Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura

[10.0] "I get a lot of enjoyment from occasionally discovering matches like this one, as I no longer follow American wrestling closely. But this singles match between Shinsuke Nakamura and Sami Zayn is excellent. A dream match between the stars of New Japan and Ring of Honor, brought together for this match at TakeOver. The crowd is very jovial, even if some of their chants are cliché and repetitive. The match was brutal, fluid, with highlights for each wrestler. In short, a chemistry that works very well, and a wonderful showcase for Shinsuke Nakamura for his debut in the United States. Perhaps not indicative of the rest of his career there in hindsight, but I'm only judging this match, and it was excellent."

[9.0] "[4.5*] Up there for top 10 matches in WWE ever, I really loved the story told between the two, the strikes were fairly stiff and there were many creative counters. I love it only took one Kinshasa to end it, no finisher kickouts. Shinsuke and Sami both looked great in this match."

[10.0] "what's best about this match is that it only took one finisher to end it, and it still felt like a damn good match. the crowd was fully invested, the chemistry was there, the near falls and reversals were on point, and the timing was perfect. everything clicked. it's honestly sad they could not recreate that same magic on the main roster."

[9.0] "Crazy that the peak of Nakamura's career in WWE was his very first match but this was such a spectacle. It was greatly anticipated and delivered by instantly getting Nakamura over in a classic match with Sami."

[9.0] "What a beautiful match this is, it feels jsut so good. It flows very nicely, both look amazing, and the crowd is giving this an even bigger feel."

[10.0] "I think this may be legit the best debut match of a wrestler. And all these years later have to wonder wth went wrong how did they miss. Also an incredible nxt send off for Sami as the very next night he was moved up to the main roster and on mania 32. Just everything about the match with the crowd being so into it for the entire match the incredible entrances just everything clicked in this match. Shinsuke leaking blood was also pretty sick and added to this feeling like a strong style fight. This was perfect (****3/4)"

[10.0] "Nakamura's debut unfortunately is his peak in WWE, Everything was down hill from here. Crazy to see him here and see him now being essentially a jobber. This felt like the last time he was the king of strong style. Sami is one hundred percent ready and willing to have a Nakamura match here and its one of his best matches, closer to a NJPW match then a WWE style match. At the time after this there was understandable excitement that Nakamura would become a huge star and have an amazing run in WWE. He might as well had retired after this match because he has been missing for many many years, And time has passed him by"

[9.0] "I love Sami Zayn, and Nakamura's entrance is just unreal. My god, what an aura. The match is excellent. I loved how it gradually escalates, going from playful teasing and tension to a full-blown violent spectacle. The back and forth these two have in the middle of the ring is incredible. What a match."

[10.0] "This match shows you why they weakened Nakamura. When this man is at his peak, only a few on the main roster can keep up with him. Truly, the King of Strong Style *****"

[10.0] "[5 Stars] Unfortunately, this was the last time Nakamura shone in the ring. I will never forgive WWE for choking Shinsuke out like that."

[10.0] "It's unfortunate that this match was the best thing Nakamura did in WWE, but man, it was worth it. Sami was more than willing to bend his style to fit Nakamura's which made him the perfect opponent for Nakamura. The character and showmanship from both of them. The white hot crowd. The smooth as butter in ring work. Easily the best debut match anyone has had. Period."

[6.0] "This is one of those Sami matches that everybody loves but I never found anything special a out it. The crowd was incredible for Nakamura's debut. They had a very solid match. But I don't think they ever reached that next gear in this match. There were just simply good wrestling and that's it."

[9.0] "Incredible match to introduce Shinsuke Nakamura to the WWE audience and Sami Zayn was a great opponent for him"

[9.0] "A great match and debut for Shinsuke, as the crowd were fully invested, and Sami passed the torch in NXT to Nakamura here. One of a very few matches in which the crowd is in love with both superstars."

[7.0] "Cool and intense match, enjoyable but I think that the context of this match is more important to the ratings than the match itself (which is great, don't get me wrong). The crowd made it way better than it was. Nice watch."

[7.0] "A great match tbh. Everyone in the crowd was waiting for Nakamura to show up and they all went crazy when it happened. At that time it was such a huge news because Nakamura had a great reputation in Japan, unlike nowadays when he's washed. The match was genuinely good. I enjoyed it"

[10.0] "Now this is how you do a debut! This was Shinsuke Nakamura's first NXT match, and the atmosphere was an all-timer. Sami Zayn was the perfect opponent, representing the old guard of NXT and already beloved by the crowd. As much as the fans were in Nakamura's corner and ate up everything he did, they also adored Zayn, which made for an electric dynamic. The match was packed with back-and-forth action, and Nakamura's mannerisms, striking style, and odd charisma made it feel very unique. With this also serving as Zayn's NXT farewell, the emotion in the building was off the charts. It absolutely holds up today. *****"

[10.0] "Possibly the greatest debut match in the wwe and Sami was the perfect opponent. One of the all time great babyface vs babyface matches."

[7.0] "Nakamura's debut starts off strong with a pretty good match, but I'm not really seeing why everyone praises this match as one of the best matches off WWE. This is probably the closest you'll see a strong style match in WWE. Shinsuke's entrance was fantastic."

[10.0] "I think this is the first time I hear 'fight forever' chants. Maybe the best NXT crowd ever, great introduction to Nakamura, and great graduation match for Sami to springboard him to a fantastic main roster career."

[10.0] "Like another reviewer said, this is the first time I recall hearing "fight forever" chants. It may have happened somewhere else but this is the match that made it popular. I've watched it many times and it's a flawless match! Sadly this is where Nakamura peaked in WWE."

[10.0] "NxT Black And Gold, take me back.. This was, in the words of Chris Eubank, utterly stupendous, but in a good way. It's 20 minutes of pure art, pure wrestling, it's what the sport of professional wrestling is about and what it always should be. Some great holds, grappling and overall moments that made me think "How is this not over yet? ! ". Both of these men in their respective primes just hammering away at each other for 20 minutes and the crowd ATE IT UP! Going back and watching all of these old matches (NxT especially) really makes me hope that the current administration can return to this kind of booking for all of the weekly shows, although i doubt it."

[10.0] "Sami Zayn vs. Shinsuke Nakamura at NXT Takeover: Dallas, they will NEVER make me think you're overrated. one of the best arguments that exists for wrestling as an art form that can tell a story entirely through in-ring action. no one does anything completely crazy or that will make you scream 'Whoa How Didn't Anyone Die' but it doesn't matter, the story (Sami as the never-gives-up babyface who is trying to understand this genuinely weird opponent that he just can't quite get a clock on with Nakamura) is so entertaining and tells itself without words, just with pacing and the type of offense you see on display from both participants. also, of course, it doesn't need to be said that this could be argued to be Sami AND Nakamura both in their respective primes and with something to prove, so their full hearts go into everything and the crowd eats it up completely. these are two of my favorite wrestlers of all time and this shows off why."

[10.0] "Man, book a dream match is so fucking easy. Can you guys understand how easy it is? I mean, they literally did not so special here, so unique, the moves was okay, we didn't had a impressive bump, a incredible reversal that's gonna outlive generations and it's gonna be in every single edit you watch in the internet, no! They literally put a guy that was debuting in the NXT and another one that was leaving the NXT after did a impressive legacy over there under the perfect atmosfere for it. No storyline, yeah! Why the fuck you'll gonna need to book a complete storyline for a dream match that don't have a single title involved? Just put the guys in the ring for a reason and let them fight, godman it! The crowd is gonna love, exactly like they did. Also, what a important key for this match being so special and a 10 for me, the crowd was literally popping everything they did, making noise for a fucking forearm, they simply didn't shut the fuck up and I really appreciate them for it. About the match itself, nothing so outstanding to say, they just let both guys in 20 minutes in ring and they cooked with that requested time. This is NOT a five stars match for me, but this is the pure and perfect definition of "good job" or even a simple "well done"."

[9.0] "A fantastic match between Sami Zayn and a debuting Shinsuke Nakamura. The crowd were on fire throughout this one, only enchancing this match. Nakamura was at his best here, and Sami matched his intensity really well. Maybe one of the stiffer WWE matches I've seen, with plenty of awesome kicks from Shinsuke, and he even got a bloody nose. They packed in a lot of great spots throughout. Awesome."

[9.0] "[4.25*] Man, this match is literally THE synthesis of what an awesome crowd can add to a match. If this happened on Smackdown, would have been a 3.75* very good match, but with this crowd, this energy, the chants at every single Shin kick, YES chants at every exchange, the way people got into it was so emotional, added a lot to the story they were telling and resulted in one of the best matches in both guys careers and in WWE history. Instant classic."

[10.0] "It doesn't get any better than this in my opinion. A 5 star classic. Some of those matches I go revisiting time after time.."

[9.0] "[****3/4] This crowd was absolutely electric. Both grap and Sami trolls Nakamura by copying his taunt and the crowd loves it. Shinsuke hits an ensuiguri, gets counter, but hits another one. Nakamura hits two drive-by knees to Sami's head onto the apron and lets the crowd be hyped. Sami countered the back suplex and lured Nakamura to fall on the outside, following up with a top rope flip dive and then hitting a crossbody. Both have a couple-minute-long forearm sequence, Nakamura's nose bleeds, and the crowd chants going insane, chanting yes for every forearm. Nakamura wins the exchange, but the Kinshasha was countered by Sami, clotheslining him to oblivion. Nakamura counters another clothesline by flipping around Sami to synch in the armbar and the triangle choke cleanly. Both trade submissions until Nakamura dodges the Helluva Kick, hits an inverted Exploder suplex, misses the Kinshasha, but kicks out at 2.99 from the Blue Thunder Bomb. Sami was on the outside and threw himself like a lawn dart throught the turnbuckle but got kicked to hell. Nakamura almost gets countered into the Exploder Suplex but Kinshasha's Sami from the middle turnbuckle. He hits one more to seal to win. Shinsuke and Sami exchange respects, with Sami then leaving for the main roster. The whole match was counters and in-ring psychology, determining who was the better wrestler. This was just a lot of fun, the crowd hellacious for both men."

[9.0] "This match was awesome. It reminded me why I love Shinsuke so much. His strike-heavy moveset was sold greatly by Sami. Who by no means looked weak by the end. This match literally hit hard. ****1/2"

[8.0] "Not gonna lie they way i have heard about the hype about this match i can't help feeling disappointed after finally getting round to watching it - don't get me wrong it was still good but as good as people have said definetly not"

[9.0] "One of the matches I would show to people first if they wanted to get into wrestling. Perfectly short and understandable, this match will always rock."

[9.0] "This one has a special place in my heart, because it was one of the best matches I've ever saw, when I watched for the first time as a teenager. At the time I wasn't too much aware of the things outside of WWE, so for me this was everything, so unique. And even after all those years and all those matches, I watch this again and feel the same way I did back in the day, that's how good and special this match was. What absolutely makes this match so special is the fact that it was Nakamura's WWE debut, an absolute legend and one of the biggest names of Japan coming to WWE wasn't common, so it was huge, and he faced Sami Zayn, one of the faces and most skilled guys in NXT, so it was an incredible matchup, maybe this could even be called a dream match, it was certainly a must-watch combination. I think the crowd makes this perfect, they were awesome, but not only that, the selection of what they did was just perfect for what the match asked for. The beginning with those sequences and staredowns, slow pauses for the crowd to react, and then in the middle we had a long and insane battle of forearms, Nakamura nose started to bleed, that's how stiff they were, and even with the match not having a lot of finishing moves or nearfalls, it didn't needed to, it was enough to produce an all-timer classic. This one was what I use to call an "easy watch", the 20 minutes pass incredibly quick, it's just a joy, before the match, in the match, and after the match, just a wholesome experience, and I think this was fully able to showcase Nakamura and his strong style abilities, and Sami Zayn, incredible as he is, was of course the perfect opponent to do this - {****1/2}"

[8.0] "The aura that ooze from NAKAMURA needs to be studied especially in this debut matchup, I remember being young when this match was live and missed out on the live stream of it lol but now seeing it so long later its sooo great! Zayn is such a good opponent for Nakamura debut as they'll able to counter one another and the story of Sami returning to defend NXT against this debuting International Superstar was great!"

[7.0] "Not sure where this high rating comes from. As far as I'm concerned, this was a pretty standard showing from either of the wrestlers that you could see in any other match with their presence. They showed nothing that I wouldn't expect, but this was a good and well-worked match, there's no denying that."

[10.0] "this is the first match that made me realize there was than just WWE, it got me interested into japanese and indie wrestling which is funny because this happened on NXT"

[10.0] "If Nakamura had delivered 4-5 matches a year like this in WWE literally no-one would say he was coasting. Zayn is fantastic as well and delivers a masterclass in how to win by losing. Seriously, no wrestler should ever be allowed to say they can't lose to someone because it'll hurt their stock when there's performances like this out there."

[7.0] "Balon zayn abim yine balonlugunj gerceklestirmis ne var bu maçta bu kadar yuksek verilcek hiçbir özel an yok maalesef nakamurann debut maç diye bu puanlar hiç liyakatl degil bundan sonras rastgele sevmedim deme bana göre degil amacm o yüzden çoktan bitti"

[7.0] "This was definitely a solid match, however I do not get the hype around it. Both men had their moments, with some great sequences added in, but the match didn't feel special. Of course, I am rewatching this 8 years after it happened, so maybe it was just a huge deal that it was Shinsuke's debut match, but I genuinely don't get the insane levels of hype that this match receives."

[8.0] "Great WWE debut for Nakamura. The crowd is white-hot for the entire duration which, while sometimes can be distracting, adds a lot to some of the sequences in this match."

[10.0] "An all time classic and the perfect debut for Shinsuke. Very hard hitting and intense and the perfect way to book a face vs face match. Sami put Shinsuke over on his way out of NXT."

"Its good to remember Nakamura once had aura. Flows too choppy for my liking and some of the strong style spots dont do it for me. Still, Samis days in old NXT were something else. Sometimes with NXT I feel that the crowd gives too much energy (especially back in the day with the hate there was for the main roster), to where I think the reactions are sometimes not earned. Nonetheless I am glad to be in a minority because the more people enjoy wrestling the better."

[8.0] "A special debut for Shinsuke, who has yet to top this match with his time in WWE. His move set shines against Zayn, and they complement each other so well despite having never set foot in the ring together. There's nothing crazy in the way of spots or moments, but the crowd reacts to everything they do to make up for that. An all-time NXT classic. 4.25 Stars."

[9.0] "Absolute banger. From Shinsuke's entrance to the very last kinshasha, it felt like every single move in between was super impactful and important. While nothing was super flashy, this showed the pinnacle of Sami and Nak as wrestlers. Nak bringing the intensity and hard hitting strikes that hes known for. On the flip side Sami surprisingly matched that with some very hard strikes intensity with the usual grit and underdog fire that gets the crowd behind him no matter what. The crowd absolutely loved everything these guys did and with the novelty of it being Nak's WWE debut made for an spectacle and atmosphere that is rarely replicated now.I believe this will be a timeless match that will be looked back upon very fondly."

[10.0] "This match is perfection. Both Sami and Shinsuke were masterclass and this definitely one of if not the best WWE debut matches ever."

[10.0] "I remember getting caught in the hype for this match back in 2016, I didn't know who Shinsuke was other than what I had heard about him being one the best wrestlers in Japan. And I can't say that I cared much about Sami other than being the only arab wrestler in WWE at the time, so I hopped on a low quality stream for Takeover Dallas waiting for this match, FTR vs American Alpha was great, Corbin vs Aries I didn't care about, and then, It's finally here, the match everybody was talking about, Sami enters and the crowd loves him, then Nakamura music hits and he comes out and he was weird? Weird not in a bad way but in an eccentric way that you don't see a lot, in fact you don't see at all, it was unique to Shinsuke Nakamura. The match starts, and boy what a match it was. A perfect symphony played by two awe-inspiring artist, one his way out of NXT and the other starting his journey in a new enviorment away from home. It was hard-hitting, it was amazing, it was perfect. It didn't need to do too much and it didn't. It was focused and self-contained, there was no extra bells and whistles, every moment was important and every move pushed the story further and did what it needed to do. It was a classic on the same day it happened, now? It is an absolute legend."

[10.0] "Yeah this is insane. Some of the hardest hitting action I have ever seen in WWE. The forearm back and forth was electric and all the counters were crazy. Sami adapted super well to Shinsuke's style further proving to me why he is one of the goats of NXT. This match is perfect."

[10.0] "Nakamura starts his career in WWE with an absolute Bang and sadly he never reaches the same heights but what a debut for him here. Him & Zayn put on an incredible match"

[10.0] "This was awesome. Shinsuke didnt work a WWE match, Sami worked a New Japan match which was a total surprise, but still a welcome one. I loved the stiff strikes and the chain wrestling and the face vs face dynamic. Shinsuke won clean and looked amazing in his debut."

[8.0] "Shinsuke's debut in NXT is pretty fantastic, after a couple of years worth of fairly mediocre main roster appearances it is great to be reminded of just how thrilling he can be. Sami Zayne works incredibly well here as well and the build of intensity through this match is palpable especially with the crowd being so hot. 8.75/10 for me"

[8.0] "Very good match, very big first performance from Nakamura in NXT. The audience was pumped up. (4*1/4)"