Payback 2023: Shinsuke Nakamura finally earns a major accomplishment 6 years after joining the WWE main roster

Shinsuke Nakamura just did something for the first time ever on the WWE main roster - over six years after joining in 2017. The nature of the statistics and accomplishments might even surprise you.

By headlining Payback 2023 against World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins, the premium live event marked the first time in Shinsuke Nakamura's main roster career that he has headlined a PLE/PPV.

It might sound staggering, especially considering that he is a Royal Rumble winner, a former WWE Championship challenger, as well as an ex-United States and Intercontinental Champion.

However, in 2018, the Men's Royal Rumble wasn't the main event - the inaugural Women's Rumble closed the show. His WWE Title match at WrestleMania 34 against AJ Styles was not the main event, nor were his subsequent matches against Styles.

It's rather surprising that it took so long for Shinsuke Nakamura to headline the show, and even then, one might hear many say that the only reason he is going on last is because there is no Roman Reigns and the like.

This is, unfortunately, factual as the World Heavyweight Championship has yet to reach the same status that the Universal Title has under Roman Reigns. Nakamura was even supposed to be Reigns' original challenger at the 2021 Royal Rumble, until Adam Pearce was dragged in to pin him.

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