Shinsuke Nakamura Names Jackie Chan as the Inspiration for His Wrestling Career

Published 05/23/2021, 10:08 AM EDT

Despite being labeled as underutilised and underrated, Shinsuke Nakamura has had a legendary wrestling career. Prior to WWE, Nakamura ruled the world of New Japan Pro Wrestling. The King of Strong Style is a legend, but he’s actually inspired by another legend.

Who inspired Shinsuke Nakamura to become a wrestler?

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Shinsuke Nakamura has held multiple titles in NJPW. He’s a three-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion and a five-time Intercontinental Champion.

Nakamura has faced and beaten the likes of Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi, the stars of NJPW’s current generation.

Although his WWE run hasn’t reflected his NJPW run, he’s still one of the most beloved wrestlers in the world. His inspiration is probably one of the most beloved actors in the world, which he revealed on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette. On the podcast, he revealed the reason he began wrestling along with his inspiration.

“I wanted to be a man, so that’s why I started. I was interesting in martial arts. Also, I’m a big fan of ninja and samurai, finally I found wrestling. So wrestlers do matches almost every day, so that makes me tough I think, then I should be a wrestler.”

Renee asked him if he watched Jackie Chan movies. “Yes, I watched Jackie Chan’s movies since I was in elementary school, he was very very popular in Asia.”

Although he doesn’t explicitly state it, it’s cool to assume Jackie Chan inspired Nakamura to become one of the greatest wrestlers in the world.

The King of Strong Style feuds with the King of SmackDown

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Shinsuke Nakamura’s year hasn’t been stellar. He kicked off the year with an amazing performance in a gauntlet match but couldn’t become #1 contender for the Universal Championship. After that, Nakamura picked up steam with a stunning rivalry with Seth Rollins, but he lost to the Messiah twice.

Nakamura slipped further down the card after losing the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. While his former partner Cesaro succeeded, he landed in a brain-dead feud with Baron Corbin.

Corbin has been clinging onto his relevancy with the help of his King of the Ring gimmick. That ended up being a focal point of his mini-feud with Nakamura.

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By stealing his crown, Nakamura can reclaim his place as the King of Strong Style. After that, we hope to see Nakamura challenge for the Universal or IC Championship.

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Nathan Fulgado is a WWE and AEW author at EssentiallySports. Having published close to 1000 professional wrestling articles, Nathan is currently pursuing his Journalism degree from Xavier's College. He has previously worked at Free Press Journal as a local journalist.

Shinsuke Nakamura Names Jackie Chan as the Inspiration for His Wrestling Career

Who inspired Shinsuke Nakamura to become a wrestler?

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