Shinsuke Nakamura’s WWE future has been revealed after the star has been absent for three months.
Nakamura is one of the legends of the business and has etched himself in the history books as one of the most successful Japanese wrestlers. However, his nine-year stint with WWE has not borne him much fruit since he keeps getting relegated to the midcard. The star has yet to win a world title in the promotion and keeps getting thrown into feuds that fizzle out in a few weeks or months. After making the move to the main roster, many thought he was in line for a world title run soon, as he had immense popularity and hype surrounding him. He even had a great start after winning the 2018 Royal Rumble, after eliminating one of the company’s biggest rising stars in Roman Reigns. However, all of that has only led to a few United States Title runs and a handful of world title matches that he lost. He has also won the Intercontinental Title twice.
A few months ago, it was also heavily speculated that the star’s contract would not be renewed by WWE and that he would be gone. However, that was not the case as he is still with the company and his future has finally come to light.
Shinsuke Nakamura Was Shadowing Sami Zayn On WWE SmackDown
During the latest episode of WWE SmackDown, the star was seen lurking in the shadows. He could be seen observing Sami Zayn as the United States Champion was giving an interview backstage.
It seems that this will be the direction for Nakamura going forward as the star is slowly being reintroduced onto fans’ screens. He will either be answering the US Title Open Challenge soon or will attack Zayn on an upcoming episode of WWE SmackDown.
Shinsuke Nakamura was lurking in the background during both of Sami Zayn’s backstage segments tonight#SmackDownpic.twitter.com/AZ0GYdVOgy
— WrestlePurists (@WrestlePurists) September 13, 2025
His last match with the company was three months ago on the June 13 episode of SmackDown, where he lost a Fatal Four-Way King of the Ring First Round Qualifier match. The eventual winner of the match was Cody Rhodes, with the other participants being Andrade and Damian Priest. The star has since been more or less absent from WWE’s programming and has been barely mentioned.
It remains to be seen what the future holds for him.