Shinsuke Nakamura is the NEW United States Champion!
It’s weird to type that sentence out because we’re gone through two Nakamura title reigns and neither were memorable. But Nakamura’s intriguing character has brought some excitement back into the WWE star and I genuinely hope that they have something big planned for him at WrestleMania.
Nakamura is a fantastic wrestler with tons of charisma. You just have to give him something to work with.
Interestingly enough, not many people are upset that LA Knight lost in such a dominant fashion. Knight was one of the hottest babyfaces of 2023, but Knight has had a rather lackluster 2024.
Anytime LA Knight touches a mic it turns into gold. He’s so darn good on the mic that it’s hard to not get invested into him as a character. But the major problem is that Knight has been in lackluster and subpar feuds in 2024.
Even his feud with Logan Paul was rather disappointing, and you could tell that the former United States Champion just wasn’t as over as he was during the same time last year. But that’s not the reason Knight’s title reign failed.
Knight could’ve easily had a hot title run. But WWE didn’t bank on LA Knight’s biggest strength: his mic skills. Instead, creative tried to make LA Knight a workhorse champion. That was a mistake. LA Knight is by no means a terrible wrestler, but he’s definitely not in the class of Will Ospreay, Seth Rollins, or Cody Rhodes.
LA Knight needed genuine feuds that demonstrated his incredible promo skills. He didn’t have any. He had a couple of random US title matches and was the third wheel of the Andrade and Carmelo Hayes feud. We needed to dig deeper into his character and see how he performs in a serious feud.
Remember, LA Knight got so massively over because he was killing it in the Bray Wyatt feud. That Pitch Black match was horrible. But Knight escaped that feud as a superstar because he was so damn good in the build up leading to it.
LA Knight didn’t have anything to sink his claws into. He could’ve had a compelling feud with Carmelo Hayes. The guy is a strong talker himself. Add in that Hayes is a great wrestler then these two could’ve had a really good match.
But this has been a problem going all the way back to Austin Theory’s reign. It started out great then he floundered once his rivalry with Seth Rollins and Bobby Lashley was over. Then Theory was massively buried by John Cena and they didn’t give him anything of substance after that.
It’s strange because WWE is doing such a great job with RAW’s mid card. The IC title picture is hot because of the simple story that’s being told surrounding it. It helps that the characters are fun to watch. But it’s not just the IC title picture.
Bronson Reed/Bruan Strowman is one of the best non-title rivals in 2024. Karrion Kross is actually an interesting character now! That’s how the whole New Day saga began. The point is, Triple H knows how to tell good stories in the mid card, it’s just a shame that he didn’t give LA Knight that love during his title reign.
WWE has to tap into what made LA Knight such a megastar in 2023. The guy is top tier on the mic, so use that by giving him stories of true substance. LA Knight may not be the most gifted performer in the ring, but neither were guys like Hulk Hogan or The Ultimate Warrior. They had character and charisma, a strength that many guys on the roster are missing.
It’s not too late for LA Knight. Hopefully, creative has something good for him to do in the coming year.