Shinsuke Nakamura cornered Rei Tsuruya to a victory in his official Octagon debut at UFC 303 on Saturday night.
At the pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 29, 2024, “The King of Strong Style” served as one of the cornermen for the highly-touted Japanese prospect who previously won the Road to the Octagon tournament to earn his spot on the roster.
Tsuruya would fight to a three-round unanimous decision victory over Carlos Hernandez in a preliminary bout that aired live on ESPN on 6/29.
After the victory, Tsuruya and his fight team, which included Nakamura, all did the trademark pose of the WWE Superstar together inside the Octagon.
Coach Shinsuke Nakamura at work in Rei Tsuruya’s corner for his fight at #UFC303 pic.twitter.com/GQB2FDDO8d
— Andreas Hale (@AndreasHale) June 29, 2024
Shinsuke Nakamura, UFC cornerman #UFC303 pic.twitter.com/U76sDltuZX
— Robbie Fox (@RobbieBarstool) June 29, 2024
Backstage at the show, Nakamura spoke with Sportsnet’s Aaron Bronsteter for an interview about his future in WWE.
“Oh, yeah. So I’ve been wrestling over eight years right no. So I want to keep wrestling in WWE. Also, I give the fans more like a dream. So that’s what I want to do,” Nakamura said. “So I want to show my passion. So also I brought the Japanese style to WWE, but still I think not accomplished. So still I’m challenging, keep challenging.”
Full interview with wrestling legend Shinsuke Nakamura, who cornered Rei Tsuruya earlier tonight.
(Come for Nakamura, stay for my Macho Man Randy Savage impression) pic.twitter.com/6a6WdSyAIq
— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) June 30, 2024
(H/T to Fightful.com for transcribing the above quotes.)
