Shinsuke Nakamura
New Japan Pro-Wrestling, headed by Antonio Inoki, used Inoki's "strong style" approach of wrestling as a combat sport. Wrestlers incorporated kicks and strikes from martial arts disciplines, and a strong emphasis was placed on submission wrestling. Many of New Japan's wrestlers, including top stars such as Shinya Hashimoto, Riki Choshu, Shinsuke Nakamura and Keiji Mutoh, came from a legitimate martial arts background.