Adam Pearce pinned Shinsuke Nakamura after Roman Reigns and Jey Uso attacked the Japanese star
There was a shock on the cards on WWE SmackDown as Adam Pearce was forced into the title scene by Roman Reigns and Paul Heyman.
Reigns was upset with Pearce for allowing Kevin Owens to battle him last week. The WWE official was then entered into the gauntlet match later in the show to determine Reigns’ rival for the Royal Rumble.
However, the match was certainly a moment to shine for other competitors. Daniel Bryan, Baron Corbin and Rey Mysterio were some big names on show.
The one that shone the most was Shinsuke Nakamura. The Japanese star is a former NXT Champion and has won titles on the main roster too.
However, he has become a tag expert, of sorts, after aligning himself with Cesaro. Nakamura eliminated Bryan, Corbin and Mysterio in impressive fashion but was taken out by Reigns and Uso.
The pair then beat up Pearce too and put his body over Nakamura’s. This saw Pearce become the No.1 contender for Reigns and Nakamura posted a cryptic message after this.
“Was the wind blowing on me?”
The Japanese star was an excellent singles competitor but WWE seemed to have forgotten that in recent months.
Nakamura proved that again with this showing and he didn’t even need help from Cesaro to get his pinfalls.
It would have been great to see Nakamura get a title shot against Reigns. This could have worked great too but Pearce vs The Tribal Chief is also something to look forward too.
Pearce wanted no part to play in this gauntlet clash but was forced to do so. Nakamura provided a glimpse of his qualities though, and hopefully, he gets more chances to shine like this.
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