King of Swerve Style: 5 Reasons Why Shinsuke Nakamura's Heel Turn is a Great Idea

#2 He thrived as a heel in Japan

The heel/face dynamic gave this feud an edge to help propel it to five stars at the Wrestle Kingdom 9

The origination of the King of Strong Style gimmick came with Nakamura's 2009 return to New Japan Pro Wrestling, after a temporary tour of the world (which Japanese wrestling culture encourages, and even requires, for all of its talents to learn new approaches to the craft).

Everything from his new moniker The King of Strong Style, to his increasingly erratic and flamboyant behavior, his unique look and entrance, to even his expanded and hard-hitting move-set.

This came from the decision to fly in the face of Japanese tradition and forge an aggressive and showy loner character who attacked the promotion's history and top babyfaces with reckless abandon.

This heel work led Nakamura to several well-known four- and five-star encounters with men like Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Hirooki Goto; like with the previous list of candidates for babyface opponents in WWE.

Getting the opportunity to work heel against these New Japan fan favorites opened up a world of opportunities for the King of Strong Style.