Shinsuke Nakamura: It was my aim to main-event WrestleMania with WWE
Monday 5 February 2018 07:40, UK
Royal Rumble winner Shinsuke Nakamura says having a main-event match at WrestleMania was the reason he signed with WWE.
Nakamura's victory at the Rumble pay-per-view eight days ago earned him the right to face either of the company's champions at the biggest event of the year, WrestleMania, which takes place in New Orleans on April 8.
He opted to fight WWE champion AJ Styles in what many consider to be a dream match between two of the biggest stars and best in-ring workers in the business today.
Nakamura believes it will be the most significant moment of his life, and revealed that one of the reasons he left his native Japan to join WWE was to be involved in a huge Mania match.
"I believe this (winning the Royal Rumble) is the biggest thing to happen in my career so far," Nakamura told ESPN. "That's until WrestleMania this year which will be the biggest thing in my life."
"One of the reasons to come to the WWE was to wrestle at WrestleMania, but to main-event WrestleMania? Wow! I live for this.
"I have experience wrestling Brock (Lesnar) and AJ, but I really think the people and the audience around the world want to see AJ and me. That's the match everyone wants to see."
Nakamura began life in American wrestling in the company's developmental territory NXT, where he quickly became a champion and a key part of the main-event picture.
He admits there was an "adjustment" to be made with his subsequent move to SmackDown but now feels "at home" in the United States.
"When I came to NXT, I didn't need to adjust," Nakamura said. "NXT fans are hardcore wrestling fans. I just had to wrestle and they reacted but when I got called up to SmackDown it was different.
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"There's just a difference in the live events. So last year I had to make an adjustment from NXT to SmackDown like others have done from NXT to Raw. It takes time to adjust but today I finally feel like I'm there.
"I feel at home. It's hard to choose the words even if I was speaking Japanese. It's hard to find the words."
