Published: Aug 14, 2026 by Liam | Last Updated: Aug 15, 2026 by Liam
Liam has been reporting & analyzing wrestling news for over eight years, and is currently the Managing Editor at WrestleTalk.com. Immersed in wrestling for 18 years, he has over 11,000 published articles in addition to leading and overseeing WrestleTalk.com's coverage.
WWE
On the August 14 episode of WWE SmackDown, Shinsuke Nakamura will bring in some backup to face off with Tama Tonga & Talla Tonga, the MFTs.
Nakamura has yet to reveal the identity of his newest ally, so with SmackDown approaching, who could the multi-time WWE Intercontinental and United States Champion be bringing in?
Here are five potential options for Shinsuke Nakamura’s new tag team partner.
5. Finn Balor
Someone who has plenty of history with both Shinsuke Nakamura and the MFTs is Finn Balor.
Balor became embroiled with the MFTs in recent months but eventually got the better of them before moving into the Undisputed WWE Championship #1 contender match at SummerSlam.
Balor has talked about how close he is with Nakamura and even mentioned the two potentially running NXT Japan together some time in the future.
He would be a logical choice, but Nakamura’s tease seemed to suggest somebody new would be coming in rather than an existing member of the roster.
4. Solo Sikoa
Another man with a lot of history with Tama and Talla Tonga is the former leader of the MFTs, Solo Sikoa.
The Tongans walked out on Sikoa a couple of months ago, and they haven’t interacted since, with Sikoa busy on Raw and his issues with the Bloodline.
With Sikoa now firmly a babyface – at least until he might have to join the Bloodline this coming Monday – he’d be a decent fit alongside Nakamura.
However, his ongoing story with the Bloodline does make this one somewhat unlikely.
3. Tokyo Bad Boys
A bit of a wildcard option for Shinsuke Nakamura to bring into WWE SmackDown would be the Tokyo Bad Boys.
The trio of Nobu, Takuma and Kento have been featured regularly in AAA since WWE acquired the Mexican lucha libre brand in 2025.
While they’ve also been working in Japan’s GLEAT promotion, Nakamura bringing in TBB as his new proteges would be an interesting move as the 46 year old has admitted he’s winding down his career.
Whether it would work in this particular situation is questionable though, and it did sound like Nakamura was bringing in a singular partner, not a group.
2. Naraku
Another potential home-nation teammate that Shinsuke Nakamura could bring into WWE SmackDown is Naraku.
Formerly known as EVIL in NJPW, Naraku debuted in NXT a number of months ago and competed with Tony D’Angelo for the NXT Championship.
However, after losing twice to D’Angelo, Naraku has been off TV as the main event scene now consists of D’Angelo, Grayson Waller, Cruz Montana and Zilla Fatu.
That means the road is clear for a main roster call-up for Naraku if his NXT stay was only meant to be a short one – but one potential disconnect is that he was a heel for his entire time there, and this new role alongside Nakamura is a babyface role, unless he was to just turn on Nakamura instantly.
1. Hiromu Takahashi
The top candidate right now to be Shinsuke Nakamura’s new WWE tag team partner seems to be Hiromu Takahashi.
Takahashi signed with WWE around the same time as Naraku, but unlike Naraku, has not debuted on NXT TV.
This could suggest he’ll be skipping the developmental brand in favor of heading straight to the main roster with Nakamura there to lead him in a sense.
Takahashi has plenty of history with the Tongans – particularly Tama – from NJPW, and while many WWE fans might not immediately know who he is, he’s charismatic enough to get over in short order.
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