WWE SmackDown Flops and Hits: Roman Reigns steals King Woods’ crown, big twists planned for Survivor Series (12th November, 2021)

#2 Flop on WWE SmackDown: Shinsuke Nakamura takes another underwhelming loss

WWE SmackDown has enjoyed a lot of positives lately, but Shinsuke Nakamura's booking is not one of them. The reigning Intercontinental Champion has not been a part of multiple underwhelming matches. He has lost a lot of matches that he should've ideally won, and this week was no different. Nakamura teamed up with Rick Boogs to take on Los Lotharios in a tag team match.

Angel and Humberto have relentlessly targeted Nakamura and Boogs on WWE SmackDown over the last few weeks. The Japanese star sought revenge against the newly formed tag team but failed in his mission.

Both teams squared off in a decent match, but it was met with a disappointing end. Los Lotharios successfully isolated Nakamura before delivering a modified version of Total Elimination to seal their victory.

While it was great to see the new tag team get a push on WWE SmackDown, it shouldn't be at the cost of a reigning champion. Nakamura has been a victim of this pattern for far too long now. He performs well inside the ring but ultimately loses big matches on the show.

These booking decisions are gradually taking away the credibility of the Intercontinental Championship bit by bit.

The creative team is making a massive mistake regarding Shinsuke Nakamura's title reign, especially when he has to face United States Champion Damian Priest soon. It would be challenging to make both the champions look level, which should not be the case when someone as talented as Nakamura is involved in the conversation.