Wrestling companies will never complain about too much star power, so even with most of WWE’s biggest current names available right now, we doubt Chief Content Officer Paul “Triple H” Levesque is going to be upset to have a former Royal Rumble winner and a recent World Heavyweight champion back in the mix this fall.
Some recent reports point to Shinsuke Nakamura and Gunther returning to WWE television “very soon”… possibly as soon as tonight’s SmackDown.
Nakamura’s been off our screens since losing
to Cody Rhodes in a first round King of the Ring tournament match on the June 13 SmackDown. But he was getting an almost Wyatt-like reintroduction on last Friday’s episode, which Bodyslam.net’s Cory Hayes said was part of an effort “to reintroduce him to TV again” before his advertised return for WWE’s tour of Japan next month.
The 45-year-old King of Strong Style has also been spotted in Toledo, Ohio today (Sept. 19) by multiple PWInsider tipsters. That’s the site of tonight’s Wrestlepalooza go home edition of SmackDown, so expect continued lurking… unless Nak opts to attack his first-ever WWE opponent after Sami Zayn’s United States title defense against Carmelo Hayes.
In addition to the former IWGP Heavyweight, WWE NXT, Intercontinental and U.S. champ, the newest Wrestling Observer Newsletter reports that the recently deposed WWE World Heavyweight champion is expected back “very soon”. Gunther’s been away since an injury angle at SummerSlam, where he dropped Raw’s top title to CM Punk (for a few seconds, until Seth Rollins cashed in and took it). The bloody nose Der Ring General suffered on-screen was covering for a legitimate nose injury, and a little less than two months after surgery, he’s ready to return.
Will that be tonight, or tomorrow as one of Triple H’s Wrestlepalooza surprises? Excited to have these guys back in the fold?
