5 Wrestling rumors we hope are true and 5 we hope aren't: Repackaged Superstar behind SmackDown 'hacker' storyline, Vince McMahon refuses to turn popular heel into babyface?

#2. Hope isn't true: Reason behind Shinsuke Nakamura's descent to the midcard

Shinsuke Nakamura has had an uneventful 2020 so far

There's no denying that fans had much higher expectations of Shinsuke Nakamura on the main roster when he debuted in 2017. His first year turned out to be a great one, beating the likes of John Cena, challenging for the WWE Championship, winning the Royal Rumble, and then turning heel after losing a WWE title match to AJ Styles at WrestleMania 34.

However, after he lost his feud to Styles, he began to slip down the card. Despite lengthy reigns with the United States Championship and Intercontinental Championship, they didn't hold too much significance and he seems to be Sami Zayn's sidekick right now along with Cesaro.

Dave Meltzer spoke about Shinsuke Nakamura on WOR and how over he was in 2017-18. He revealed that his first SmackDown feud and a segment with Dolph Ziggler is what started a 'slow-motion descent' to the midcard:

It was Dolph Ziggler, man. It was him comparing him (Nakamura) to Michael Jackson. When they had him doing the paintings and talk about doing his masterpiece. It was a slow-motion descent into the mid-card.

We hope this isn't true, but several other factors led to the descent as well. However, the fact of the matter is that Nakamura is in the later stage of his career, closing in on retirement. Meltzer revealed that Nakamura has 'checked out' and is more than happy to play out the rest of his career without taking too much damage while collecting a good paycheck.