Shinsuke Nakamura has been off television for several months as his last televised match happened when he lost to Santos Escobar back in November on an episode of WWE SmackDown.
There has been speculation as to why WWE didn’t have him work the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on tonight’s episode of SmackDown.
Dave Meltzer reported in the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that WWE decided to put Nakamura on the sidelines until after WrestleMania 39. He wrote,
“Regarding questions about Nakamura, we’re told he’s on hold until after WrestleMania.”