Sonny Onoo On Story Behind Recent Photo With Shinsuke Nakamura, Rumors Nakamura Was At AEW Dynamite

As previously reported, there were rumors last month that WWE superstar Shinsuke Nakamura was backstage at AEW Dynamite after photos surfaced of him with Yugi Nagata. However, that rumor was quickly debunked.

In a recent interview on Perched On The Top Rope, Sonny Onoo, who was also in the photo, explained that Nakamura simply wanted to take Nagata to dinner to pay tribute to him. Onoo also recalled Chris Jericho suggesting they take a photo together, and Nakamura noting he didn’t think it was a good idea (via Fightful):

“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.”

Nagata challenged Jon Moxley for the IWGP United States Championship on that edition of Dynamite, with Moxley successfully retaining the title.