Winning the World Heavyweight Championship is still a goal of Nakamura’s.
Following WWE’s recent return to Japan, Shinsuke Nakamura took to X to share that seeing both AJ Styles and John Cena approaching the end of their careers made him reflect on the possibility that his own retirement may not be far off.
Speaking to Tokyo Sports, Shinsuke Nakamura elaborated on his recent tweet, clarifying that while he has no immediate plans to retire, he can’t guarantee he’ll still be active in five years’ time. For now, though, Nakamura remains focused on capturing the World Heavyweight Championship.
“Fortunately, I haven’t had many injuries, so it’s not like I have to retire right now. But nothing lasts forever. If you ask me about the next 10 years, I have my doubts, but if you ask me about five years, maybe. You never know what tomorrow brings, so I just have to do what I can now. That’s what keeps me going—the belief that I can still do it. For me, it’s the World Heavyweight Championship. That’s what I’m after. When you think about the things Japanese wrestlers, especially men, haven’t yet broken through on in America, that’s it. I don’t know if it’ll serve as proof of anything, but sometimes I wonder—if I can’t do it, what happens then? I just want to leave behind a path, a sense of hope, for the next generation of Japanese and Asian wrestlers.”
-Shinsuke Nakamura
Elsewhere in the interview, Nakamura reflected on his tribute to Hiroshi Tanahashi during WWE’s recent tour of Japan, stating that he “did what I needed to do and said what I needed to say.”
Reports recently emerged that New Japan Pro Wrestling have discussed the possibility of Shinsuke Nakamura being Hiroshi Tanahashi’s final opponent at Wrestle Kingdom 20, though the idea was described as a “pipe dream.” You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on future plans for Shinsuke Nakamura as soon as we hear more.
