PWInsider names Hiromu Takahashi as Shinsuke Nakamura’s mystery SmackDown tag partner

PWInsider has identified Hiromu Takahashi as the mystery tag team partner teased alongside Shinsuke Nakamura in vignettes that aired on WWE SmackDown and in a social-media promo posted after the August 14 edition. The revelation follows two Nakamura promos that included a silhouetted figure behind him.

Nakamura, who has been absent from WWE programming, appeared in a vignette last week to address the MFTs (Talla Tonga, Tama Tonga & Haku), saying the King of Strong Style is back and that this time he would not be fighting alone. He declared he was starting a war and would no longer be a one-man army. In a social-media exclusive posted after the August 14 SmackDown, Nakamura congratulated the MFTs on becoming the new WWE Tag Team Champions, issued a stern warning, and the camera again teased a mystery figure in silhouette behind him.

The PWInsider report named the mystery partner as Hiromu Takahashi and described him as a former New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) star. The report added that Takahashi has been widely expected to sign with WWE and that the promotion is likely building up the tease for his debut.

According to the report, Takahashi began his pro-wrestling career in NJPW in 2010 and has also worked in Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), Ring of Honor (ROH), All Elite Wrestling (AEW) and Pro Wrestling Noah.

Takahashi’s NJPW accomplishments listed in the report include one reign as IWGP Tag Team Champion with Tetsuya Naito and five reigns as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. He has also held the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship once alongside Yota Tsuji and BUSHI.

The report credited Takahashi with four Best of the Super Juniors tournament victories, in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022, and with winning the 2024 World Tag League with Naito. It also noted he captured the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship in Pro Wrestling Noah.

The last in-ring appearance cited for Takahashi came in NJPW in February 2026 at NJPW The New Beginning In Osaka, when he and his Unbound tag partner Taiji Ishimori defeated the United Empire team of Francesco Akira and Jakob Austin Young.

PWInsider’s identification of Takahashi as Nakamura’s partner ties the SmackDown vignettes and the post-August 14 social-media promo to a sustained tease that, per the report, is building toward Takahashi’s WWE debut.