On the April 14th episode of SmackDown, Shinsuke Nakamura returned to WWE for the first time since November.
Nakamura hasn’t wrestled on a regular basis for WWE since August 2022, with his last televised match coming on November 11th where he lost out to Santos Escobar. The Japanese star’s most high-profile appearance in recent months came in Pro-Wrestling NOAH when he took part in The Great Muta’s retirement tour.
Before his match on SmackDown, Nakamura had only wrestled twice since then on WWE live events.
Back on WWE television, the former Royal Rumble winner entered to a rapturous reception and saw off Madcap Moss in a little over a minute. After the match, Emma instructed Moss to attack Nakamura, but the returning star quickly regained the upper hand, locking Moss in an Arm Bar.
Speaking in a WWE Digital Exclusive, Nakamura said that while he enjoyed returning to Japan, he’s happy to be back.
“I’m glad to be back. I’ve been to Japan, so I had a great victory against Great Muta. That was a historic [match]. Then I recharged, I rebooted,”
The former Intercontinental Champion added that he’s aiming to become World Champion.
“I need some meat. I need a great opponent. Also, I aim for [the] world title.”
Shinsuke Nakamura Is No Stranger To World Championship Gold
While Shinsuke Nakamura has never been World Champion in WWE, the star has an impressive championship pedigree. During his time with New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Nakamura captured the IWGP Heavyweight Championship three times.
Nakamura is also a five-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, as well as a two-time NXT Champion, two-time United States Champion, two-time Intercontinental Champion, and former Tag Team Champion.
H/t to Fightful