WWE World Championship
The man who walked out of the Barclays Center as NXT Champion a year ago will compete for his first WWE World Championship on Sunday. Shinsuke Nakamura will face off against Jinder Mahal in a very intriguing, yet surprising match. I am very surprised WWE has kept the gold around Mahal’s waist for this long, but I do feel it is the right decision. This match has the makings to be really, really good. I fear, however, that it will not live up to the hype because of the short build.
Nakamura does not need to speak for 10 minutes to get over, especially in Brooklyn. Jinder Mahal has gotten so much better over the past two months on the mic, but he still needed a few more weeks to make this personal. All that it feels is that it is for the title and no backstory is needed. That is okay because Nakamura should leave WWE SummerSlam as the new WWE World Championship. What happens with him next? Well, Mahal will certainly get another shot at the gold and then I can easily see Shinsuke compete with someone like Rusev or Baron Corbin towards the fall. If Nakamura wins now, WWE must have him hold it until WrestleMania or have AJ Styles win it somehow without giving away the inevitable Nakamura vs. Styles World Championship match in New Orleans.
This should be the beginning of the “Strong Style Champion.” Give me Nak (not Hak) vs. Mahal in a hard hitting 15-20 minute match and let the man who changed NXT become the new face of Smackdown Live.