Jim Ross Is a Believer In Shinsuke Nakamura: ‘He’s In Good Shape’

On a recent episode of his podcast, “Grilling JR,” Jim Ross discussed Shinsuke Nakamura against critics who question his work ethic or ability in WWE.

The conversation came up after Nakamura’s recent match against AJ Styles on Saturday Night’s Main Event. Here are the highlights:

On Nakamura:

“I saw Nakamura in Japan, and he was — it fascinated me. I can’t relate to tell fans saying, ‘I hate that guy. He’s horrible, he can’t work,’ whatever. He got over in Japan in a big way. So I think it speaks to the challenge of having a foreign talent in a key position. But you know, he can cut a promo now. He’s in good shape.”

On Nakamura Maximizing His Time:

“He knows how to work, so he knows how to maximize his minutes, which is a key thing to any ball player, NBA guy, whatever.”

On Whether Royal Rumble or SummerSlam is WWE’s Second Biggest Event: 

“I think it’s Royal Rumble, but it’s a close race between number two. WrestleMania is going to be number one. That’s not a secret. And so taken aside, set that aside, set that over here, and call it a day. But I think that the Royal Rumble would be number two. Because the event is what the attraction is. That might not make any sense but the event, the Royal Rumble, is understood, is perceived as something significant. And you know, and we move on then to SummerSlam.

“But SummerSlam is dependent upon what the attraction is. You know, Vince and I used to talk about this all the time. The issue is, the Rumble has a brand. It has an identity. And so my most fun matches I’ve called have been the Royal Rumble. It’s a haul because back in the day, I’d always look forward to working the Royal Rumble because it was a very busy PPV. So you’d always try to have some good support matches. And then you move on, because the stakes are very high, obviously. So I think I’d go WrestleMania, Royal Rumble. SummerSlam would be my off-the-cuff guess. It’s very subjective.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit the Grilling JR podcast with an h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.