WWE Rumors - Possible reason for former Royal Rumble winner's 'slow-motion descent into mid-card' 

Shinsuke Nakamura is possibly WWE's biggest signee from Japan. The former IWGP World Champion was touted as the next big thing when he joined WWE. 'The Artist' had a splendid run in NXT too, even becoming the NXT Champion, not once but twice. But his time on the main roster has not been very impressive.

While Shinsuke Nakamura did receive a push and has won the prestigious Royal Rumble, WWE have not truly been able to convert Nakamura into a big Superstar like he was in Japan.

While speaking on the WreslingInc podcast, former WWE Superstar Matt Morgan, Glenn Rubenstein, and Justin LaBar discussed why the company could not turn Nakamura into a big star and the major problem behind WWE's booking of Japanese Superstars.

They discussed how Nakamura was over with the audience when he debuted and it was the company's job to keep the buzz around him alive, which they couldn't.

They also felt it was surprising that Nakamura wasn't 'spitting green mist,' talking about how all Japanese Superstars or characters from Japan (Lord Tensai) are turned into caricatures or cartoons because the company does not have an understanding of the Japanese culture.

One of the reasons why the former IC Champion was unable to break out as a top Superstar was because of the way he had been booked:

He is over. You could tell by the way people reacted to him coming out for the first few weeks during SmackDown. People would lose their sh**. It's company's job to maintain the pop with how they book him.

They revealed when Nakamura's descent into mid-card truly began:

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.

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