Veteran blasts WWE's treatment of Shinsuke Nakamura (Exclusive)

Shinsuke Nakamura's latest United States Championship reign ended against LA Knight on the March 7 episode of SmackDown. Vince Russo, WWE's head writer in the late 1990s, cannot understand why the company failed to prioritize the Japanese star.

Nakamura defeated Knight for the US title at Survivor Series on November 30, 2024. The King of Strong Style's only successful championship defense occurred on January 10 when he retained the title via disqualification against Knight on SmackDown.

Russo spoke to host Dr. Chris Featherstone on Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo before the latest SmackDown episode. He discussed Nakamura's booking and criticized WWE's creative team for its underwhelming storylines.

"There's no focus on him, bro," Russo said. "There's no focus. That's the problem. There's no focus on him. The champions should take priority over everybody else, but they don't. They book Nakamura the same way they book Chad Gable. If you're a champion, you should be a priority. I mean, that's an absolute no-brainer." [0:38 – 1:02]

Watch the video above to hear more from Russo on WWE's disappointing booking of Bron Breakker, Chelsea Green, and Lyra Valkyria.

---

Vince Russo on a possible LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura rematch

WrestleMania 41 will take place in Las Vegas on April 19-20. While it has not yet been confirmed, the United States Championship will almost certainly be defended at the two-night event.

Asked if there would be any fan interest in LA Knight vs. Shinsuke Nakamura at WrestleMania 41, Russo made it clear WWE should not book the match:

"There is none, bro. There's none. There's zero." [1:20 – 1:23]

In 2024, LA Knight defeated AJ Styles at WrestleMania XL in his first match at WWE's biggest show of the year. In Shinsuke Nakamura's last WrestleMania bout, he and Rick Boogs unsuccessfully challenged The Usos for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship in 2022.

---

Please credit Sportskeeda Wrestling's Writing With Russo and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.