Ranking Shinsuke Nakamura’s 10 Best WWE Matches So Far
Company canvasses have already been graced by 'The Artist'
By just about every measure, Shinsuke Nakamura was risky business for WWE. Symbiotically, WWE was risky business for Shinsuke Nakamura.
Despite his obvious and incredible talents, the 'King of Strong Style' was not traditionally the sort of performer that would be given the freedom to get over using the things he could do, and based on prior precedent would likely be forced to face certain harmful prejudices highlighting areas in which he struggled.
Truthfully, there have been some early wobbles since his enigmatic arrival on SmackDown Live! two nights after WrestleMania.
Subtle alterations such as a font change on his TitanTron and the ugly 'Vibe' t-shirt added to WWEShop.com were palatable enough, but a sudden over-reliance on referring to the 'King of Strong Style' as 'The Artist Known As...' and the befuddling decision to have him speak with his mouthguard in were altogether more troubling.
Akin to AJ Styles in experience and pedigree, Nakamura could have emerged immediately onto the main roster after signing in early 2016, but the decision to afford him some seasoning on NXT provided a year's worth of matches and moment that established an entirely separate legacy for the New Japan icon.
With a pay-per-view promoted entirely around his maiden encounter with Dolph Ziggler, the company would be well served to review where things have already gone so right. Amassing a fabulous selection of encounters up and down the developmental brand, Shinsuke was a 'WWE Superstar' the moment he stepped out on to the NXT stage.
10. Vs Tye Dillinger (NXT TV, April 13th 2016)
A short but memorable encounter between NXT's two latest main roster graduates was the highlight of a rotten set of television tapings at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center the day before WrestleMania 32.
Just 24 hours after his breathtaking debut (more on that later), 'The King of Strong Style' wrestled twice in one day in front of an Axxess crowd that would go down as the poorest in the developmental brand's televised history.
The usually white hot NXT product played mostly to silence from a crowd of WWE gift shop enthusiasts and those waiting to grab a picture with Randy Orton, but the magnificence of Nakamura and increasingly-relatable Tye Dillinger lifted the audience to a more acceptable decibel level.
Still a mysterious figure, Shinsuke was able to confuse and delight in equal measure, with his unique method of mind games overawing 'The Perfect 10'. A memorable moment for both, Nakamura joining Dillinger in his own 'Ten' taunt was a superb moment of realisation for Tye. Rattled by his opponent's demeanour, he'd fall to the Kinshasa minutes later.
His contest with Elias Samson later that day (taped to air a fortnight later as the crew bottled a full month of television) couldn't compete, but was notable again for rare crowd participation thanks again to the dynamism of the enigmatic new Japanese star.