Shinsuke Nakamura Makes Shock WWE NXT Return At The Behest Of Injured Star

Written by Sondra Ruth • Published 19th October 2022
Shinsuke Nakamura

When Shinsuke Nakamura first debuted in WWE NXT in 2016, he impressed in a match against Sami Zayn at TakeOver: Dallas as part of WrestleMania 32 weekend. He went on to become a two-time NXT Champion, defeating Samoa Joe both times to win the title in 2017. He would be called up to the main roster one year after his NXT debut, appearing on the first episode of SmackDown following WrestleMania 33.

During his time on WWE’s main roster, Shinsuke Nakamura has gone on to be Intercontinental Champion, United States Champion, and SmackDown Tag Team Champion in addition to winning the 2018 Men’s Royal Rumble match. Leading up to WrestleMania 38 in Dallas earlier this year, he formed an alliance with Rick Boogs that saw the two pursue the SmackDown Tag Team Championships together. However, during their title match against The Usos, Boogs was injured and has been out of action ever since, causing the alliance to halt.

Nakamura attempted to unseat GUNTHER as Intercontinental Champion in the main event of SmackDown on August 12th, but he was unsuccessful. This marks his most recent televised match prior to his appearance on WWE NXT.

Shinsuke Nakamura Made His First WWE NXT Appearance Since 2017

On the latest episode of WWE NXT, injured star Tony D’Angelo took it upon himself to find an opponent for Channing “Stacks” Lorenzo, who has served as part of D’Angelo’s Family in recent months. Stacks has been consistently losing matches as of late, and D’Angelo wanted to teach him a lesson by bringing in a main roster WWE Superstar to present an even bigger challenge to his protégé.

After D’Angelo and Stacks made their entrance, the NXT crowd was delighted to hear the theme song of Shinsuke Nakamura, singing his familiar tune along with him as he made his way to the ring. The crowd kept singing throughout the match, showing love for the former NXT Champion.

Though many may have expected Stacks to fall quickly to the former Intercontinental Champion, he showed tremendous fire in his match. Despite suffering yet another loss to Shinsuke Nakamura in the end, Stacks still seemed to earn respect from Tony D’Angelo for his intensity and effort.

Back in September, a Halloween Havoc Ladder Match qualifier bout between Tony D’Angelo and Wes Lee had to be called off when D’Angelo suffered a leg injury. He was able to walk with the assistance of a crutch on this episode of WWE NXT.