WWE News: Shinsuke Nakamura Talks ‘WrestleMania,’ Michael Jackson, Strong Style
One year ago, at the NXT TakeOver event right before WrestleMania 32, Japanese wrestling legend Shinsuke Nakamura made his WWE debut in a match against Sami Zayn. WWE fans knew he was coming and some had even seen him wrestle for New Japan, but no one really expected him to have a WWE Match of the Year candidate in his first time out.
Now, one year later, Shinsuke Nakamura is set to face Bobby Roode at the NXT TakeOver event before WrestleMania 33 to try to win back the NXT title he previously held. For the second year in a row, the piercing violins will ring out to introduce what might be the match of the night involving Shinsuke Nakamura.
In a recent interview with ESPN, Shinsuke Nakamura said that he knew that was just the beginning of what he called his desire to take over the world of professional wrestling in the WWE after a career spent in Japan.
“For a long time, almost 14 years, I wrestled in Japan, so I didn’t think I would leave New Japan Pro Wrestling, but I started changing my mind. I wanted to see the other world. I wanted to change something. I wanted to be bigger. I wanted to change my world so I felt it was my destiny to come here.”
Shinsuke Nakamura had wrestled some of the biggest names in the world of professional wrestling and WWE in Japan, including AJ Styles and Brock Lesnar. However, the NXT match was the first time that Shinsuke Nakamura ever wrestled Sami Zayn, which made the fact that their match was so great so impressive.
In the interview, Shinsuke Nakamura also said that his entrance is 90 percent when it comes to importance for his character. That makes him pretty successful already because the Shinsuke Nakamura WWE entrance song, “Rising Sun,” cracked 1 million views.
Another important thing for Shinsuke Nakamura is his entire personality in the ring because there is no one like him in the WWE. His wrestling style is called Strong Style, which is similar to what Samoa Joe does where all flashy WWE moves are replaced by moves that actually look like they hurt.
Added to that, Shinsuke Nakamura is one of the flashiest wrestlers in the WWE with his movements and demeanor looking nothing like you would expect from a Strong Style wrestler. It is interesting to hear who influenced Shinsuke Nakamura when it comes to his character.
“With Michael Jackson, when he moved, it looked like a martial artist to me. He was quicker than other dancers but he didn’t have muscles; he was just quicker and looked more in control of gravity. He looked like a martial arts master so I tried to steal body movement from him; that’s why I imitate Michael Jackson a little bit.”
Shinsuke Nakamura made his debut before WrestleMania 32 and has already held the NXT title twice since that time, only the second person to do so with Samoa Joe being the first. Samoa Joe is already on the WWE main roster and it won’t be long before Shinsuke Nakamura is there as well.
According to Shinsuke Nakamura, he wants to be on the big stage and is waiting for his eventual debut on a WrestleMania show. Shinsuke Nakamura also feels that he is ready, pointing out that he was wrestling in giant arenas before ever arriving in the WWE thanks to the large-scale presence of New Japan.
According to Shinsuke Nakamura, he wants to be an inspiration to people everywhere in the world, which is why he chose to come to the WWE. He called what he does art and said that he can connect with anyone in the world while he is in the ring. It is just a matter of time before Shinsuke Nakamura is on the main WWE roster and his WrestleMania moment will come soon.
[Featured Image by WWE]
