It has been reported that wrestling politics could be stopping Shinsuke Nakamura from returning to NJPW.
As NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 20 is fast approaching, with the event set to take place on January 4, 2026, rumours have been swirling about the possibility of WWE’s Shinsuke Nakamura making a return to the promotion he rose to fame in. The rumours have gained traction due to New Japan’s President, Hiroshi Tanahashi, announcing that he will be having his final match at the event, and because Nakamura is a longtime friend of Tanahashi, many believe that he could be Tanahashi’s final opponent.
Speaking about the situation in an episode of Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that while Nakamura’s name has been mentioned a lot, wrestling politics could be getting in the way of making that match a reality, he said:
“I know the Nakamura name has been mentioned a lot, there’s a lot of political stuff going on there right now, but I think that some of the key matches, some of the top matches for the Tokyo Dome should be out if not Sunday, by maybe Tuesday of next week.”
The issue with Nakamura going to New Japan is that AEW has a working relationship with the Japanese promotion, and either AEW or WWE may not want Nakamura on the show due to WWE and AEW being each other’s top competition in North America.
When Did Shinsuke Nakamura Last Wrestle For WWE?
Shinsuke Nakamura last competed for WWE on last week’s episode of SmackDown, where he teamed with Rey Fenix to take on JC Mateo and Tama Tonga in a losing effort. Nakamura has been with the WWE since 2016, after he left NJPW and moved to the United States and joined the NXT brand. He quickly became one of NXT’s top stars and captured the NXT Championship just four months after his debut.
Nakamura then moved to the main roster in 2017 and captured the United States Title in 2018. He has since captured the United States Title a further two times, the Intercontinental Championship twice, and won the SmackDown Tag Team Championship once with Cesaro in 2020.
