It’s been almost one year to the date since famed New Japan Pro Wrestling star Shinsuke Nakamura announced he was signing with WWE and would appear on NXT.
In that time, Nakamura has done a lot to gain the praise of wrestling fans across the globe in NXT. He has held the NXT Championship twice and has built up quite the fan base because of it.
But, with Nakamura losing the NXT Championship the night before WWE’s 2017 Royal Rumble at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, some are speculating that he will be an entrant into the Royal Rumble match January 29.
During a conference call with media January 26, Triple H said “it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when” Nakamura would get called up to the main roster.
So no better place to debut in WWE than the Royal Rumble, right? Triple H told the media during the call about Nakamura:
I wanted him to be here, I sang his praises, I’m the one who went after him, all those things, but there was still a curve coming in the door. He needed to have that experience in order to be successful on that main event roster. And he’s there. Now it’s just a matter of time of when it fits in and when he fits into that, to moving up to that main roster. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.
SportsKeeda wrote that if Nakamura were to lose to Roode at TakeOver, that it “isn’t completely off the cards” that he will be in the match.
In his debut match against Sami Zayn at NXT TakeOver: Dallas, Nakamura won and followed it up with an immediate run at the NXT Championship. After beating Austin Aries at NXT TakeOver: The End, Nakamura set his sights on then-NXT Champion Finn Balor. Nakamura won the non-title match and just a month later, defeated the champion, Samoa Joe, to win the title for the first time.
However, Nakamura lost the title to Joe at NXT TakeOver: Toronto, which was his first loss in NXT. But at an NXT Live show in Japan, Nakamura claimed the title back from Joe, winning a match December 3, 2016 in Osaka, Japan before finally losing it to Roode.
Will it be the last time Nakamura holds the NXT title? The Royal Rumble starts at 6 p.m. Eastern on January 29 and you can watch it on the WWE Network.
