WWE NXT: Shinsuke Nakamura's 5 Best Matches

Shinsuke Nakamura, WWE.com

As the NXT Champion prepares to take on Bobby Roode this weekend, we look back at Shinsuke Nakamura’s best matches in NXT thus far.

With NXT TakeOver: San Antonio scheduled to take place this coming Saturday night, and a brand new adversary in Bobby Roode looming on the horizon, the immediate future of NXT Champion Shinsuke Nakamura remains up in the air.

Prior to recapturing the title from Samoa Joe in Japan back in December, it looked as though Nakamura would be next in line for a promotion to the main roster.

But with Joe’s record-setting second reign with the gold lasting a mere two weeks, it’s more than likely that “The Samoan Submission Specialist” will be making his presence felt on the primary WWE program a lot sooner than “The King of Strong Style” – perhaps even as soon as Sunday’s Royal Rumble event.

That said, Shinsuke Nakamura is coming up on his first full year with NXT in April, and he’s had such a tremendous nine months with the brand that any promotion to the live weekly touring schedule of WWE is likely to result in success.

The man has proven himself to be one of the most stylistic, charismatic athletes in the company, and even with the ever-diminishing language barrier, he would be a vital acquisition to Raw or SmackDown Live when the time should come. Just look at the list of incredible performances that Nakamura has put in since signing a contract.

From his debut to the latest TakeOver, the man has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was the right choice to take over from Finn Bálor as the face of NXT.

But before we see to Bobby Roode’s first one-on-one NXT Championship opportunity, there’s no harm in journeying back to take a look at exactly why Shinsuke Nakamura is heading into this big-time event with the Holy Grail of NXT wrapped around his waist. Let’s take a look at Shinsuke Nakamura’s five best matches on NXT.

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5. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Austin Aries – NXT TakeOver: The End

The announcement of a battle between Austin Aries and Shinsuke Nakamura was a rather exhilarating one heading into NXT TakeOver: The End, and for a number of reasons. First of all, these two men both debuted in early 2016, as two of the WWE’s most shocking – and brilliant – acquisitions of the last few years.

Fans were drooling with anticipation when “The Greatest Man That Ever Lived” made his surprise debut in NXT, jumping straight into a program with Baron Corbin, and the impact that Nakamura had made in his debut was already making the rounds across the globe as one of the best matches the WWE had put forward in years.

There are few platforms where two world-renowned athletes like Shinsuke Nakamura and Austin Aries would be able to face off in one-on-one action, but NXT played the perfect host to what would inevitably be a thrilling contest between them.

The second reason is the fact that with several stars in Enzo, Cass, Crews, and Corbin heading up to the main roster following WrestleMania, and with Finn Bálor finishing his championship program with Samoa Joe, the brand was in need of a new star to head up to the main event. Naturally, the winner of this encounter would be a shoo-in to receive that huge opportunity.

The match itself was great, with a lot of back-and-forth action allowing both men to shine. The tension slowly started to rise, and the pace soon quickened with both Aries and Nakamura attempting to achieve the upper hand against one another.

It would be the latter’s quick thinking, however, that would see him evade Aries’ devastating Heat Seeking Missile outside dive – sending Double A directly into the barricade – setting “The King of Strong Style” up to deliver a brutal Kinshasa in the ring, and pin the TNA alumni in both man’s second high-stakes match in NXT.

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4. Samoa Joe vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

After big victories over Sami Zayn, Austin Aries, and Finn Bálor in the opening months of Shinsuke Nakamura’s time with NXT, William Regal opted to reward Nakamura’s impressive run with a championship match against Samoa Joe at NXT TakeOver.

The match was built around the impact Nakamura had made in his previous encounters – amassing an impressive undefeated streak in the process – and how Samoa Joe was unconvinced that he even deserved a title opportunity given how long it took him to reach that point. Nevertheless, the match would go ahead as planned, and Nakamura would start to make things personal when he mocked the champion on an episode of NXT prior to the match, as he was being held back by security.

“The King of Strong Style” walked into New York with a champion’s aura about him, delivering what many will agree was the single most enthralling entrance in NXT history with a live violin performance by Lee England of his signature theme.

It wouldn’t phase Joe, however, who kept his composure throughout the match. That said, Nakamura’s dominance was too much for the titleholder, as after both men had managed to land several of their signature maneuvers, a vicious knee to the mouth of a seated Samoa Joe would be the beginning of the end for the man’s title reign.

That kick – that was said to have dislocated the jaw of the incredibly tough champion – would set Nakamura up for perhaps the most significant Kinshasa of his career to date – the one that would lead him directly to his first NXT Championship.

For some, the bout failed to live up to the hype, but in many cases, this match delivered exactly what it set out to. It turned Nakamura into the face of NXT – as expected following Finn Bálor’s departure – and it opened up a new chapter for the NXT Championship picture that would begin immediately following this event.

Credit: WWE.com

3. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Finn Bálor – NXT 07/13/16

If ever there was a “passing of the torch” moment in NXT, it was this classic battle between Shinsuke Nakamura and Finn Bálor last summer.

With the WWE draft fast approaching, many felt in their hearts that the days of “The Demon” in Full Sail were numbered, since he had little left to accomplish. The only thing he hadn’t done, however, was face off against the up-and-coming Shinsuke Nakamura in the dream match that many had been clamoring to see.

But when Bálor came out to address the fans, and discuss exactly what was next for him, he was interrupted by the ever-charismatic Nakamura. Proclaiming that “I have to beat… you” in order to reach the top, Nakamura issued the challenge and Bálor swiftly accepted, setting up one of the most mouth-watering bouts in NXT history.

The story of the match saw a battle for NXT superiority break out among two of wrestling’s finest. The former champion was not going to allow the rumors of his imminent departure to write him off, and as a result, he adapted to a far more methodical approach to exemplify his desire to win the match – and perhaps slot himself right back into the championship picture ahead of NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II.

In doing so, Bálor target the knee of Shinsuke Nakamura throughout the match, attempting to neutralize the most vindictive weapon in his opponent’s arsenal, all but eliminating the gruesome Kinshasa from the equation. However, Nakamura’s quest to become the face of NXT was not going to be squandered, and the man began to fight back through the pain and hardship of Bálor’s offence.

He’d go on to evade Bálor’s most debilitating maneuvers and strike with his patented knee to put the long-time face of the brand to rest, as he prepared to move onto bigger and better things against Samoa Joe the following month.

As Finn Bálor’s final contest with NXT, this was a special moment for both men, and the display of showmanship that followed the match would only increase the respect not only between these two men, but that the fans held for them as well.

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2. Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Samoa Joe – NXT TakeOver: Toronto

After winning the NXT Championship at the second Brooklyn-hosted NXT TakeOver event, the intensity in the feud between Shinsuke Nakamura and Samoa Joe was cranked way up. Following his debilitating title loss, Joe sought an audience with the man who beat him, only to blindside the new champion after a handshake on NXT.

For a moment, it looked like “The Samoan Submission Machine” would be turning over a new leaf, before showing an even more vindictive side to his sinister psyche.

Samoa Joe would continue the attack, slamming Nakamura onto the exposed steel steps, putting him out of commission for several weeks while Joe went on a tear through the NXT locker room. When Nakamura finally re-emerged, the animosity between these two men was at an all-time high, leading to one of NXT’s most personal main events when the brand hit Canada the night before Survivor Series.

This wasn’t a wrestling match – it was a fight, accentuated by the flurry of strikes from both men throughout. These two were brawling, all in the effort to prove themselves as the better man against their respective arch-rival.

Both Nakamura and Joe dug deep into their bag of tricks, trying to pull out everything they possibly could that would put their opponent away and allow them to walk out with the NXT Championship. The real shock, however, would be Samoa Joe’s decision to resort back to the steel stairs as a surefire way of putting the champ to rest, slamming Nakamura spine-first onto the steel, allowing him to collect the pinfall and become the first ever two-time NXT Champion.

Of course, the impact of this match has been somewhat sullied by the mere two weeks that Joe would hold the gold for the second time around, but the level of aggression shared by these two men both heading into the event and throughout the match, would help slot this bout right ahead as the best overall match of their feud.

The shock of Joe’s win would also fix what many believed had become a predictable formula – with the challenger winning the gold, and going on to retain it at the following event. This match, while big for both Samoa Joe and Shinsuke Nakamura’s character development, was also a big moment in attempting to refresh the NXT Championship picture and keep the fans on their toes – no matter for how long.

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1. Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura – NXT TakeOver: Dallas

Talk about setting the bar high. Fans unbeknownst to the mastery of Shinsuke Nakamura’s hard-hitting style knew very little about the man when heading into his debut match at NXT TakeOver: Dallas just before WrestleMania.

However, in a time where AJ Styles had just been picked up after a hugely beneficial stint in New Japan Pro Wrestling – not to mention additional recruits in Karl Anderson, Luke Gallows and Austin Aries around the same time – fans knew that the hype surrounding “The King of Strong Style” was not going to be disappointing.

They just didn’t know how big of a treat they had in store.

Throw in one of NXT’s all-time greats in Sami Zayn, who was heavily rumored to be wrestling his last match for the brand, and you’ve got a match-up with heaps of anticipation. It was Sami’s final hoorah and Nakamura’s first impression, and the pressure was on for both men to deliver a match worthy of the weekend.

The bout was back-and-forth with neither man picking up the upper hand, although the power behind Nakamura’s intense kicks was immediately pronounced.

Shinsuke’s aggressive approach was complemented excellently by Sami Zayn’s immense heart, and his drive to stay in the bout against all odds – allowing him to stand punch-for-punch with the Japanese sensation almost every step of the way.

After several high-impact strikes and maneuvers on both sides, not to mention the now infamous “fight forever” chant that the crowd debuted to express their adulation towards the close of the match, it would be Shinsuke’s contest to win with one final knee to the skull – introducing the WWE fans to the savagely violent Kinshasa.

The emotion behind this bout, on top of a ceaseless display of physical prowess on all parts, was enough to rightfully peg this as many a fan’s “Match of the Year”.

The handshake that followed would make for a fitting end to an instant classic, with one star heading on to become the NXT Champion later that year and the other going on to prove himself as a rightful WWE Superstar on the main roster.

Shinsuke Nakamura has a unique consistency to his matches, one that some fans actually use to debunk him as NXT’s most exhilarating performer. But regardless of your impression of the NXT Champion right now, there’s no denying that everyone was blown away when this particular match hit the WWE Network.

It was a masterpiece – professional wrestling at its very best – and it will go down in history alongside these two men when their careers are over and done.