Shinsuke Nakamura is a Japanese professional wrestler signed with WWE. He is best known for his work with WWE and NJPW. He is a former IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion. He has won several championships in WWE and NJPW.
In March, Nakamura joined NJPW and quickly rose to prominence. By December, he defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and became the youngest champion in the company's history. After unifying the NWF Heavyweight Championship with IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Nakamura vacated the title due to an injury.
After his return, he won the IWGP Tag Team Championship with Hiroshi Tanahashi. In 2006, he faced Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and lost. By September, he joined New Black Japan. In 2007, Nakamura became the leader of the stable. In 2008, he won his second IWGP Heavyweight Championship by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi.
In 2009, Nakamura turned heel and joined Chaos. By September, he won his third IWGP Heavyweight Championship. After months of successful defenses, he lost the title to Makabe. In 2011, Nakamura won the G1 Climax. After several failed attempts to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Nakamura moved towards the Intercontinental Championship.
In 2012, Nakamura won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time. During this time, Nakamura worked on several dates for CMLL and ROH. Nakamura has won the Intercontinental Championship on five different occasions. The highlights of his run were against Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 8 and AJ Styles at Wrestle Kingdom 10. After defeating AJ Styles, Nakamura signed with WWE and vacated the title.
In April, Nakamura defeated Sami Zayn at TakeOver Dallas. After TakeOver, Nakamura became a regular prospect at NXT and slowly climbed the ranks by defeating Austin Aries and Tye Dillinger. At TakeOver Brooklyn II, he defeated Samoa Joe and won his first NXT Championship. In December, he defeated Joe and won his second NXT Championship. At TakeOver San Antonio, he lost the title to Bobby Roode.
After WrestleMania 33, Nakamura made his main roster debut on SmackDown. Nakamura became a key player on SmackDown and challenged Jinder Mahal for the WWE Championship. Nakamura failed to win the title from Jinder at SummerSlam and Hell in a Cell. Later, he began teaming with Randy Orton to face Kevin Owens and Sami Zayn.
In 2018, Nakamura won the Royal Rumble match and challenged AJ Styles. At WrestleMania 34, Styles defeated Nakamura for the title and Nakamura turned heel. He spent the next few months feuding with Styles but failed to win the WWE Championship. At Extreme Rules, he defeated Jeff Hardy to win the United States Championship. At Survivor Series, he faced Seth Rollins and lost.
In 2019, he won the United States Championship for the second time from Rusev. After WrestleMania 35, Nakamura began feuding with Finn Balor. At Extreme Rules, he defeated Finn Balor to win the Intercontinental Championship. Nakamura remained the champion for over 200 days and introduced a new championship. In 2020, he formed a team with Sami Zayn and Cesaro.
After WrestleMania 36, Cesaro and Nakamura worked in the tag team division. At Extreme Rules, the team won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship from The New Day. The team lost the titles during the draft. In January, Nakamura turned face after facing Roman Reigns. He entered the Royal Rumble but failed to win.
After WrestleMania 37, he defeated Baron Corbin to become the King of WWE. He began working with Rick Boggs and turned face. Before SummerSlam, Nakamura defeated Apollo Crews to win his second Intercontinental Championship. At Survivor Series, he defeated Damien Priest via disqualification. In 2022, he lost the title to Sami Zayn. At WrestleMania 38, The Usos defeated Shinsuke Nakamura and Rick Boogs.
Recently, Shinsuke Nakamura received a title opportunity for the Intercontinental Championship against Gunther. But the King of Strong Style fell short against the champion.
