Literary Squared Circle #41 – KING OF STRONG STYLE: 1980 – 2014
Since signing with World Wrestling Entertainment in 2016, Shinsuke Nakamura has enjoyed a great deal of success. Nakamura is a two-time NXT Champion, a two-time WWE Intercontinental Champion, a two-time WWE United States Champion, and a former co-holder of the WWE SmackDown Tag Team Championship with Cesaro. He also won the 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble match. Today (2/24), Nakamura celebrates his 42nd Birthday. To celebrate his birthday, the Literary Squared Circle blog reviews Nakamura’s 2018 book King of Strong Style: 1980 – 2014 by Shinsuke Nakamura (VIZ Media LLC, 2018).
King of Strong Style was written in Japanese and then translated to English. It details the life of Shinsuke Nakamura chronologically from his birth in 1980 to his time competing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2014. The format of the book is a unique one. It reads like an extended interview with Nakamua. The unidentified “interviewer” asks him a question and Nakamura responds. The story of the first 34 years of his life is told, but it is done so conversationally with him at time laughing and reacting to the questions asked by the “interviewer”.
I found it interesting to learn about Nakamura as a person as opposed to just reading his resume as a performer. Nakamura discusses his family life and education, as well as his training and his foray into Mixed Martial Arts. He is open and candid when discussing his relationship with the legendry Antonio Inoki.
Nakamura describes how he broke into professional wresting alongside Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata. He gives his honest opinions regarding fellow wrestlers such as: Hirooki Goto, Osamu Nishimura, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kensuke Sasaki, Masahiro Chono, and even his future WWE contemporary, Brock Lesnar.
Shinsuke Nakamura describes his travels to Brazil, Italy, Mexico, and beyond. He also reminisces about various feuds, alliances, and his numerous championships, which include reigns as IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, and IWGP Tag Team Champion.
In addition to many great photos of Shinsuke Nakamura both in and out of the ring, there is also a recapitulation of Nakamura’s story in the form of a timeline in the back of the book. King of Strong Style is an exhaustive account of Nakamura’s life and career up to 2014. I found the interview style of the narrative to be somewhat unappealing. It felt like you were reading a magazine interview… a magazine interview that goes on for 300+ pages.
I enjoyed learning about Nakamura’s background, however, I found it difficult to relate to due to the fact that I have not watched a lot of Japanese wrestling. He would describe, in great detail, matches, angles, and wrestlers which I had never seen and was unfamiliar with. A few matches grabbed my interest enough that I sought them out on YouTube to familiarize myself with them.
If I were a bigger fan of Japanese wrestling, I probably would have enjoyed King of Strong Style: 1980 – 2014 more. Fans familiar with Nakamura’s pre-WWE work will most likely enjoy reading about it. Casual fans who only know Nakamura from his work in WWE may want to pass. Overall, I liked the book, but didn’t love it.
3 Stars out of 5
King of Strong Style was written in Japanese and then translated to English. It details the life of Shinsuke Nakamura chronologically from his birth in 1980 to his time competing for New Japan Pro-Wrestling in 2014. The format of the book is a unique one. It reads like an extended interview with Nakamua. The unidentified “interviewer” asks him a question and Nakamura responds. The story of the first 34 years of his life is told, but it is done so conversationally with him at time laughing and reacting to the questions asked by the “interviewer”.
I found it interesting to learn about Nakamura as a person as opposed to just reading his resume as a performer. Nakamura discusses his family life and education, as well as his training and his foray into Mixed Martial Arts. He is open and candid when discussing his relationship with the legendry Antonio Inoki.
Nakamura describes how he broke into professional wresting alongside Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata. He gives his honest opinions regarding fellow wrestlers such as: Hirooki Goto, Osamu Nishimura, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yoshihiro Takayama, Kensuke Sasaki, Masahiro Chono, and even his future WWE contemporary, Brock Lesnar.
Shinsuke Nakamura describes his travels to Brazil, Italy, Mexico, and beyond. He also reminisces about various feuds, alliances, and his numerous championships, which include reigns as IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, and IWGP Tag Team Champion.
In addition to many great photos of Shinsuke Nakamura both in and out of the ring, there is also a recapitulation of Nakamura’s story in the form of a timeline in the back of the book. King of Strong Style is an exhaustive account of Nakamura’s life and career up to 2014. I found the interview style of the narrative to be somewhat unappealing. It felt like you were reading a magazine interview… a magazine interview that goes on for 300+ pages.
I enjoyed learning about Nakamura’s background, however, I found it difficult to relate to due to the fact that I have not watched a lot of Japanese wrestling. He would describe, in great detail, matches, angles, and wrestlers which I had never seen and was unfamiliar with. A few matches grabbed my interest enough that I sought them out on YouTube to familiarize myself with them.
If I were a bigger fan of Japanese wrestling, I probably would have enjoyed King of Strong Style: 1980 – 2014 more. Fans familiar with Nakamura’s pre-WWE work will most likely enjoy reading about it. Casual fans who only know Nakamura from his work in WWE may want to pass. Overall, I liked the book, but didn’t love it.
3 Stars out of 5
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