Shinsuke Nakamura was originally planned to win the Intercontinental Championship at Wrestlemania 33, but WWE changed the script at the last minute to accommodate John Cena-Nikki Bella engagement storyline.
Wrestling politics
Nakamura made his main roster debut on SmackDown Live a couple of days after Wrestlemania 33. However, Sportskeeda is now reporting that the King of Strong Style would have done his long-awaited WWE debut at Wrestlemania 33, where he’s expected to win the Intercontinental Championship against the Miz.
John Cena, who lost his WWE championship to Bray Wyatt at Elimination Chamber, ended up teaming up with his real-life girlfriend Nikki Bella in a feud with another real-life couple, the Miz, and Maryse.
As what wrestling insiders predicted weeks leading up to Wrestlemania, Cena, and Bella took the victory with the 16-time world champion proposing to his girlfriend at the end of the match.
John Cena’s marriage proposal was easily one of the highlights of the PPV event, but many writers and fans believe Nakamura could have generated a much louder pop from the crowd that night. “The reported plan was that The Miz & SD Live GM Daniel Bryan’s issue with one another was supposed to escalate all the way to WrestleMania 33. Ultimately, The Miz would be defending his I.C. Title against an opponent [Nakamura] of Bryan’s choosing in which Bryan would decide at WrestleMania,” as reported by Sportskeeda.
AJ Styles vs. the Undertaker
Sportskeeda also reported via Bill Bhatti of the Dirty Sheets Podcast that AJ Styles was originally scheduled to wrestle the Undertaker in Royal Rumble 2017. Styles would drop the title to Taker but recapture it once again at Elimination Chamber, setting up a Wrestlemania showdown with Randy Orton.
However, the plan was scrapped after John Cena agreed with WWE Executive Producer Kevin Dunn to stage his marriage proposal at the ‘Showcase of the Immortals.’ As a reward, WWE booked Cena to capture his record-tying 16th world champion at Royal Rumble, while Styles settled with a feud vs.
Shane McMahon.
Regardless of the reported change of plans, AJ Styles is still expected to enter the title picture once his feud with United States Champion Kevin Owens is done. And it looks like he will be facing Randy Orton and Shinsuke Nakamura in a blockbuster triple-threat match at SummerSlam 2017. With Cena taking some time off along with the fallout of the Superstar Shakeup, Styles, Orton, and Nakamura have emerged as the top dogs for the Blue Brand.
