Shinsuke Nakamura

[EnviousStupid]

GWE 2016 was the best time for Nakamura to have a place in many people's ballots. I suspect most were only following the major stuff from New Japan and when a match called for Shinsuke to turn it on, he was clearly one of the best in the world. But excluding that top end material, a lot of the time he was coasting off of his undeniable charisma and while that's not a dealbreaker for a project like this, it is something that gets exposed quickly in a weekly TV setting like WWE.

[aguakun]

I think there are few wrestlers more endearing than Shinsuke Nakamura, who protected the wrestling world during the martial arts boom and was a shining light during the dark ages of New Japan! He shouldered a lot during that time as a young wrestler (only 23 when he won the IWGP belt) and it has created an aura around him that is not easy to replicate. The best and most charismatic wrestlers are those who have gone through turmoil, whether personally or professionally, and were able to rise from the bottom. He is a wrestler whose career is defined by several major peaks, as the overburdened protege of Antonio Inoki, as the "King of Strong Style" and his current run as a WWE superstar.

[highflyflow]

I understand why his stock is down, and I promise I'm not commenting due to recency bias from his recent match with AJ Styles a couple days ago, but I really do feel like Nakamura's case might be getting overlooked. The WWE run is largely not great, but it's not like there aren't gems to be found in there, and I think his peak work in New Japan truly is as great now as it was in 2016 when he got on the list. I'm not as familiar with his 2000s work as Tanahashi's, but I love their series going back to early 2008 and I could see him getting boosted by a critical re-examination of that early run. If I vote for Nak, it'll be on the fringes since his last 10 years have been what they've been, but I do think he's worthy of discussion still.

[Boss Rock]

Curious what other WWE matches folks might recommend apart from Zayn and this recent A.J. match. I'm largely of the belief that his WWE run really hurts his case even if he did have a solid argument for best in the world during the first half of the 2010's. Feels more like a top 150-200 candidate to me.

[Mantaur Rodeo Clown]

Unrelated to his WWE run, but I just watched the Sakuraba match and it's still as fantastic as when it first happened. Just tremendous stuff.

I've said it before, but Nakamura signed a big money contract, had possibly the greatest debut match of all time against Zayn, and then rode the momentum of that for the next 10 years. Impressive from a business standpoint if nothing else. I still think he's a top 100 wrestler, even with what some would consider a dour run in the US. Considering how few Japanese wrestlers have ever succeeded in WWE, his success there is actually fairly remarkable.