Ranking Shinsuke Nakamura’s 10 Best WWE Matches So Far
2. Vs Bobby Roode (NXT TakeOver: Orlando)
With expectations tempered from their mildly disappointing first encounter, Shinsuke Nakamura and Bobby Roode told a sensational story in a rematch that would prove to be the former's NXT farewell match.
Still nursing the knee injury sustained in their San Antonio clash two months earlier, Nakamura went into the battle wounded but wiser, and made a conscious effort to tackle the champion at his own game by matching 'The Glorious One' move for move.
Stripped of some of the theatrics, Nakamura's measured performance highlighted his versatility in a way unlike any of his masterful prior displays.
Engaging in a technical masterpiece with one of the best to inhibit the style, 'The King of Strong Style' went hold for hold with Roode before again succumbing to the laser-focussed technical wizardry of the champion.
Fighting over suplexes and throws, Nakamura rapidly re-built his killer presence in the early portion of the match, but came undone yet again after Roode took out his knee following a failed Kinshasa attempt.
From then, the contest took the finest moments from their first encounter and morphed into a contemporary classic.
Remaining relentless on the challenger's bad wheel, Roode was majestic in his occasionally nefarious effort to retain the title. Similarly, Nakamura was presented as genuinely desperate for the first time in his career, adding a new string to his bow as a sympathetic babyface.
Selling the impact of his own kicks but with little offence left to try, Nakamura suffered yet another brace of Glorious DDTs to ultimately signal his spectacular ascent to the main roster.