Shinsuke Nakamura will reportedly head to WWE Performance Center in February

According to Mike Johnson at PWInsider.com, New Japan star Shinsuke Nakamura will be coming to the United States for several weeks in February, at which point he will be spending time at the WWE Performance Center in Winter Park, Fla. Nakamura is expected to receive his WWE physical at that time, which would be the last step before being offered a contract by the company.

Nakamura spending time at the Performance Center -- presumably to learn how the WWE system works, if not necessarily the WWE "style" -- makes a lot of sense and is to be expected. WWE has a much different way of conducting business than any other wrestling company, especially now that the Performance Center and NXT are both part of the process.

Nakamura was stripped of his IWGP Intercontinental Championship earlier this week, although the multi-time champion and main event superstar will continue to work for New Japan throughout the rest of January. Nakamura, along with AJ Styles and Bullet Club members Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson, made worldwide headlines on Jan. 4, when the four men gave notice to New Japan the morning of Wrestle Kingdom 10.