Ok, I promised John Stavropoulos that I would recommend him some Shinsuke Nakamura matches.
Off the top of my head:
vs. Kota Ibushi from Wrestle Kingdom 9 – this was one of the first long singles matches I saw from Nakamura and I loved it, top to bottom (and Ibushi is FIVE FIRE EMOJIS himself, and might be in the WWE Cruiserweight Tournament!)
vs. AJ Styles from Wrestle Kingdom 10 – This was maybe only my third-favorite match on this card, but a lot of people liked it a whole lot and it may be a good entry point for folks who don’t follow any Japanese wrestling at all
vs. Okada from the 2015 G1 Tournament – Okada is my favorite wrestler in New Japan and this match is both of them at their best
Recommendations from other Nakamura fans I’ve received, but that I haven’t seen or don’t remember well personally include:
vs. Tanahashi, 2015 G1 FINAL
vs. Okada, 2014 G1 FINAL
vs. Tanahashi, Wrestle Kingdom 8
Any other recommendations?
Thank you!
If you end up looking up NJPW stuff, I think you will LOVE Los Ingobernables, btw. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxF7i9sJzIs
Rev Pro UK Uprising (10/2/15): Shinsuke vs Big Damo
Rev Pro UK Global Wars (10/3/15): Shinsuke vs Marty Scurll.
Both these matches are awesome. Plus, Marty Scurll is my new fave, so there you have that.
Ooooh, I am looking these up. Thank you!
vs. Kevin Steen, ROH/NJPW War of Worlds 17/05/14. It’s not an all time classic, but it’s a fun match against someone he might be in the ring with soon.
Okay, I just found a bittorrent for Wrestle Kingdom 10.
What do I need to know going into this? What are the matches I should look out for besides AJ vs. Nakamura? I’ve heard Okada referred to as “The Rainmaker”, or is that just the name of his finisher? What makes him stand out?
Also… they mentioned “Time Splitter Kushida”… and he’s wearing the Marty McFly orange down vest. Is that a deliberate homage? What’s his story?
Others can probably cover this stuff better, but Okada v Tanahashi is an obvious one to look out for (I think it’s better than Styles v Nakamura). The story is about Okada trying to finally bet Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom and succeed him as the ace of NJPW.
The Kushida vest is definite homage. He was in a tag team called the Timesplitters with Alex Shelley. At a previous Wrestle Kingdom they did an entrance with a DeLorean and everything. Kushida is pretty much the top junior in NJPW at this point.
Shibata v Ishii is also worth paying attention to. Not a lot of story, just two guys beating each other up.
Isaac Sher Two words: Kenny Omega.
Isaac Sher Also, the tag matches are awesome; the four way for the IWGP Junior Tag belts (Young Bucks vs reDRagon vs RPG Vice vs Ricochet/Matt Sydal) is great fun, and the IWGP Heavweight Tag belts (Bullet Club defending against Makabe/Honma) is one of my fave matches from the night.
And both NEVERweight championship matches are solid. And the crazy New Japan Rumble was awesome for the amount of important faces that took part in it.
Dave Sealy Word. I miss the Time Spritters. Story? Who wants story, it’s got Stone Pitbull Ishii!!!! Dude’s a beast, and Shibata’s no joke, either.
Shibata is literally my favorite professional wrestler so that match was my favorite, but Okada/Tanahashi is a masterpiece. It’s their fourth battle for the title with Okada losing the first three (IIRC) and Okada is coming into his own as the face of New Japan for the foreseeable future, basically.
Nathan Paoletta I think I’d have to give either Ishii/Shibata or the Jr Tag title match as my fave, with Omega/KUSHIDA close behind.
But, yeah, Okada/Tanahashi is an AMAZING match. Still baffles me that TNA had Okada and they botched having him big time.