The day after New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest event of the year, news broke that a handful of NJPW’s top stars had given their notice to the company, and could be bound for WWE. Some fans dismissed it as an impossibility, but then A.J. Styles got superkicked out of the Bullet Club and said his goodbyes. And the King of Strong Style Shinsuke Nakamura announced he’d be leaving at the end of the month. And WWE.com posted about it. It’s happening, and pro wrestling is crazy.
One person who’s happy about the news is former WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan, who has been trying to wrestle Nakamura all year.
“I pitched this… I want to wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura. He and I lived together for a brief bit in Santa Monica, California, and we’re doing a tour of Japan soon. And I thought, ‘Oh, what a great inter-promotional thing it would be if I were to wrestle Shinsuke Nakamura…’
…But I don’t know if anybody really bought that idea.”
It looks like somebody finally bought it, but there’s only one problem … Bryan still hasn’t been cleared to compete, and there’s no timetable for his return. Here’s what he had to say, also known as “what everyone has to say”:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BAP0gl3yVBq/
Can @WWE clear me already?!!!
Are we seriously going to have Shinsuke Nakamura in WWE and not have him wrestle Daniel Bryan? Here’s hoping Bryan not being cleared is to enhance the moment he actually returns, and he can show up as full-strength, 100% healthy Daniel Bryan again so the inevitable match with Swagsuke can be what it deserves to be. Maybe this is all part of the plan, and everything after WrestleMania will be mind-blowing. Hell, maybe Shinsuke will be #1 in the Rumble (even though he isn’t leaving New Japan until February) and Bryan will be #2. We can dream, can’t we?
