their first match at NXT Takeover: Dallas could be rekindled on a much bigger stage soon. It’s also been reported that Shinsuke Nakamura could face John Cena at WWE Summerslam or Wrestlemania 34.

The WWE Universe is anticipating that matchup, and that could prove to be an important match for WWE if Cena puts over Nakamura as his replacement on SmackDown Live. At the same time, the fans are curious when WWE officials are planning the rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 10 between Nakamura and Styles. It will be especially difficult to delay that match because both men are on the same roster for SmackDown.

WWE Backlash is roughly two weeks away. The WWE Universe won’t have to wait much longer to see “The King of Strong Style” in action on WWE television. The powers that be are just being cautious because they are aware of the potential Shinsuke Nakamura has to carry the company into the future. The match at WWE Backlash with Dolph Ziggler will be the first of many. It’s just a matter of waiting another two weeks.

[Featured Image by WWE]