the Young Lions Cup in 1995, in order to hone his skills and bulk up, he went on an excursion to North America and joined World Championship Wrestling (WCW). World Championship Wrestling (1992, 1995–1996) Twelve days after his pro debut, Nakanishi's first appearance in WCW was at Halloween Havoc, as a spectator, sitting alongside NJPW and NWA President Seiji Sakaguchi at ringside. Three years later he returned to WCW to wrestle, under the name Kurasawa as a member of The Stud Stable led by Colonel Robert Parker. He frequently teamed with Meng, with whom he feuded against Sting and Road Warrior Hawk. He broke the arm of Hawk using a seated armbar after their tag team match at Clash of the Champions XXXI, in which they lost. He subsequently feuded with Hawk when Hawk returned from injury heading into Halloween Havoc, beating many local wrestlers on their B-shows, WorldWide and Pro, as well as a big win over Sgt. Craig Pittman on Nitro. He was also known there for nearly defeating "Macho Man" Randy Savage on an episode of Nitro. It was here that Nakanishi learned the infamous "Road Warrior Workout" from Hawk and Animal, who also taught this routine to Kenta Kobashi and Kensuke Sasaki. Return to NJPW (1996–2020) Return from excursion and peak career (1996–2011) When Nakanishi came back to NJPW in September 1996, he appeared more confident and stronger. With his new change in attitude and in-ring style, he found instant success. He formed The Bull Powers with Satoshi Kojima, who returned from Europe. In May 1997, he and Kojima won the IWGP Tag Team Championship. He had arguably the upset win of the decade in the 1999 G1 Climax, submitting then-IWGP Heavyweight Champion and nWo Japan leader Keiji Mutoh, to win the tournament. As the years went by, Nakanishi was never able to capitalize on his win in the G1 Climax as he constantly came up short in big matches, and Antonio Inoki's focus on pushing MMA fighters from 2002 to 2005 made matters worse for him. When the company suffered a massive exodus in main event talent (including Shinya Hashimoto, Shinjiro Otani, Sasaki, and Mutoh), it was considered that Nakanishi might finally live up to his potential, but once again he was overlooked, as NJPW started to look towards building their younger talent like Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura, Togi Makabe, and Hirooki Goto. He formed