5 WWE Dream Matches For Shinsuke Nakamura

Nakamura and Balor
Image Source: wwe.com

Shinsuke Nakamura has been on a hot streak since joining the world of WWE. The international megastar is a trailblazer, making a bigger splash in his opening months than any other Japanese performer has done in the history of Vince McMahon’s company. The NXT fans at Full Sail University, admittedly some of the smarkiest and most passionate in America, are already singing along to his entrance music.

This past week the King of Strong Style took on former NXT champion Finn Balor in a strong match of the year contender. Without spoiling the result, let’s just say both guys look so main roster ready that old Vincey-Boy needs to look up from his Roman Reigns photo collage right now. In the wise words of the great Jim Ross, Nakamura is a blue chipper. He hits the ropes hard, and he hits his knees harder.

Did anyone expect Nakamura to be where he is already? In many ways, his old home of New Japan Pro Wrestling can boast a level of in ring storytelling that has internet smarks sneering at WWE. With this in mind, many hardcore fans will be salivating over the crop of WWE stars Nakamura might soon throw down with. Here’s our top five picks.

 

1. Samoa Joe

Image Source: thecapitalsportsreport.com
Image Source:
thecapitalsportsreport.com

Nakamura has yet to have a big WWE match against a genuine established heel. His bouts against Balor and Sami Zayn were face versus face contests, while Austin Aries is almost as new to the company as Nakamura is. Samoa Joe on the other hand? He holds a a WWE sanctioned championship.

When it comes to in-ring styles, both Joe and Nakamura offer something distinct from the traditional WWE mould. Both hit hard, and neither fit the classic look which Vince McMahon has always loved. If the next NXT Takeover show is headlined by these two expect something you’ve never seen before.

 

2. Kevin Owens

Kevin owens entrance
Source: Bleacher Report

Of all the dream matches on this list, this one might be our favourite. In leaving New Japan, Nakamura has left a world where ring psychology and in-ring storytelling might be the best in the world. You only have to watch the main event of January’s Wrestle Kingdom 10 to know this.

Ring psychology is hard to explain – it’s about making matches feel like real fights. It’s selling attacks, it’s appearing to have a strategy and pinpointing your opponents weaknesses. No one in WWE right now does this better than Kevin Owens. It’s why, despite his shape and size, he’s one of the company’s biggest assets. Owens versus Nakamura would be an exhibition in how to tell a story in a wrestling ring. It would look brutal, and you’d be hooked from the opening bell.

 

3. Seth Rollins

Seth Rollins
Source: rollinspics

Dream match. Internet wrestling nerds have been fantasy booking this one for years. Second only to Rollins taking on current IWGP Heavyweight champ Kazuchika Okada himself, the Architect Versus the King of Strong Style should already be pencilled in for a future Wrestlemania main event.

A pairing that could easily give us a 40 minute classic, Nakamura and Rollins would match hard hitting knees and elbows with high flying power moves. Both are widely considered to be in the top five active wrestlers in the world, and if it were built right this could have that rare big match feel. New Japan versus WWE – a battle for the soul of modern wrestling.

 

4. Cesaro

Cesaro
Image Source:
wrestlingrumours.net

The Swiss Superman puts on good matches with virtually everyone he faces. For a time, he even managed to make The Miz look interesting. Now though, he’s once again languishing in the midcard with nothing to do, seemingly forgotten once more by Vince and creative. Imagine what Cesaro could do with a midcard title run? He’s surely in the perfect place to elevate a belt, and Nakamura might be the perfect sparring partner.

This is the kind of match WWE creative are liable to waste on an episode of Smackdown, but a properly built story between these two could seriously deliver at a pay-per-view level. Matching Cesaro’s preternatural strength with Nakamura’s uncompromising knees is a story that tells itself. How would each competitor handle the other? Would Swiss super strength triumph over strong style, or vice versa?

 

5. AJ Styles

Nakamura and AJ Styles
Image Source:
thestashed.com

You knew this one was coming. The Phenomenal AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura have history. At New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 10 back in January, the pair put on an all time classic. And sure, for really hardcore fans it wouldn’t be anything we haven’t seen before, but just think about it for a second. Right now, the man WWE is parading around as its champion earned his wrestling stripes in Combat Zone Wrestling and Dragon’s Gate USA. The former Kevin Steen and Tyler Black are the two biggest heels in the company. Indie wrestling has won its silent invasion of WWE, and we didn’t even notice.

What better way to acknowledge this than to see AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura square off in the main event of a WWE pay-per-view? That would be the real start of a new era.

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