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If we simply compare a decade of Reigns on the main roster to the three-and-a-half years that people used to vote in Nakamura, Reigns falls short in every way.
It is hard to describe how “must-see” Nakamura was when he helped spearhead New Japan’s westward expansion. Now lost to a bygone era of deleted tweets and forgotten blogs, there was a palpable buzz among Western fans for each important Nakamura match, backed up by native fans packing buildings to see said affairs. In 2014, a fan vote decided the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 8. Nakamura had elevated to the IWGP Intercontinental Championship to a “1B” title to the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship’s “1A”, and the people of New Japan awarded Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi the main event over Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito.
The Wrestle Kingdom main event began a string of successful Nakamura main events. In an effort to continue to heighten the profile of the Intercontinental Championship, Nakamura would do the following:
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: January 4, 2014 (35,000 fans, +20% YOY)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: February 9, 2014 (5,040 fans, +5% YOY)
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: April 6, 2014 (8,500 fans, +4% YOY)
Bad Luck Fale vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: June 21, 2014 (7,300 fans, +1% YOY)
Bad Luck Fale vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: September 21, 2014 (8,000 fans, flat YOY)
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Shinsuke Nakamura: November 8, 2014 (7.500 fans, +17% YOY)
Nakamura spent 2014 routinely outdrawing shows from the year prior that were not only headlined by Okada title defenses, but oftentimes featured a Nakamura IC Championship defense on the same show. A shift in business practices in 2014 saw NJPW expand their schedule and put Nakamura and Okada title matches on separate shows. With less support underneath, Nakamura was still able to raise NJPW’s profile.
