Shinsuke Nakamura comments on winning the Tokyo Sports Best Bout award.
At Pro Wrestling NOAH The New Year 2023, WWE star Shinsuke Nakamura returned to NOAH for the first time since 2013 and faced The Great Muta. The match was part of Great Muta's retirement tour. On December 12, Tokyo Sports announced that Shinsuke Nakamura and The Great Muta won the Best Bout award for 2023. This marked Nakamura's third time winning the award.
Speaking with Tokyo Sports, Nakamura commented on winning the award. (Translation via DeepL)
"When I was in New Japan, people used to say that it was hard to win the award for the match on January 4th (Tokyo Dome), no matter how good the match was. In that sense, this year's New Year's Day match left behind a universal art form in pro wrestling that will never fade away. The timing, the story we followed, the content of the match.... I was able to leave behind something beautiful in many aspects, and I think it is one of the most beloved matches of my career," Nakamura said.
Nakamura also noted that he sometimes watches his entrance ahead of the bout to lift his spirits. He then recalled how he had felt frustrated that he was not able to fully show his potential in recent years, but the match with Muta helped turn things around.
"To be frank, I have been feeling frustrated that I haven't been able to show my potential for the past few years, and then suddenly I got an offer from NOAH, and that match was born from a miraculous combination of the timing and the swell of the times. I felt that it was also a "salvation" for me. It was a work that came to fruition and I was able to perform the match with sincerity. I am grateful for the public recognition," Nakamura said.
Click here to see what Nakamura had to say about his match against The Great Muta.
Nakamura previously said that WWE initially told him he could not face The Great Muta, but Triple H later said he could. Check out his comments here.
Nakamura is currently featured on WWE Raw; he headlined the December 11 episode and lost to Cody Rhodes via disqualification.
