Shinsuke Nakamura on Possibility of Leaving WWE: ‘That Is a Big Decision’

Shinsuke Nakamura’s WWE contract expires in January 2019. An apparently, WWE’s United State Champion has yet to make up his mind on what’s next for his wrestling career.

In January of 2016, Nakamura along with AJ Styles signed three-year deals with Vince McMahon‘s wrestling conglomerate. In an interview with Inside the Ropes, Nakamura took a page out of Brock Lesnar’s business book and kept his WWE future rooted in ambiguity.

That is a big decision,” Nakamura said. “Florida’s waves are better than Japan, it’s just an hour drive to the beach but just once a week I’m able to go to the surfing. But in Japan, if there’s a hurricane so I lived across from the beach, just a ten-minute walk. It’s hard to choose,” he said.

We doubt Nakamura’s decision will be based on which location promises better surfing, but maybe things really are that simple for the US Champion. Regardless of what’s next, Nakamura seems to be enjoying the present.

“I’m enjoying every moment more so now,” Nakamura explained. “[It’s] my real emotion.”

Earlier this summer, a report indicated that New Japan Wrestling was interested in bringing back Nakamura once his WWE contract finished. However, there was little detail as to how likely that was.

Nakamura spent the first year of the WWE deal in NXT. After a stint as NXT Champion, Nakamura was called up and sent to SmackDown. While some fans may argue his first full year on WWE’s roster was a letdown, Nakamura went on to win the 2018 Royal Rumble. That officially punched his ticket to face WWE Champion Aj Styles at WrestleMania in a dream match the most fans believed would never happen in a WWE ring. Nakamura came up short at ‘Mania—and the subsequent three tries—but was seemingly handed the Us Championship in consultation.

Moving forward, Nakamura will need to book a challenger for the US Championship at Hell in Cell. Having seemingly closed the book on Jeff Hardy, Nakamura may be ready to for Randy Orton. However, Orton has specifically targeted Hardy since his return and those two veterans may go do their own thing for Hell in a Cell. That means that Nakamura may get challenged by the budding Andrade Alams, or, if we may, a returning Rey Mysterio.

However, January will be here soon enough, and if Nakamura begins slipping down WWE’s card as 2019 approaches, it may be a sure sign he’s leaving the company. But given that Nakamura has yet to finish two full years on the main roster, and is the incumbent Royal Rumble winner,r the odds of him actually bouncing seem slim.

[H/T Wrestling Inc.]