Shinsuke Nakamura Deserves an IWGP Heavyweight Title Run in 2015

It’s safe to say that Saturday’s highly anticipated NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 show lived up to the hype.

A great event overall, the four hour show flew by, with good matches aplenty culminating in two stunning bouts to close out the night. If anything can come close to the quality of WK9, and especially the quality of the main and co-main event, then wrestling fans will be in for a treat in 2015.

As well as the wrestlers and the NJPW staff, praise also has to go to GWF commentary team Jim Ross and Matt Striker. I thought the duo did a fantastic job and it was great to hear both men so enthused about the product.

As expected, the IWGP heavyweight title match in the WK9 main event was an incredible piece of work between Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada. Yet another compelling chapter in their rivalry, the two reiterated to wrestling fans around the world that their in-ring chemistry and ability to produce classic after classic together between the ropes is virtually unequalled.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBrLVMaza0U

For my money, however, the match of the night was the stone cold classic contested between IWGP Intercontinental champion Shinsuke Nakamura and challenger Kota Ibushi in the evening’s co-main event.

There were high expectations for the Nakamura/Ibushi rematch, following their stunning 2013 clash, but their WK9 contest far surpassed even those.

With 12-year veteran Nakamura leading the way, the match showed a more ruthless and hard hitting side to former junior heavyweight Ibushi. In his biggest match to date, ‘Golden Star’ rose to the occasion in a star making performance.

Prior to the match, I felt that Ibushi would get the win over ‘The King of Strong Style’ to complete his graduation to the heavyweight division. However, in true New Japan fashion, the booking ended up being much smarter than that. Nakamura picked up the win in the end, keeping the title and his momentum, but Ibushi was made to look like his equal to the extent that a loss did his main event aspirations no harm whatsoever.

The art of making your opponent look strong in defeat, in such a way that both wrestlers get over, is something which appears to have been all but lost in WWE. Guys like Shawn Michaels, Bret Hart and Kurt Angle were masters of this but, in recent years, the skill seems to have been consigned to the history books. The current reliance on parity booking has stifled an aspect of the product which is so simple when done right.

https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/551676076230184960

Nakamura did this to perfection with Ibushi at WK9 and it means that an eventual rematch between the two later this year, when Ibushi finally gets his win, will be a major moment.

While Ibushi came out of the match with a tonne of credit, the bout proved once again that Nakamura might just be the best thing in wrestling right now.

Although Ibushi’s high spots – including a picture perfect triangle moonsault to the floor, hitting Nakamura’s own Boma Ye finisher, and an utterly insane springboard deadlift German suplex – were the most memorable moments of the match, the 34-year-old ‘King of Strong Style’s’ storytelling took the match to another level.

From the brutal stomps and cocky slaps to the head of Ibushi, to throwing the referee between him and his opponent, to the beauty of his selling and the looks of increasing desperation throughout the match, Nakamura did everything he could to make Ibushi look like his equal and allow the crowd to believe an upset was on the cards. Afterwards, Nakamura grabbed the house microphone, praised Ibushi and fist bumped him, giving ‘Golden Star’ his approval and encouraging fans to give him their support.

In short, the entire presentation of Nakamura vs. Ibushi encapsulated everything that New Japan is doing right.

https://twitter.com/SenorLARIATO/status/551677910093135872

The hugely talented Nakamura is likely pencilled in for a lengthy IC title run in 2015. His work last year alongside current IWGP heavyweight champ Hiroshi Tanahashi elevated the prestige of the Intercontinental championship to the level that it is now accepted as being on a similar level to the IWGP heavyweight belt and is the clear No. 2 title in the company.

However, for me, this year has to be the moment that NJPW allow the popular Nakamura another run with their top prize.

As was frequently alluded to over the weekend, the effortlessly cool and charismatic Nakamura is currently the most over wrestler in the company, despite technically being a heel. His unique mannerisms and persona – based on the moves of Michael Jackson and Freddie Mercury, as well as Japanese joshi poses – contrasts brilliantly with his stiff, realistic strike based wrestling style. When Nakamura steps into the ring, you genuinely believe the man is a lunatic (and, yes, Dean Ambrose has definitely borrowed some of his gestures from Nakamura). He really is the closest thing to the total package in the business today.

It’s no coincidence that Nakamura’s entrance was the best of the night at Wrestle Kingdom 9. The way ‘The King of Strong Style’ strutted and danced his way into the Tokyo Dome wearing a crown and cape immediately sold the uniqueness of his character to the numerous first time viewers watching WK9 around the world.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YslbdsXjJ0s

AJ Styles is logically getting the next shot at reigning champion Hiroshi Tanahashi, in what will act as a rematch of their October clash in which the American dropped the title to the NJPW poster boy. The two will meet at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11.

If Tanahashi retains the belt again there, it will be interesting to see which direction the company go in. Another rematch with Okada is inevitable, but it is unlikely that NJPW will rush it. Okada will have to ‘earn’ his way back into the main event. In the meantime, Tanahashi vs. Nakamura could be the way to go.

When Nakamura and Tanahashi wrestled at Invasion Attack in April last year, the Tokyo crowd were solidly behind ‘The King of Strong Style’, to the extent that Nakamura worked the match as a babyface. One wonders then, if NJPW might look to book a champion vs. champion bout between the two on this year’s show, held again in the Ryōgoku Kokugikan, in an attempt to capitalise on the unique atmosphere once again. A title change in the same venue on April 5 would be wildly popular.

It is also possible, of course, that NJPW bookers Gedo and Jado will want to save Nakamura’s big world title win for next year’s Wrestle Kingdom. That, and a Nakamura win in this summer’s G1 Climax tournament, would make for a great story, but waiting another year to pull the trigger on a Nakamura IWGP heavyweight championship win could miss capitalising on the IC champ’s impressive current momentum.

Nakamura as a double champ would open up a myriad of new possibilities for the company and take them in an exciting new direction, after the IWGP title scene has been largely dominated by Tanahashi, Okada and Styles over the last few years. As well as creating fresh match-ups at the top of the card, holding two belts would add to Nakamura’s legitimacy.

In this scenario, Ibushi could finally get the big win over Nakamura in an IC title match later this year, creating an interesting subplot of him beating not only his rival but the reigning heavyweight champion.

Nakamura has not held the top championship in New Japan since 2009. In the five years since, he has grown into an even more talented all-round performer and repaid a lot of the faith that NJPW placed in him as a youngster when he won his first IWGP heavyweight gold at the age of 23.

At WK9, Nakamura proved once again, without a shadow of a doubt, that he is long overdue another run on top of the company. New Japan has proven in recent years that it is not afraid of taking risks but a Nakamura IWGP title win at this point seems like a no-brainer.

Best in the world? @ShinsukeN #WrestleKingdom9 pic.twitter.com/ifNFQfX3al

— Jim Ross (@JRsBBQ) January 10, 2015

For me, NJPW should act now and put their top title on Nakamura. Even if we have to wait until 2016 though, a lengthy IWGP heavyweight title run seems written in the stars for ‘The King of Strong Style’.

What do you think? Do you agree that New Japan should pull the trigger on a Shinsuke Nakamura IWGP title win? Or should NJPW go in a different direction while ‘The King of Strong Style’ keeps building the prestige of the IC championship?

If you enjoy the column, you can follow me on Twitter at @AlexWattMMA

You can also check out my MMA / UFC writing on the Mirror Online.

Thanks for reading.