Shinsuke Nakamura
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- Shinsuke Nakamura is not to be confused with Shunsuke Nakamura, the Japanese football player.
| Shinsuke Nakamura | |
| Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Shinsuke Nakamura |
| Billed height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) |
| Billed weight | 111 kg (245 lb) |
| Born | February 14, 1980 Mineyama, Kyoto, Japan |
| Debut | August 29, 2002 |
Shinsuke Nakamura (uäok中邑真輔; Nakamura Shinsuke) is a Japanese professional wrestler currently working for New Japan Pro Wrestling, where he is a former two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
Contents |
[edit] Career
Nakamura joined NJPW in 2002 and quickly began making a name for himself as a bright prospect for the company. Having earned the nickname "Super Rookie", Nakamura impressed both NJPW officials and fans with an excellent combination of strength, speed, and technical skill. On December 9, 2003, Nakamura defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, thus becoming the youngest wrestler in history to win the title. Nakamura held the IWGP Tag Team Championship with Hiroshi Tanahashi after winning it in a decision match by beating Kensuke Sasaki and Minoru Suzuki at the end of 2004. They left for an excursion to Mexico where they feuded with Los Guerreros del Infierno and defended their titles against Rey Bucanero and Olímpico. A few weeks later, on October 30, 2005, they lost the titles to Masahiro Chono and Tenzan.
Shinsuke Nakamura also has competed in mixed martial arts against the likes of Alexey Ignashov and "Giant" Nortje in various mixed martial arts events.
Nakamura challenged Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on January 4, 2006, but lost.
In March 2006, Nakamura announced that he would depart on a learning excursion in order to further improve his wrestling skills. Among other things, he would travel to Mexico, Brazil and Russia, as well as train with Brock Lesnar at his personal gym in order to gain muscle mass.
NJPW President Simon Inoki later suggested that as part of his learning excursion, Nakamura would be loaned to WWE to gain experience in working large American shows; this was reportedly at the request of John Laurinaitis and Dean Malenko.[1] However, it proved to be mostly speculation and never came to pass, as Nakamura was urgently needed back in New Japan due to Lesnar's departure.
On September 24, 2006, Nakamura made his long awaited return to New Japan. He had greatly improved his muscular mass during his overseas training and now weighs in 245 pounds. He also debuted a new finisher, called the Landslide, to take advantage of his newly-acquired power-up of strength. Despite his increased muscular mass, Nakamura still remains as mobile in the ring as he has ever been. However, due to not being entirely used to it, he fell on December 10, 2006 in a IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge to champion Tanahashi and January 4, 2007 in the Tokyo Dome to Toshiaki Kawada. In late 2007, Nakamura established the stable known as "RISE" consisting of himself, Minoru, Milano Collection AT, Hirooki Goto, Giant Bernard, Travis Tomko, and Prince Devitt. Low Ki was later added to the stable after Milano was injured, having impressed NJPW officials during an appearance when he was still with TNA Wrestling.
On January 4, 2008 Nakamura defeated his rival Tanahashi in the main event of the Wrestle Kingdom II show, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the second time. He followed that up with defeating Kurt Angle on February 17, 2008 to win the IWGP Third Belt Championship and unify it with his own title. He lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Keiji Mutoh in Osaka on April 27, 2008.
September 5, 2008 Nakamura and stable mate Hirooki Goto challenged TOGI Makabe and Toru Yano for the IWGP Tag team titles but failed, afterwards Giant Bernard and Rick Fuller attacked Goto and Nakamura and joined Makabe's GBH group along with the returning Low ki. He also failed to win back the IWGP Title from Keiji Mutoh in October.
On February 15, 2009 Nakamura got a match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi but failed to win.
It was announced that Nakamura will be participing on the annual New Japan Cup.
[edit] In wrestling
- Finishing and signature moves
-
- Cross armbar
- Landslide (Samoan driver)
- Shining Triangle (Nakamura steps off one of the kneeling opponent's knees and quickly applies a triangle choke)
- Death Valley driver
- El Niño (Springboard moonsault)
- Front facelock sleeper hold
- Multiple suplex variations
-
- Cradle, sometimes followed by floating over into a heel hook
- Bridging / Release German
- Bridging / Release belly to back
- Exploder
-
- "The Super Rookie"
- "The Black Savior"
-
- "Moving City"
- "Subconscious"
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
1After winning the IWGP Third Belt Championship, the title was unified with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, which Nakamura also held at the time.
2After winning the NWF Heavyweight Championship, the title was unified with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, which Nakamura also held at the time.
[edit] References
- ^ Clark, Ryan (2008-09-18). "The Complete 'PWI 500' List For 2008". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. WrestlingInc.com. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/news/2008/918/randy_orton_346514.shtml. Retrieved on 2009-03-12.
- ^ Newspaper article of Nakamura's move to WWE (in Japanese)
