Shinsuke Nakamura Matches With The Highest Star Ratings

Shinsuke Nakamura has had a successful career in both NJPW and WWE. He has been a part of many memorable matches and moments. Here is a list of the Shinsuke Nakamura matches that have received the most stars from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Notes: the ratings are on a 5-star scale and we have only included matches with a 4-star rating and above. 

Honorable Mentions (The Following Shinsuke Nakamura Matches Have Received 4.00 Stars)
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan – NJPW G1 Climax (2004) – Day 8
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroshi Tanahashi – NJPW G1 Climax (2005) – Day 3
  • Masato Tanaka and Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hirooki Goto and Tetsuya Naito – NJPW Dominion (2012)
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs La Sombra – NJPW Kizuna Road (2013) – Day 8
  • Mephisto, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Yujiro Takahashi vs Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, and Místico II – CMLL/NJPW Fantastica Mania (2014) – Day 5
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bad Luck Fale – NJPW New Japan Cup (2014) – Day 7
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hirooki Goto – NJPW Wrestling Dontaku (2015)
  • Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, and YOSHI-HASHI vs Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi,  Katsuyori Shibata, Togi Makabe, and Tomoaki Honma – NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors XXII (2015)
  • Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinsuke Nakamura, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, and YOSHI-HASHI vs Captain New Japan, Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi,  Katsuyori Shibata, and Togi Makabe – NJPW Best Of The Super Juniors XXII (2015)
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs Karl Anderson – NJPW Power Struggle (2015)
  • Kazuchika Okada, Shinsuke Nakamura, and Tomohiro Ishii vs Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Katsuyori Shibata – NJPW Road To The New Beginning (2016) – Day 2
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs Finn Balor – NXT (July 13, 2016)
  • Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles – WWE Money In The Bank (2018)
The Following Shinsuke Nakamura Matches Have Received 4.25 Stars

Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kensuke Sasaki and Minoru Suzuki

Event: NJPW Battle Final (2004) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • IWGP World Tag Team Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura and Milano Collection A. T vs Go Shiozaki and Takashi Sugiura

Event: NOAH The Second Navigation (2009) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • Tag team match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Davey Boy Smith Jr.

Event: NJPW Invasion Attack (2013) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii vs Minoru Suzuki and Shelton Benjamin

Event: NJPW Dominion (2013) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • Tag team match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Naomichi Marufuji

Event: NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling (2013) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

Event: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 8 (2014) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, and Tomohiro Ishii vs Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tetsuya Naito

Event: NJPW Road To New Beginning (2014) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • 6-man Tag team match

Shinsuke Nakamura and Tomohiro Ishii vs Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito

Event: NJPW Strong Style 42nd Anniversary Show (2014) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • Tag team match

Shinsuke Nakamura, Kazuchika Okada, and Tomohiro Ishii vs Hirooki Goto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Katsuyori Shibata

Event: NJPW Road To Power Struggle (2014) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • 6-man Tag team match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Samoa Joe

Event: NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn II (2016) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • NXT Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Samoa Joe

Event: NXT TakeOver: Toronto (2016) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • NXT Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bobby Roode

Event: NXT TakeOver: San Antonio (2017) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

  • NXT Championship match

Team RAW (Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Kevin Owens, Randy Orton, and Ricochet) vs Team Smackdown (Roman Reigns, Braun Strowman, King Corbin, Mustafa Ali, and Shorty G) vs Team NXT (Tommaso Ciampa, Damian Priest, Matt Riddle, Keith Lee, and Walter)

Event: NXT TakeOver: WarGames (2019) | Rating: 4.25 Stars

The Following Shinsuke Nakamura Matches Have Received 4.5 Stars

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kazushi Sakuraba

Event: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 7 (2013) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

Event: NJPW New Beginning In Hiroshima (2014) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

Event: NJPW Invasion Attack (2014) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Katsuyori Shibata

Event: NJPW G1 Climax 24 – Day 1 (2014) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • Singles match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Yuji Nagata

Event: NJPW G1 Climax 24 – Day 4 (2014) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • Singles match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

Event: NJPW G1 Climax 24 – Day 8 (2014) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • Singles match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hirooki Goto

Event: NJPW Dominion 7.5 (2015) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hirooki Goto

Event: NJPW Destruction In Kobe (2015) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Sami Zayn

Event: NXT TakeOver: Dallas (2016) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • This was his NXT debut.

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Bobby Roode

Event: NXT TakeOver: Orlando (2017) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • NXT Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles vs Dolph Ziggler vs Kevin Owens vs Sami Zayn vs Baron Corbin

Event: WWE Money In The Bank (2017) | Rating: 4.5 Stars

  • Money in the Bank ladder match
The Following Shinsuke Nakamura Matches Have Received 4.75 Stars

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi

Event: NJPW G1 Climax 23 – Day 4 (2013) | Rating: 4.75 Stars

Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuchika Okada vs Hiroshi Tanahashi and Tetsuya Naito

Event: NJPW Road To Tokyo Dome – Day 6 (2013) | Rating: 4.75 Stars

  • Tag team match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Tomohiro Ishii

Event: NJPW G1 Climax 24 – Day 7 (2014) | Rating: 4.75 Stars

  • Singles match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kazuchika Okada

Event: NJPW G1 Climax 24 – Day 12 (2014) | Rating: 4.75 Stars

  • G1 Climax Final match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs AJ Styles

Event: NJPW Wrestle Kindom 10 (2016) | Rating: 4.75 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship
The Following Shinsuke Nakamura Matches Have Received 5.00 Stars

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Kota Ibushi

Event: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 9 (2015)  | Rating: 5.00 Stars

  • IWGP Intercontinental Championship match

Shinsuke Nakamura vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

Event: NJPW G1 Climax 25 – Day 19 (2015)  | Rating: 5.00 Stars

  • G1 Climax Final match

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What are some of your favorite Shinsuke Nakamura matches? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comment section below.

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