When WWE built up the WrestleMania 34 match between AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura as a ‘dream match’, I laughed. I couldn’t possibly take them seriously. Sure, Nakamura had won the Royal Rumble and Styles was the best wrestler in WWE at the time. But the simple truth was that nothing WWE could do would lead to their version being better than the original.
Sure enough, the WrestleMania match between them was a spectacular disappointment. It was only okay by both wrestlers’ standards, but definitely not worthy of being a ‘dream match’. Maybe that was intentional, to make one of them into a villain for not delivering at WrestleMania. Regardless, that match was a flop, and several of Nakamura’s former NJPW comrades – who flew all the way from Japan to see him wrestle at WrestleMania – left as soon as it ended. They knew it wasn’t as good as what NJPW put on, which is why we’re going to revisit that match today.