Shinsuke Nakamura has lofty goals for the United States Title.
On July 15 at WWE Extreme Rules, Shinsuke Nakamura captured the United States Title from Jeff Hardy. The victory marked Nakamura's first run with a singles title on the main roster after failing to win the WWE Title from AJ Styles on multiple occasions. In NJPW, Nakamura is widely credited for elevating the IWGP Intercontinental Title to new heights. As the IWGP IC Champion, Nakamura headlined Wrestle Kingdom 8 against Hiroshi Tanahashi over Kazuchika Okada's IWGP Heavyweight Title defense against Tetsuya Naito.
Speaking to Justin Barrasso of Sports Illustrated, Nakamura discussed wanting to elevate the WWE US Title the same way he did the IWGP IC Title.
“My purpose is to make the United States title like I did the Intercontinental championship in New Japan,” said Nakamura. “I want to make the title different. I want to wrestle a lot of different kinds of wrestlers for the U.S. title. WWE is a different form of wrestling. It’s different than New Japan. I wrestled a different style with New Japan, but WWE is a live TV show.”
Nakamura also discussed the difference in wrestling against Okada, Tanahashi, and Styles and how he wants to tell a story with his style of wrestling.
“Okada is really, really good,” said Nakamura. “I feel sympathy with AJ Styles and Tanahashi with the way they wrestle. They are all great wrestlers. I love wrestling and I love telling a story to the audience. I’m always looking for something new, even small things. My wrestling style changes, but I try to control the audience. I want to give energy to the audience, and the audience gives me energy. I love that back-and-forth. I really love what I’m doing.”
Nakamura's current contract with WWE is set to expire in early 2019. However, WWE is advertising Nakamura for their European tour in spring 2019.
