We're more than a month removed from the first reports that Shinsuke Nakamura was leaving New Japan for WWE. Even though it's now official, we're still more than a month away from his debut at TakeOver: Dallas during WrestleMania week.

With WWE hyping his arrival and that premiere match in April, an item from the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter (subscription required but recommended) provides some interesting business background for his push.

Dave Meltzer says that Nakamura will be the first NXT signee in the history of the brand to receive a main roster, main event-level payday. That would mean he's making a lot more than previous veterans brought onto the feeder-system show, such as Samoa Joe or Austin Aries. On Twitter, Meltzer said that while he doesn't know figures, a reasonable comparison to the puro star's deal would be the original Sin Cara (Mistico), who was a top draw in Mexico when WWE brought him on.

Even more interesting is that the Observer reports Nakamura is set for a "significant run" in NXT. No specifics are known about how long he'll be there, and the plans still look to be for him to join the main roster, but the former IWGP champ is obviously important to the short-term plans for a promotion that's growing as a travelling brand.

If there's any truth to the rumors that multiple stars will be called up after Mania, Nakamura's drawing power could be used to transition the show to a new crop of headliners before he joins Raw and/or SmackDown himself. Making WWE Network the only place you can see him for a while makes good business sense, as his signing has been treated as a major sports story in his home country, where the streaming service recently launched.

However this shakes out, it's clear Swagsuke is an important part of WWE's plans in 2016.