Original Plans For Shinsuke Nakamura’s WWE Championship Feud With AJ Styles

Fans waited a long time to see AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura face off in a WWE ring, and they just spent the last few months feuding over the WWE Championship.

Not all of their matches had clean finishes, but when it was all said and done, Styles won the feud and Shinsuke didn’t manage to win the title.

The Wrestling Standard is reporting that Nakamura was expected to win the WWE Championship for a short period of time, only to drop it back to Styles, but plans for the title change were nixed to avoid the belt being flip-flopped. Styles landing the WWE 2K19 cover was also reportedly one of the reasons why AJ didn’t drop the belt during the feud.

The decision to end Shinsuke’s feud with AJ was said to be a last minute one, as Jeff Hardy was scheduled to feud with Andrade “Cien” Almas over the US Title, but now Nakamura is in that spot.

A source noted that Vince McMahon loves foreign heels as United States Champion, and it’s believed that Nakamura will likely win the belt as compensation for missing out on the WWE Championship.