GWE 2016 was the best time for Nakamura to have a place in many people's ballots. I suspect most were only following the major stuff from New Japan and when a match called for Shinsuke to turn it on, he was clearly one of the best in the world. But excluding that top end material, a lot of the time he was coasting off of his undeniable charisma and while that's not a dealbreaker for a project like this, it is something that gets exposed quickly in a weekly TV setting like WWE.

I think there are few wrestlers more endearing than Shinsuke Nakamura, who protected the wrestling world during the martial arts boom and was a shining light during the dark ages of New Japan! He shouldered a lot during that time as a young wrestler (only 23 when he won the IWGP belt) and it has created an aura around him that is not easy to replicate. The best and most charismatic wrestlers are those who have gone through turmoil, whether personally or professionally, and were able to rise from the bottom. He is a wrestler whose career is defined by several major peaks, as the overburdened protege of Antonio Inoki, as the "King of Strong Style" and his current run as a WWE superstar.