Shinsuke Nakamura: ‘My Character Took Inspiration From Michael Jackson’

Shinsuke Nakamura appeared on Talk is Jericho for a new interview. Some highlights are below:

On his transition after moving to the US: “Not so strange. I already had a lot of friends in the United States and I was looking for something new, like a new stimulation. So finally, I did a lot of things at New Japan. [I said] ‘okay, I need more, I need more, maybe I have to go to the United States, yeah’ because I needed something new, a new challenge. A big challenge.”

On living with Daniel Bryan and Lyoto Machida: “I think 2002 to 2004, I trained MMA at Los Angeles [California], and also I trained pro wrestling at Los Angeles at the LA Dojo. So me and Daniel Bryan, Lyoto Machida had the same apartment almost 14 years ago. So I couldn’t speak English at all then. Lyoto Machida [was] also [in the] same situation. He only [spoke] Portuguese. Then so we tried to talk [and] Daniel [would say] ‘both of your English is s–t!’”

On his run with CMLL: “In 2011, I went to Mexico. I wanted to change. people loved it. People [were] excited, but [the] company [was] pissed. ‘Hey, this isn’t Shinsuke Nakamura! This is not strong style!’ Also, the Japanese company too [asked], ‘Hey Shinsuke, why did you do that?’ I wanted to change something.”

On his inspiration for his character: “If I watch Michael Jackson, I felt, ‘oh, he’s a real master of martial [arts] because of his standing is very straight. Then, no muscles because dancers have muscles, but his moving is quick. His dancing is the best, [better] than other dancers. Michael Jackson gave me a lot of hints, a lot of inspiration…A lot of martial artists – Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan. They are my idols. Also, Jushin ‘Thunder’ Liger, so yeah. My idols.”

On doing smaller shows now that he’s with NXT: “Smaller shows, but I don’t care because [it is a] new experience for me. So WWE style, so work WWE/NXT style [is] much different. So [it is a] new experience for me. Very interesting.”

On who he likes working with in NXT: “Tye Dillinger has experience. He knows timing and [has] a good character. Everybody wants to do ’10! 10! 10!’, so it’s easy to cheer for him. Yeah, ’10! 10!’ everybody understands. That was a good thing he found a good character. So not so many people I’ve wrestled in NXT. Finn [Bálor], Samoa Joe.”

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