Shinsuke Nakamura Injury: Updates on WWE NXT Star's Knee and Return

WWE announced Tuesday former NXT champion Shinsuke Nakamura won't require surgery on the knee he injured in his defeat to Bobby Roode at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio on Jan. 28. 

Continue for updates.

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No Timetable for Nakamura's Return

Tuesday, Feb. 7

While Nakamura avoided surgery, it's unclear when he'll be healthy enough to return to the ring. 

His knee injury played a pivotal role in the title change. It provided Roode an opening to hit two Glorious DDTs and pick up his first title since joining NXT.

WWE's announcement is a nice way to continue the storyline and write Nakamura off NXT programming for the time being until he either receives his rematch against Roode or gets called up to Raw or SmackDown Live.

Nakamura first won the NXT Championship at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II last August, and since then, he has been a fixture in the title scene while feuding with Samoa Joe and then Roode leading up to the last TakeOver.

As talented as Nakamura is, he has arguably accomplished all he can in NXT, and all parties involved would benefit from his taking a step back for a few weeks.

Nakamura's brief break would make his eventual WWE debut all the more impactful and surprising, which was the case when Samoa Joe showed up on Raw last week—his first televised appearance since his loss to Nakamura in Osaka, Japan that aired Dec. 28 on the WWE Network.