Yuji Nagata challenged Jon Moxley for the IWGP United States Title on the May 12 episode of AEW Dynamite. It was Nagata's first-time back on TNT since the days of WCW and his first visit to America since the pandemic.
Ahead of the event, a photo surfaced on Nagata posing with Shinsuke Nakamura and Sony Onoo, leading some fans to believe that Nakamura was backstage at AEW Dynamite.
As explained by Onoo on Perched On The Top Rope, this was not the case.
"Shinsuke Nakamura was one of the young lions when I met him. Since Yuji Nagata was coming to Florida, I was communicating with Yuji and he said Shinsuke was going to come and we'd go to dinner. I didn't think anything of it," he said. "Until we started the WWE vs. WCW angle, people would visit locker rooms when they were in town. Yuji's flight was late, so he called me up and said Shinsuke was downstairs at the hotel and wanted me to keep him company. We sat down, had a drink, and I didn't realize it was an issue until Chris Jericho joined us and we're among friends. Chris asked, 'Maybe we get a picture' and Shinsuke said, 'Probably not a good idea.' None of us really asked to take a picture until later on, it was a close group; Rocky Romero, myself, and Ren Narita. Shinsuke took us out to dinner. That was it. It was just Shinsuke [paying tribute] to Yuji for helping him when he was young. We weren't near the arena and Shinsuke refrained from taking a picture with anyone from AEW."
Nakamura is currently under contract to WWE and is regularly featured on WWE SmackDown.
Moxley defeated Nagata to retain the IWGP US Title on Dynamite.
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