Major WWE SmackDown Superstar namedropped on AEW Rampage

AEW Rampage featured a dream clash between Orange Cassidy and Katsuyori Shibata for the All-Atlantic Championship this week. While discussing the latter, it would have been hard to ignore WWE Superstar Shinsuke Nakamura.

Nakamura may sit on the rival promotion, but AEW mentioned him as one of Shibata's legendary opponents as the latter made his in-ring debut in All Elite Wrestling.

Shinsuke faced Shibata in several singles clashes during their shared time in NJPW. The first came in 2003, with the pair fighting during the G1 Climax. They met again in the 2004 and 2014 editions of the tournament.

With Shibata leading their saga 2-1, he challenged for Nakamura's IWGP Intercontinental Title in 2014, albeit unsuccessfully.

They have also faced each other in several tag bouts, notably during the World Tag League in 2014 and 2015.

Shibata faced Cassidy in his AEW debut tonight and his third match since making a fairytale return to the ring. He had nearly died after suffering a brain injury during his Heavyweight Title bout against Kazuchika Okada in 2017.

Did you catch the mention of Shinsuke Nakamura on Rampage? Let us know in the comments section below.