is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. As of January 2016, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the SmackDown brand and is one-half of Bakusai with Kyoki.
Nakamura is also known for his time in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former 3-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, with his first reign coming at the age of 23 years and 9 months; making Nakamura the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion at the time. His other accomplishments within the company include winning the 2011 G1 Climax and the 2014 New Japan Cup, and being the final IWGP Third Belt Champion, the final NWF Heavyweight Champion, and the longest reigning IWGP Intercontinental Champion for his first reign (he formerly held the record for most reigns at five). He is also a founding member and the original leader of the stable Chaos.
Prior to his main roster debut in WWE, Nakamura competed in the company's NXT brand, where he became a two-time NXT Champion. In January 2018, Nakamura won the 2018 Men's Royal Rumble match and lost at WrestleMania 34 and later won the WWE United States Championship three times. He won the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in 2019 at Extreme Rules, making him the second wrestler (behind Chris Jericho) to hold both WWE and IWGP Intercontinental Championships. Nakamura is also a former WWE SmackDown Tag Team Champion with Cesaro. From July 2021 to October of the same year, Nakamura dubbed himself King Nakamura due to being in possession of the King of the Ring crown, although he never won the tournament, instead defeating reigning King of the Ring Baron Corbin in a "Battle for the Crown" match. Overall, Nakamura is a five-time world champion and a seven-time intercontinental champion in professional wrestling.
Early life Shinsuke Nakamura was born in Kyōtango, Kyoto, on February 24, 1980. Growing up Nakamura would watch Jackie Chan movies which lead to him garnering an interest martial arts and eventually pro wrestling. As a child, his favorite wrestler was Jushin Liger. Nakamura competed in wrestling during high school, and later attended Aoyama Gakuin University, where he was also a member of the collegiate wrestling team, and earned a degree in economics. In 2021, he revealed on Renee Paquette's podcast that he was inspired to become a professional wrestler because he “wanted to be a man”, adding that “wrestlers work almost every day”, believing that it would help toughen himself up.
Professional wrestling career
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2002–2016) Super Rookie (2002–2005) Nakamura joined NJPW in March 2002 and quickly began making a name for himself as a bright prospect for the company. In his debut match on August 29, 2002 he lost to Tadao Yasuda. Having earned the nickname "Super Rookie", Nakamura impressed both NJPW officials and fans with an excellent combination of strength, speed, and technical skill. Alongside fellow rookies Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata, Nakamura became known as one of the "new Three Musketeers". On December 9, Nakamura defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, thus becoming the youngest wrestler in history to win the title. His record was broken in 2026, when Callum Newman won the title. On January 4, 2004, at Wrestling World 2004, Nakamura successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against the NWF Heavyweight Champion Yoshihiro Takayama in a title unification match. However, Nakamura was forced to vacate the title due to an injury just a month later.
Upon his return, Nakamura received a shot at the title at Nexess on May 3, now held by Bob Sapp, but lost to the defending champion. On December 11, Nakamura and his tag team partner Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Kensuke Sasaki and Minoru Suzuki in a decision match to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship. On January 4, 2005, at Toukon Festival: Wrestling World 2005, Nakamura defeated his own tag team partner to win the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship. During their tag team title reign, the two left for an excursion to Mexico, where they feuded with Los Guerreros del Infierno and defended the IWGP Tag Team Championship against Rey Bucanero and Olímpico. On October 30, they lost the IWGP Tag Team Championship to Cho-Ten (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Masahiro Chono).
Excursion and return (2006–2009) At Toukon Shidou Chapter 1 on January 4, 2006, Nakamura challenged Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but lost. In March 2006, Nakamura announced that he would depart on a learning excursion to further improve his wrestling skills. He would also travel to Mexico, Brazil and Russia and train with Lesnar at Lesnar's personal gym to gain muscle mass. NJPW President Simon Inoki later suggested that as part of his learning excursion, Nakamura would be loaned to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to gain experience in working large American shows. However, it was mostly speculation and never came to pass as Nakamura was urgently needed back in New Japan due to Lesnar's departure.
On September 24, Nakamura made his long-awaited return to New Japan, joining Masahiro Chono's Black New Japan faction, which had the goal of reforming New Japan with Chono as the president and Nakamura as the "ace". Nakamura had greatly improved his muscular mass during his overseas training and also debuted a new finisher, called the Landslide. On December 10, Nakamura was unable to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from then-champion Tanahashi and was again unsuccessful on January 4, 2007, at the Wrestle Kingdom in Tokyo Dome show, where he lost to Toshiaki Kawada. Nakamura entered the 2007 G1 Climax tournament, where he reached the semi-finals before dislocating his shoulder. The injury sidelined Nakamura for months, but he made his return on November 11 and took over the leadership of Black New Japan from Chono and reformed the faction under the new name RISE. The faction originally consisted of himself, Minoru, Milano Collection A.T., Hirooki Goto, Giant Bernard, Travis Tomko and Prince Devitt. Low Ki was later added to the stable after Milano was injured, having impressed Nakamura during an appearance when he was still with Impact! Wrestling (formerly TNA). On December 9, Nakamura defeated Togi Makabe to earn an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match at the following month's Tokyo Dome show.
On January 4, 2008, Nakamura defeated his rival Tanahashi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the second time. On February 17, Nakamura defeated Kurt Angle to win the IGF version of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, unifying it with his own NJPW version of the title. He lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) representative Keiji Mutoh in Osaka on April 27.
On September 5, Nakamura and RISE stablemate Hirooki Goto unsuccessfully challenged Togi Makabe and Toru Yano for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Immediately after the match, the duo were attacked by Giant Bernard, Rick Fuller and the returning Low Ki, who had just left RISE to join Makabe's GBH faction. On February 15, 2009, Nakamura faced Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but he failed to regain the title.
King of Strong Style (2009–2012)
In April 2009, Nakamura turned into a villain, siding with the former members of GBH (especially Toru Yano) in a feud against Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma. This new group was soon named Chaos with Nakamura as their leader. Nakamura began to work a much rougher style, using a lot of knees and continuing to use a straight right hand as a frequent move in addition to the Bomaye (renamed Kinshasa in WWE), his new finisher. It was the Bomaye that took him to the finals of the 2009 G1 Climax, where he lost to Makabe. Prior to the final, Nakamura had gone undefeated, winning each match with the Bomaye. The move was also credited for fracturing IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi's orbital bone in the semi-finals of the G1, which forced Tanahashi to vacate the title later that month.
On September 27, Nakamura avenged his G1 loss and defeated Makabe in a decision match to win the IWGP Heavyweight title for a third time. Upon winning the title, Nakamura drew the ire of Antonio Inoki by announcing his plan of wanting to restore the "Strong Style" of New Japan by capturing the original IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt from Inoki to replace the fourth generation title belt held by Nakamura. On October 12, Nakamura successfully defended the title against Shinjiro Otani. On November 8, at Destruction '09, Nakamura successfully defended the title against previous champion Hiroshi Tanahashi. On December 5, Nakamura retained the title by defeating Yuji Nagata. On January 4, 2010, at Wrestle Kingdom IV in Tokyo Dome, Nakamura successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Yoshihiro Takayama in a rematch of their 2004 Tokyo Dome title unification bout. Nakamura was then challenged by Manabu Nakanishi, whom he would pin on February 14 at New Japan's ISM show in Sumo Hall, making his fifth defense. On April 4, Nakamura made his sixth successful title defense against the 2010 New Japan Cup winner and former teammate Hirooki Goto and afterwards accepted Togi Makabe's challenge for the title. On May 3, at Wrestling Dontaku 2010, Nakamura lost the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to Makabe. Following the loss, Nakamura was sidelined with a shoulder injury until he returned on June 19 at Dominion 6.19, defeating Daniel Puder. Atsushi Sawada and Simon Inoki of IGF appeared at the show and seemed to eye up Nakamura after the match. On July 19, Nakamura lost to Makabe in a rematch for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The following month, Nakamura entered the 2010 G1 Climax, where he won four out of his seven-round robin stage matches, including one over eventual winner Satoshi Kojima, leading his block heading to the final day, where he wrestled Pro Wrestling Noah's Go Shiozaki to a 30-minute time limit draw and thus missed the finals of the tournament by a single point. The draw with Shiozaki led to a no time limit match at a Pro Wrestling Noah show on August 22, where Nakamura was defeated. Despite losing to Goto in a number one contender's match on October 11, Nakamura was hand-picked by new IWGP Heavyweight Champion Satoshi Kojima as his first challenger. The title match took place on December 11, which Nakamura lost.
On January 4, 2011, Nakamura avenged his loss to Go Shiozaki by defeating him in a singles match at Wrestle Kingdom V in Tokyo Dome. On May 3, Nakamura failed in his attempt to regain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Hiroshi Tanahashi. From late May to early June, Nakamura worked a tour with Mexican promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), whom New Japan had a working agreement with. On August 1, Nakamura entered the 2011 G1 Climax and after winning seven out of his nine-round robin stage matches finished first in his block to advance to the finals of the tournament. On August 14, Nakamura defeated Tetsuya Naito to win the 2011 G1 Climax and earn another shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Nakamura went on to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on September 19, but he failed to recapture the title from Tanahashi. In the 2011 G1 Tag League, Nakamura teamed with Toru Yano as the Chaos Top Team, winning all five of their group stage matches, advancing to the semi-finals of the tournament with a clean sheet. On November 6, Nakamura and Yano were eliminated from the tournament in the semi-finals by the team of Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki. On January 4, 2012, at Wrestle Kingdom VI in Tokyo Dome, the Chaos Top Team was defeated by Pro Wrestling Noah representatives Go Shiozaki and Naomichi Marufuji.
IWGP Intercontinental Champion (2012–2016)