[2016-04-01-WWE-NXT-Takeover Dallas] Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura

[Superstar Sleeze]

Sami Zayn vs Shinsuke Nakamura - WWE NXT 4/1/16

I actually watched this in real-time and remember being unimpressed. I stopped watching NXT after this show because I wanted to have a normal social life in my 20s. I can admit when I’m wrong and this match is definitely great. I don’t think it is a classic but I do think it is a lot better than I remember.

It is pretty shocking the Nakamura-WWE relationship still exists after 10+ years. I didn’t think it would go well back in 2016 and sadly I was right and I don’t know why it still it exists. In 2018-19, after watching a lot of Nakamura in New Japan and watching a lot of Nakamura on Smackdown weekly that it just wasn’t going to work. Nakamura is not a high spot wrestler. The WWE house style actively works against him. My recollection was that New Japan presented him as the best wrestler but into a badass way like Hashimoto or Sasaki or a shoot-y way like Takayama or Fujita but as a counter wrestler. He was a problem Tanahashi and later Okada had to solve because he could change the complexion of a match on a dime. WWE house style doesnt really work with a counter wrestling defensive style because they present an high spot vs high spot narrative. 

This match is the exception that proves the rule because for one night before the producers and agents got a hold of him Nakamura presented a New Japan Nakamura match in a WWE ring against a game Zayn. It didn’t hurt that this was peak NXT and the crowd was rabid for this match before it even started and stayed molten throughout. 

One thing I need to get out of the way what others call charisma with Nakamura I just find weird and off-putting. For that reason I am not and never have really been a Nakamura guy BUT I have rated some of his matches very highly so I can look past it. I do think this match succeeds in spite of his weirdness. 

The opening is nothing too exciting but they do establish that Nakamura is the superior counter wrestler. Time and time again, Nakamura slips a kick or a knee to Zayn’s face when he least expects. They set it up in different ways but the result is always the same Nakamura foot ends up in Zayn‘S mush. Also both wrestlers are babyfaces and they handle it well. Working a very symmetrical match. Zayn gets a couple big dives to kick off the excitement. They work one of the best stand and bang segments of the 21st century because they dont wait to get hit and sell how tough they are. Instead, they hit through each others offense and go for maximum damage where Nakamura ends up with a bloody nose. The best part of the match is when Nakamura incensed wins the strike exchange STOMPS a mud hole in Zayn and walks it dry. That actually felt like an Inokiist spot! The crowd did chant King of Strong Style which while lame if you’re going to do it that was the time. From there they work a really smart babyface symmetry match. Sami’s Koji’s Clutch Vs Nakamura flash flying cross arm breaker. Each needs a counter to use their secondary moves…Blue Thunder vs Landslide. Great kick to counter the Sami DDT through the post I forgot about that Sami spot. I liked the last gasp of Zayn trying the exploder to set up the Helluva Kick but Nakamura beats him down. There finish is excellent Kinshasa to the back of the head and then one to the front. 

Great Nakamura match that felt like New Japan in a WWE ring. Unfortunately his WWE debut was the Peak of his WWE run. Mundane front half means I can’t go higher than **** but after the strike exchange this thing cooks.