[Photo] Shinsuke Nakamura snaps picture with top AEW star
Shinsuke Nakamura has been a busy man in WWE, but he recently took the time to snap a photo with a popular AEW star. That would be DDT phenom Konosuke Takeshita, whom The King of Strong Style ran into at the airport.
Shinsuke Nakamura and Konosuke Takeshita are Japanese Strong Style icons. However, the former is a product of New Japan Pro-Wrestling, where he was one of the "New Three Musketeers" alongside fellow legends Hiroshi Tanahashi and Katsuyori Shibata. On the other hand, Takeshita made his name in DDT Pro-Wrestling before joining AEW.
Despite never having wrestled each other, there is mutual respect and admiration, as Nakamura refers to Takeshita by the nickname "Take."
The two bumped into each other today at an airport, and The King of Strong Style posted a pic on his X account to mark the occasion.
"I met Take at the airport," wrote Nakamura in Japanese. [Translation via Twitter]
Despite his high profile, Nakamura has been on a losing streak in WWE recently and will likely look to reverse his fortunes ahead of WrestleMania XL. Meanwhile, Konosuke Takeshita has claimed victory over the likes of Chris Jericho and Darby Allin in recent months.
Konosuke Takeshita on why he chose AEW over WWE
Although only 28, Konosuke Takeshita was already a 10-year veteran when he signed with Tony Khan's company in November 2022. The Japanese star established himself as one of the best wrestlers in the world in DDT, inviting plenty of interest from America's top two promotions.
In an interview with DDT late last year, Takeshita gave his reasons for signing with All Elite Wrestling over WWE. He claimed he wanted to do something no one else was doing, and there weren't any male Japanese stars in the company who had managed to claim a championship:
"So the choice was WWE or AEW. At that time, there were not that many main male wrestlers in AEW, and moreover, there were no Japanese who wore the singles belt, except for women. I wanted to do something that no one else was doing. At that point, I wasn’t sure if AEW would become as huge as it is now, but it was still a choice I made. Then, over the next year or so, the number of wrestlers steadily increased, and I don’t think I would have had a chance if I had waited another year," Takeshita said.
Takeshita hasn't yet managed to lay his hands on any gold, but he recently wrestled against Will Ospreay in what many have called the early frontrunner for match of the year.