It was a night of opportunity for Shinsuke Nakamura, as the former Intercontinental champion had a chance to secure a shot at the Gunther title in a match against Ludwig Kaiser in tonight’s SmackDown. With the Ring General on ringside, Kaiser was looking to make an early statement, but Nakamura left no chance at the Intercontinental Championship to overtake him. Nakamura would carry several big shifts in momentum throughout the match, but no matter what Kaiser hit, Nakamura would come back. Then Nakamura handed Kinshasa and took the win, which means he will face Gunter next week in a SmackDown.
Nakamura and Caesar snapped right off the bat and Kaiser seemed to gain the upper hand early on, squeezing Nakamura’s wrist and head, following it with his elbows to his head. The Kaiser called several ways into the corner and then sarcastically divided it up for the audience before following it up with more stomps. Kaiser threw Nakamura in the other corner but Nakamura came back and started rolling.
Nakamura overthrew the Kaiser and went for cover, but the Kaiser was fired. Maintaining the momentum, Nakamura kicked Kaiser in the back of the neck and sent him onto the rug from the ropes. He then lunged forward, avoiding a Kaiser counterattack and hitting a German Suplex on Kaiser before meeting Günther head-on.
After some back and forth, Kaiser hit a kick on Nakamura but quickly lost control after Nakamura hit a running knee. Nakamura captured the crowd and went to the final but Kaiser saved with a European knockout and went for the cover but Nakamura was sent off.
The Kaiser hit another German suplex in the cover but Nakamura was sent off again. Kaiser prepared to end the match, but Nakamura saved it. Kaiser responded and then Nakamura knocked him out and hit Kinshasa in a cover, and that was for a pin and win, earning Nakamura the Gunter title on next week’s SmackDown.
Gunther entered the ring but Nakamura wasn’t in the least afraid, and now he’s one step closer to becoming the new WWE Intercontinental Champion.
What do you think of the match? Tell us in the comments or as always you can talk about all things wrestling with me on Twitter @MattAguilarCB!
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