Many fans believed Shinsuke Nakamura would get a Kofi Kingston-like push ahead of WrestleMania following his performance in the Gauntlet match last week. However, WWE has no such plans as per reports, and his name has not even been considered as the opponent for Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 37.
Shinsuke Nakamura put on a spectacular performance in a Gauntlet match on SmackDown where he defeated the likes of Rey Mysterio, King Corbin, and Daniel Bryan. However, Roman Reigns and Jey Uso attacked The Artist to help Adam Pearce win the match, thus ending his chances to face The Tribal Chief at Royal Rumble.
It was believed that this would be the start of a feud between Reigns and Shinsuke Nakamura, with the latter facing the Universal Champion at WrestleMania. However, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter has revealed that there are no such plans in place as of now.
Talking about the possible opponents for Roman Reigns, Meltzer revealed that Nakamura was not an option for WWE.
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Nakamura was not one of the two under consideration as of last week, even after the gauntlet.
The reason why Shinsuke Nakamura may not get a push
Dave Meltzer further stated that even though there is a chance Nakamura might get the Kofi Kingston treatment, it is highly unlikely as there are no live crowds to voice out their support for the former IC Champion.
Then again, if you followed the Kingston deal a few years ago if they sense people want something, it’s possible to change and in fact, plans change daily anyway. But with no crowds, while plans will change, the change to Nakamura in that spot is less likely but nothing is impossible.
With Shinsuke Nakamura out of the race for now, it has to be believed that either Daniel Bryan or Big E will be facing Roman Reigns at WrestleMania 37.