Ex-WWE star claims 44-year-old legend is the "new Dolph Ziggler," explains why
Dolph Ziggler has consistently elevated other talents through his selfless performances and willingness to lose to younger WWE stars, contributing to their rise in the company. Former WWE star Aiden English (now Matthew Rehwoldt) has compared this quality of The Showoff to that of the 44-year-old Shinsuke Nakamura.
The King of Strong Style returned to television on the November 15th episode of SmackDown. The 44-year-old interrupted LA Knight's celebration after he successfully defended the United States Title against Berto. Nakamura laid out the champion with a Kinshasa, signaling his return to the blue brand after a hiatus since April 2024.
On the REBOOKED Wrestling podcast, Matthew Rehwoldt mentioned that Shinsuke Nakamura is being used as a stepping stone for other wrestlers, similar to how Dolph Ziggler was used when he was in WWE.
"He's [Shinsuke Nakamura] the new Dolph Ziggler. He's the guy; they [WWE] go, 'Hey, he can have a great match with almost anybody, but he's always gonna get beat,' and like, he's the stepping stone to see if somebody can be in the main event or whatever," he said.
The 37-year-old former star hopes that the company has changed this trend in Nakamura's booking. Aiden English wants The Wayward Samurai to finally break free from this pattern following his return on Friday Night SmackDown.
"He seemed like they have a lot of feuds to your point in the last few years where it was like, 'Oh, this will be good, okay, then we'll beat Shinsuke and on, so and so goes.' So I hope maybe we've turned a corner with that," he added. [From 17:01 to 17:25]
You can watch the entire episode below:
WWE legend believes LA Knight has gone dim, but Shinsuke Nakamura can change that
Booker T recently shared that LA Knight's star power has waned. The 59-year-old legend sees Shinsuke Nakamura as the perfect opponent to reignite The Megastar's passion and elevate his performance.
Speaking on his Hall of Fame podcast, Booker T stated that he is a huge fan of The Artist's enigmatic style and believes that the Japanese wrestler is the ideal counter to LA Knight's brash persona.
"LA Knight needs something to spark his flame again. It seems like he’s gone dim just a little bit. Seems like that star has dimmed just a little bit. So I think Shinsuke Nakamura will definitely be the right person. I love Shinsuke. I love everything about him. He's that silent killer, that assassin, that ninja," Booker T said.
Only time will tell if WWE has made significant changes to Shinsuke Nakamura's booking ahead of his program with the United States Champion on SmackDown television.
Please credit the REBOOKED Wrestling podcast and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.