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Shinsuke Nakamura was one of WWE's top fan favorites heading into his WrestleMania 34 match against AJ Styles in 2018. Vince Russo, WWE's former head writer, thinks the Japanese star's one-off WrestleMania entrance should have become a permanent part of his presentation.
WWE stars often receive special entrances at WrestleMania. Before Nakamura faced Styles, Alice Cooper's touring guitarist Nita Strauss played The King of Strong Style's "The Rising Sun" theme on the guitar.
Russo discussed Nakamura's recent booking on Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws with host Dr. Chris Featherstone and former WWE star EC3. Reflecting on WrestleMania 34, he claimed WWE missed an opportunity by not having someone play the guitar for the SmackDown star every week:
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"She came out and played him out, and I remember watching that and said, 'Man, they should do this for him every single [time],'" Russo said. "It was the coolest thing and I said, 'Bro, they need to do that every time.' I don't think they ever did it [with Nita Strauss] again." [7:04 – 7:28]
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Former WWE talent Rick Boogs played the electric guitar during Nakamura's entrance in 2021 and 2022. However, their partnership ended abruptly after Boogs sustained a torn quad at WrestleMania 38.
Reason behind AJ Styles vs. Shinsuke Nakamura outcome
The WrestleMania 34 match ended with AJ Styles retaining the WWE Championship after hitting a Styles Clash. Following the 20-minute bout, Shinsuke Nakamura turned heel by striking his opponent with a low blow.
Dr. Chris Featherstone added that WWE's higher-ups wanted Styles to win the match due to his involvement in the WWE 2K19 video game:
"Nothing really peaked him losing to AJ Styles, though, at WrestleMania 34. The talk is AJ kept the title because he was on the cover of 2K for that year." [8:17 – 8:33]
In the same episode, Vince Russo said a 2024 statistic about Nakamura proves the Japanese star is not "over" with fans.
What are your thoughts on Shinsuke Nakamura? Hit the discuss button and let us know.
Please credit Sportskeeda's The Wrestling Outlaws and embed the video if you use quotes from this article.
