Shinsuke Nakamura on The Origin of The Kinshasa & Being Too Young To Win The IWGP Title

On the debut episode of WWE Chronicle (transcript via wrestlinginc.com), WWE cameras followed Shinsuke Nakamura from WWE Royal Rumble 2018 till the final Smackdown before WWE WrestleMania 34. here are some highlights…

On People Misunderstanding Strong Style: “A lot of people misunderstand what is ‘Strong Style’.” Nakamura explained, “hard hit, stiff, I don’t think so. So, ‘Strong Style’ came from the Japanese wrestling founder Rikidozan. ‘Strong Style’ is a kind of philosophy, expression of emotion. I say something by wrestling. I express my emotion, like, what I think, what I feel by wrestling using real technique.”

On the Origin of The Kinshasa: “I only had just five matches in MMA, but every fight gave me a great experience, especially [my] first match against Belarusian fighter Alexey Ignashov.” Nakamura recalled, “I couldn’t do anything because [it was] too much pressure. [I was] too nervous. [I] couldn’t control myself. But I did a shoot tackle, maybe 10 times. But one time, he did a counter, knee to my face. Everybody thought, ‘oh, Nakamura [is] dead. [The] match is over,’ but I didn’t [die]. I [stood] up. I still wanted to fight, but the referee stopped, the company stopped. Then, I [decided] I need this. I need the most dangerous finish. That’s why I use knee to face.”

On Being Too Young To Win The IWGP Title: “The first time I got [the] IWGP [championship], I was the youngest IWGP Champion.” Nakamura continued, “that time, I hold the belt [and] I felt, ‘oh, this belt’s too heavy, so heavy’ because I didn’t have experience. I felt just a responsibility.”