5 must-watch matches of Shinsuke Nakamura before WWE

#4. Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles - NJPW: Wrestle Kingdom 10, 2016

This was both AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s last big singles match in an NJPW ring, and also marked Nakamura’s final IWGP Intercontinental Championship defense as well.

Billed as the co-main event of NJPW’s biggest annual event, that is, Wrestle Kingdom, both Nakamura, and Styles laid it all out on the line on this occasion and put on an instant classic that went over more than half an hour.

Styles, who after failing to regain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Kazuchika Okada, decided to challenge for the IWGP IC Title for the very first time in his career.

He came into this match as the challenger suffering from a back injury, which ‘The Phenomenal One’ perfectly sold throughout this astonishing match against Nakamura.

The numerous counters are also a thing of beauty to look out for in this match and in the closing stages of it, Nakamura successfully retained his IWGP Intercontinental Championship, following two Bomaye Knees, as the two men eventually showed a mutual amount of respect to each other after the match.

About the author

Soumik Datta is a professional wrestling journalist who has been following the business for more than a decade.

In 2017, Soumik joined the Sportskeeda Wrestling team and is best known for his work with the WWE team. He has previously contributed to the Sportskeeda AEW, MMA, and the football team where he specifically covered the Major League Soccer.

In 2024, Soumik crossed 50 million reads for Sportskeeda WWE. While working under Sportskeeda MMA, he interviewed prominent UFC fighters, including Justin Gaethje, Sean O'Malley, and Cory Sandhagen, among others. He is also being followed by John Cena on X (formerly Twitter).

Apart from his love for professional wrestling, Soumik also watches Football and has been a lifelong follower of Liverpool FC and Mohun Bagan. He has also been following the Indian Super League and remains the only content creator to have traveled across India to watch 7 ISL Matches in 7 Days, a video which currently sits at 26K views on his YouTube channel. His channel currently amasses over 120K views.

As aforementioned, Soumik also likes to make content for his YouTube channel and travel to various places either with family, friends, or solo, or go on road trips.

(Go SUBSCRIBE to his channel while you're at it): https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfkg4VnUC7sLNc5jEzVYgOQ

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @Thesoumikdatta9

Follow his Sportskeeda profile for wrestling news and content and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

Know More

Edited by Akhilesh Tirumala