Shinsuke Nakamura
| Shinsuke Nakamura | |
|---|---|
Nakamura in 2015
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| Birth name | Shinsuke Nakamura |
| Born |
February 24, 1980 Mineyama, Kyoto, Japan |
| Residence | Orlando, Florida, U.S. |
| Spouse(s) | Harumi Maekawa (m. 2007) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Nakamura Shinsuke Nakamura |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) |
| Billed weight | 220 lb (100 kg) |
| Billed from | Kyoto, Japan |
| Trained by | Inoki Dojo Kotetsu Yamamoto Osamu Kido |
| Debut | August 29, 2002 |
Shinsuke Nakamura (中邑 真輔 Nakamura Shinsuke?, born February 24, 1980) is a Japanese professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist currently signed to WWE competing in their developmental territory NXT, where he is the current NXT Champion in his second reign.
Nakamura is best known for his work in New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), where he is a former three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, one-time IWGP Tag Team Champion and the winner of the 2011 G1 Climax, 2006 G1 Tag League, and 2014 New Japan Cup tournaments. He is the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion in history, having won the title for the first time at the age of 23 years and 9 months. In 2015, Nakamura was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame.
Nakamura joined NJPW in March 2002 and quickly began making a name for himself as a bright prospect for the company. 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". Nakamura began training vale tudo and on December 31, 2002, he made his mixed martial arts debut in a fight, where he was defeated by Daniel Gracie via submission to an armlock. Nakamura's second MMA fight took place on May 2, 2003, when he defeated Jan Nortje with a guillotine choke. He followed that up on September 13 with another submission victory over Shane Eitner in his third MMA fight. On December 9, 2003, Nakamura defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, thus becoming the youngest wrestler in history to win 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, just a month later, Nakamura was forced to vacate the title due to an injury. Upon his return, Nakamura received a shot at the title, now held by Bob Sapp, but was defeated by the defending champion on May 3, 2004. Later that month, Nakamura competed in his to date last MMA fight, defeating Alexey Ignashov with a forearm choke on May 22. On December 11, 2004, 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, Tanahashi, to win the IWGP U-30 Openweight Championship. During Nakamura's and Tanahashi tag team title reign, the two left for an excursion to Mexico, where they feuded with Los Guerreros del Infierno and defended their titles against Rey Bucanero and Olímpico. A few weeks later, on October 30, 2005, they lost the titles to Cho-Ten (Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan).
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