WWE News: Stone Cold Steve Austin is frustrated with the WWE's handling of Shinsuke Nakamura
What's the story?
On a recent edition of the Steve Austin Show, the Texas Rattlesnake talked with his great friend Jim Ross.
On the show, they discussed the usage of Shinsuke Nakamura since his debut on the main roster, the Smackdown Live after WrestleMania this year.
In case you didn't know...
Nakamura competed in New Japan Pro Wrestling from 2002 to 2016 gaining many championships along the way.
He is a three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, a five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, and won the G1 Climax Tournament in 2011.
The heart of the matter
In the Steve Austin Show, Austin was not happy with how the WWE has handled Nakamura in his first four months on the main roster.
Austin stated that the WWE is booking him like "just another Joe Blow". He further expanded on that thought below (H/T WrestlingInc):
"You bring him over and he's going 30-minute broadways with half the damn roster. Debuted down there in WrestleMania 32, NXT, with Sami Zayn, hell of a match. Hell of a match! A lot of credit to Sami Zayn and Shinsuke, but here's 'The King Of Strong Style' and all-of-a-sudden, he comes in and he's working Dolph [Ziggler] and it took him a long time to finish off Dolph for 'The King Of Strong Style'. Do you understand where I'm going with this gimmick? That's booking though. What is the plan? You've got this guy who's one of those talents that just don't come around every single day. He's special. He comes in and you treat him like he's another Joe Blow."
Jim Ross compared the situation to Steve Austin's in the mid-90's when he was The Ringmaster.
He said that Nakamura will find his fit in the WWE and transform himself like Austin did into Stone Cold during the Attitude Era. Ross also speculated that Nakamura is holding back a bit in the WWE ring compared to New Japan.
What's next?
Nakamura gets his biggest match in the WWE to date next week on Smackdown Live. He will take on John Cena and the winner faces Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship at SummerSlam on August 20th.
Author's take
I definitely agree with Austin, I think Nakamura needed to start his WWE career by tearing through the roster like a runaway train, instead, the Ziggler feud lasted too long. A win against John Cena next would give Nakamura a ton of momentum, but I'm not expecting a win here.
The consolation prize for Nakamura not winning next week could be a match of the year against AJ Styles at SummerSlam though. Considering Styles is a guy who Nakamura is very familiar with, he could let it all fly in that match.