Whether or not Vince McMahon is mad at him heading into it, SummerSlam is obviously a big career moment for Shinsuke Nakamura.
Less than a year-and-a-half after his debut with the company and a little more than four months after his main roster call-up, Nakamura will challenge for the WWE title Sunday, Aug. 20, on one of the biggest shows of the year.
In August of 2016, Shinsuke made a grand entrance at TakeOver: Brooklyn II en route to winning the NXT championship for the first time, and reports indicate WWE will replicate at least part of that formula in Barclays Center next weekend.
We’ll have to wait and see if he defeats Jinder Mahal and lifts the belt, but we don’t have to wait for his intro... violinist Lee England, Jr. - who made the Japanese Superstar’s entrance at last year’s pre-SummerSlam NXT TakeOver and his debut on SmackDown so memorable - has already started playing Nak in all around New York City.
Okay, Swagsuke himself isn’t there (he’s probably surfing), and the New Yorkers watching England perform with a guitarist and percussionist on the street don’t seem “surprised” as the video’s title on YouTube promises, but it’s still pretty cool.
And it’s not like there’s ever a bad time to listen to “Rising Sun”.
Author’s note: As pointed out by Cagesider signor below, the “guitarist and percussionist” are actually Mike Lauri and John Alicastro, the musical duo known as CFO$ who are responsible for most of the current crop of excellent WWE themes.