Start!!

Only a few days ago, Smackdown wrestler Rick Boogs went down with a nasty knee injury in his tag title match alongside Shinsuke Nakamura. The duo, who have been teaming for multiple months now, are dead in the water as it stands now that Boogs is out of commission. What will Shinsuke Nakamura do now? Well, this is where the one named Elias comes into play.

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Gone!

Following Wrestlemania, and the dissolution of the brand split as a whole, Shinsuke Nakamura isn’t seen physically on TV for a bit. Vignettes of him and a mystery butler figure appear though, with Nakamura speaking in his native Japanese in a fancy home, saying that he’ll be back soon, and he’ll be better than ever. These vignettes play up until the go-home Monday Night Raw before Wrestlemania Backlash. Shinsuke Nakamura comes to the stage during this time announcing to the world via new translator Joe Gacy that he and his mystery butler will be inserted into the tag team gauntlet for the newly reintroduced WWE Tag Titles!

Now, we’ll finally get to see who this mystery butler is - of course if you read the title you probably know who it is.

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Backlash!!!

WWE Tag Team Title Gauntlet: Shinsuke Nakamura and ??? vs. Alpha Academy vs. The Usos vs. The Street Prophets vs. Jinder Mahal and Shanky vs. The Dirty Dawgs

We won’t be going over the whole match due to time constraints regarding the word limit, but we will hit the key points of the match. To start, Shinsuke enters the ring alone second to last with Alpha Academy in the ring alongside him. He talks to the referee, seemingly distracting him and buying time for him and his partner. A masked man in his best Sunday attire comes from behind and thwacks Otis over the head with a serving plate. He unmasks to reveal..

It’s Elias! Elias is Shinsuke Nakamura’s new assistant. The same beard and ponytail are in-tact, but much better kept. The two men run roughshod over Academy and pin them to eliminate them. Up next are the final entrants in the match: final Smackdown tag team champions The Usos! The match is competitive between the two teams, but another plate shot ends up getting the win for the duo of Shinsuke and Sir Elias!

WINNERS, and NEW WWE Tag Team Champions: Shinsuke Nakamura and Elias!

With this, Nakamura, Sir Elias, and Joe Gacy have cemented themselves as a strong part of the tag team division. But despite being similarly evil in nature, The Usos aren’t gonna stand to lose off of a bullshit plate-shot: the pot is calling the kettle black, and it’s calling it loud.

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Hell!!!!

No Disqualification WWE Tag Team Title Match: Nakamuira-Tsukiai (Shinsuke Nakamura and Sir Elias) © vs. The Usos (Jimmy and Jey Uso)

In the build-up to the match, both Jimmy and Jey would have singles matches with Nakamura and Elias, with the record evening out as a win for Shinsuke over Jimmy, and a loss for Sir Elias over Jey. Because of the less than clean nature of the gauntlet’s ending, this match at Hell in a Cell is a no disqualification match.

Both teams - albeit with the Usos being more adept to the match type - would use it to their advantage, with The Usos sticking to normal weapons and Tsukiai bringing a few creative weapons into the fray, such as Joe Gacy interfering with a Japanese to English dictionary shot to the back. In the end, the 3-2 advantage would be too much for the Usos, and Tsukiai would escape with their gold once again.

WINNERS, and STILL WWE Tag Team Champions: Shinsuke Nakamura and Elias!

Worth mentioning is that during this time, Elias has been learning many of Nakamura’s tricks, moves, and general knowledge of striking, practically becoming a mini-Nakamura in that time. The duo is gonna need that help given their next challenge, however…

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Weed!!!!!!

The night after Hell in a Cell, Gacy is translating for Nakamura and saying that they simply have no challengers. No one is good enough to beat them, etc. But then, some familiar music hits…

It’s MSK! They’ve come from NXT 2.0 to challenge the duo for their belts! Nakamura stands back from them, complaining to Gacy about a strong smell coming from the duo. No matter though, as the match is on for their titles right now! The match ends in a no-contest after Nakamura and Elias would simply walk out of the match to preserve their titles. This would lead to a match made for Money in the Bank by GM Adam Pearce, where if Tsukiai would lose via countout, MSK would win the titles!

WWE Tag Team Title Match: Shinsuke and Elias © vs. MSK

The match would be a competitive, fast affair in the early-goings with the normal shenanigans going on by both sides. But just when MSK looked to be outnumbered by Gacy, one very special man shows back up: Rick Boogs! Now walking perfectly, he takes out Gacy to a massive ovation and helps MSK to pick up the WWE Tag Team Titles!

WINNERS, and NEW WWE Tag Team Champions: MSK!

Boogs and Elias would stare one another down after the match, leading to only one path: a match at the Summer’s biggest party, Summerslam!

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Boogie!!!

Summerslam 2022: Sir Elias vs. Rick Boogs

The match is heated from the start, Elias wanting to prove his worth as Shinsuke’s new buddy, butler, and bodyguard, and Boogs desperately wanting the old Nakamura back so he could have his friend back. Very little interference would take place, Boogs flanked by MSK for this match to even the odds on the outside, but that would ultimately be the downfall of Boogs. Elias would make Boogs submit with the Cross-Armbreaker he learned from Nakamura to end the match, and Boogs’ chances.

Nakamura would shoo him away, and ride into the sunset with his new friend, big things on the horizon for them.