King of Swerve Style: 5 Reasons Why Shinsuke Nakamura's Heel Turn is a Great Idea
Heading into WrestleMania 34, the outcomes of the two biggest men's championship matches seemed to be a near-lock.
Fans felt confident that the World and Universal Championships would be leaving the Superdome on different waists and, for different reasons, those fans were wrong.
In the case of SmackDown Live's top title, though we were treated to a post-match celebration-turned-beatdown where WWE fans got their first glimpse of an evil Shinsuke Nakamura.
The King Of Strong Style took out his frustrations at losing on defending champion (and, before this match, friendly rival) AJ Styles.
Here are five reasons why that was a brilliant move on the part of the blue brand's creative team.
#5 It keeps the Styles door open for more matches
Much remains to be seen in regards to how next week's Superstar Shakeup affects rivalries and storylines on the two different WWE brands.
But one thing is for certain: had Nakamura and Styles both kept their pre-Mania heel/face dynamic, there would be no reason to revisit this feud.
The program was built on a friendly rivalry of two old foes looking to prove who was the better man.
They incorporated past history into the mix and went into a face-versus-face confrontation looking to settle who was the best and who was No.1 in terms of SmackDown's, and WWE's, top male talent.
Styles won, and pretty decisively; without the heel turn, that's that. There's no reason to dip back into that well.
Nakamura low blowing The Phenomenal One, then laying into him with hard kicks at ringside, gives Styles' character motivation to move this feud into the future, possibly into a summer-long rivalry.