WWE News: Shinsuke Nakamura's shoot interview on Brock Lesnar reveals Nakamura legitimately "didn't like his personality" in NJPW
What’s the story?
Courtesy Reddit user “nivvd”—as posted on the Squared Circle Reddit page—Shinsuke Nakamura shooting on his real-life opinion regarding Brock Lesnar has been noted.
Apparently, Nakamura’s autobiography—the English version of which is set to be released this year—reveals his less-than-desirable experience wrestling Lesnar during their time in NJPW.
In case you didn’t know…
Shinsuke Nakamura’s autobiography “The King of Strong Style: 1980-2014” was released in 2014 in the Japanese language.
The book chronicled Nakamura’s life as a professional wrestler—with the pro-wrestling world recently being set abuzz by news of Viz Media planning to release said book in English.
The heart of the matter
One ought to note that after gaining worldwide notoriety in WWE back in the early-to-mid 2000s, Brock Lesnar performed on the Japanese pro-wrestling circuit from 2005 to 2007.
Lesnar went on to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and defended the title against Shinsuke Nakamura at the “Toukon Shidou Chapter 1” show aka NJPW’s January 4th annual event, back in 2006.
Nakamura came up short in his bid to dethrone Lesnar, following which there was talk of him possibly being “loaned” to WWE as a part of his excursion storyline in NJPW at the time.
Regardless, the banter proved to be nothing more than rumors, as Lesnar parted ways with the Japanese pro-wrestling industry in 2007, and Nakamura eventually became a huge superstar for NJPW.
While the English version of Nakamura’s autobiography is yet to be released, the aforementioned Reddit user “nivvd” claims to have bought an advance copy—referencing which he has put forth the following statements of Nakamura giving a shoot interview regarding Lesnar.
Fans can read the statements below—
Another excerpt from Shinsuke Nakamura’s book:
You had no choice but to do what the company wanted. But then Kazuyuki Fujita refused to accept a match with Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship which was scheduled to be the main event. Given your previous track record, you were selected to take his place and be the challenger.
“Part of that was luck. But that match was seriously rough. First, Lesnar was saying all this stuff about how he respected New Japan, but it felt to me like that was just for show, that he didn't really respect the promotion. Like, somewhere, he was looking down on Japanese people. I lost the match, and that was the first time I cried at pro wrestling after a match.”
Why did you cry?
“It was the main event at Tokyo Dome. This was a pretty hallowed stage, and I knew I hadn't fought the way I imagined I would. And there was, like, this temperature difference between me and Lesnar. I didn’t get the sense he had any love for pro wrestling. It felt like he was just doing his job.”
Another match to defend the title was later canceled because of contract trouble with Lesnar. He was stripped of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but he never returned the belt itself; he ended up running off with it.
“I felt like this was too much; he was seriously scoffing at us. Lesnar won the championship and took the belt home, I told Simon if the company didn't get it’s sh** in order, that belt was definitely going to get nicked. I didn't honestly believe that when we fought. But it ended up just like I feared. He has the physical stuff, plus a straightforward strength and a certain amount of flexibility, so there was a bit of the monster to him. But I didn't like his personality, you know? He might have made a real mark in UFC, but he didn't even seem to notice the audience booing. I was like, "Oh, this guy's a heel to the core."” (*Credits--nivvd; Squared Circle; Reddit)
What’s next?
WWE United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura is presently involved in a storyline with Jeff Hardy and Randy Orton—one which is expected to play out and conclude with a match at SummerSlam.
On the other hand, WWE Universal Champion Brock Lesnar is set to defend his title against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam.
The WWE’s SummerSlam PPV is scheduled to air from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on August 19th.
The English version of Nakamura’s autobiography will be released this summer.
What are your thoughts on Shinsuke Nakamura’s statements on Brock Lesnar? Sound off in the comments!