The King of Strong Style, Shinshuke Nakamura has taken the WWE Universe by storm. After captivating the NXT fans with an year of rollicking performances, Nakamura has made Smackdown Live his playground. He is all set to challenge WWE champion Jinder Mahal at No Mercy. Here are 5 things you did not know about Shinsuke Nakamura!
1. Youngest IGWP champion
The IGWP championship is owned by the famous Japanese promotion of New Japan Pro Wrestling(NJPW). Nakamura became the youngest individual to become the prestigious IGWP champion at the age of 23 years and 9 months. He defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan to win the coveted championship.
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Nakamura would remain as one of the shining lights of NJPW. As a part of the elite group ‘New Three Musketeers’ comprising of Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata, he captivated audiences like no one else. He would go on to become a three time NJPW champion. He was also popular with the moniker ‘ The Super Rookie’.
2. The Artist vs The Beast
Currently a matchup between Brock Lesnar and Shinsuke Nakamura would easily be the Wrestlemania event. However, these two superstars have already faced off against each other a decade back. Both of them are previous IGWP champions and have battled it out in the same arena where The Beast outclassed the Artist.
In hindsight, this fight appears to be completely out of tune to the current dynamics. It took place before Lesnar had achieved ‘The Beast’ tag following his UFC Heavyweight Championship victory and Nakamura acquiring the ‘Swagsuke’ personality. One can only hope these two superstars can lock horns again, this time in the WWE.
3. Happy Song – Japanese Version
The hugely popular song by Pharrell Williams struck a chord with audiences all around the world. Its feel good tunes appealed to the masses and a special Japanese version was creation to gain more traction. Its not hard to guess whom they took onboard for the same. It was the King of Strong Style, Shinsuke Nakamura himself!
It features Nakamura adorning his ‘Thriller’ jacket and a white championship belt while displaying his dancing moves. This was widely popularized in the internet wrestling community in the form of GIFS and images. This move further intensified the charisma of ‘The Artist’ known as Shinsuke Nakamura.
4. The King of ‘Five Star’ Matches
Dave Meltzer is a well known figure in the internet wrestling community and his ratings for WWE matches are highly regarded. Among several championships, another feather in the cap of a wrestler is to receive a 5 star match rating from The Wrestling Observer.
Nakamura has won this honor not once, but on two different occasions. He earned this distinction in 2015 during his contests with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi. Nakamura could have easily made it three during his amazing NXT debut match against Sami Zayn. However, that was not to be much to the chagrin and shock of his fans.
5. Daily dose of Shinsuke Nakamura
This is for all the Nakamura addicts out there. Started by a fan with his Twitter account DailyNakamura, he posts different pictures of Nakamura every day. Also going under the name “Nakamura Inspiration”, some of the posted pictures come from official pages while some are fan art pictures.
Over 400 pieces of images and media is available on this Twitter page and still runs strong. This emphaizes the kind of cult following Nakamura has over his legion of fans worldwide. “Pictures of Shinsuke Nakamura to inspire you to be your best, swaggest self every day”, says the Twitter bio.
