In early 2016, rumors were running wild that two amazing talents from Japan were heading state-side and that AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura would soon be together again. Now, it is a year later and both men are having tremendous success in WWE and NXT respectively, but they do have a long history together. Now, rumors are flying around that not only will Nakamura make his main roster debut next week, but he will go on to face Styles at WrestleMania 33.
Last week on SmackDown Live, there was some controversy at the end of the battle royal as recapped by the official website of WWE. It ended with AJ Styles and Luke Harper tying for the win and setting up a number one contender match next week on Team Blue’s show.
As reported by Cageside Seats, that match is expected to be won by Harper as he is likely going to go on to be in the WWE Championship match at WrestleMania 33. This match, though, is also rumored to set up Styles’ opponent for the big pay-per-view as well.
As recently reported by Inquisitr, Styles was rumored to face off with SmackDown commissioner Shane McMahon in early April. Those plans appear to have been changed, though, and Styles’ WrestleMania opponent may not even be on the main roster yet, but he will be by next week.
Four 3 Four is reporting that former NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura is set to make his main roster debut next week on SmackDown. It is rumored that he will get involved in the match between Harper and Styles which will cost AJ the win and set up their bout at WrestleMania.
If this ends up being true, that bout between Nakamura and Styles could easily steal the entire show and be a match of the year candidate.
Now, it isn’t as if the two are total strangers, as they have faced off on a number of occasions over in Japan. They put on classic battles and there is little doubt they would do so again if given the time and the chance in WWE.
Shinsuke Nakamura recently spoke with Yahoo Sports Japan about performing at WrestleMania and he said he would like to face Styles if the opportunity ever came about. He also kind of took a shot at Styles in regard to his opponent for this year, as transcribed by Chris Charlton.
“If the [WrestleMania] opportunity presented itself, I want to do it. AJ doesn’t have an opponent yet, I’d like to fill that spot. I’ve achieved a lot this year, but there’s much more to do. I want to make more strides over the next year and show my true ability.”
This past Tuesday, before the 10-superstar battle royal to determine the number one contender to Bray Wyatt’s WWE Championship, Styles responded to Nakamura.
@ShinsukeN how’s this? Sorry, but I do have a match at Wrestlemania. N fact, I’ll be headlining Wrestlemania after tonight.
— AJStyles.Org (@AJStylesOrg) February 21, 2017
Nakamura wasn’t going to just let that one go either.
@AJStylesOrg choose the best way bro.
— Shinsuke Nakamura (@ShinsukeN) February 21, 2017
At this time, WWE is allowing these two superstars and wrestling legends to go back and forth on social media and not putting a stop to it. If Nakamura is going to be Styles’ opponent at the biggest PPV of the year, he will have to move up from NXT very soon and the program will need to be started right away.
WWE never really does anything or allows anything to happen unless they are going somewhere with it. Sure, it may not be right away, or it may be far into the future, but if they tease it, there’s a reason. Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles mentioning each other recently has led to a lot of speculation and it may be too short of notice, but it is not at all impossible for the former to jump from NXT, make his debut, and set up a WrestleMania 33 five-star match in the making.
