Although it can be hard to believe for those that solely watch the WWE, Shinsuke Nakamura does share some history with Brock Lesnar.
After leaving the WWE on a sour note, the reigning, defending Universal Champion decided to dive into some other ventures.
NJPW
He tried his luck in the NFL by joining the Minnesota Vikings before he cemented his name in the world of mixed martial arts by eventually becoming the UFC Heavyweight Champion.
Sandwiched between those events, though, was Lesnar's stint in Japan where he was - at the time - finishing up his wrestling career.
Back in 2006, fans saw the up-and-coming Nakamura who would later become the King of Strong Style take on Lesnar, a depleted figure who had lost all passion for the wrestling business.
The two did battle inside of the Tokyo Dome for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, and the only reason the match was booked was because Kazuyuki Fujita refused to compete, so the current United States Champion was drafted in to be Lesnar's opponent.
Now, Nakamura has revealed in his upcoming book - King of Strong Style - that he ended up crying after he faced Lesnar.
The reason for that was because Lesnar made things very difficult, things were going bad in the match and Nakamura felt The Beast just didn't respect the promotion enough.
DISRESPECT
According to a thread on Reddit, he said: "Part of that was luck. But that match was seriously rough.
"First, Lesnar was saying all this stuff about how he respected New Japan, but it felt to me like that was just for show, that he didn't really respect the promotion. Like, somewhere, he was looking down on Japanese people. I lost the match, and that was the first time I cried at pro wrestling after a match," he said.
"It was the main event at Tokyo Dome. This was a pretty hallowed stage, and I knew I hadn't fought the way I imagined I would. And there was, like, this temperature difference between me and Lesnar. I didn’t get the sense he had any love for pro wrestling. It felt like he was just doing his job."
Nakamura also went on to reveal that a second match was cancelled between the pair due to contract issues with Lesnar - and he even ended up running off with the championship title which Nakamura felt was disrespectful.
He added: "I felt like this was too much; he was seriously scoffing at us. Lesnar won the championship and took the belt home, I told Simon if the company didn't get its s*** in order, that belt was definitely going to get nicked.
"I didn't honestly believe that when we fought. But it ended up just like I feared. He has the physical stuff, plus a straightforward strength and a certain amount of flexibility, so there was a bit of the monster to him. But I didn't like his personality, you know?
"He might have made a real mark in UFC, but he didn't even seem to notice the audience booing. I was like, 'Oh, this guy's a heel to the core.'"
Based on Nakamura's thoughts on Lesnar, maybe WWE was wise to never pit the two stars against each other in WWE.
What do you make of Shinsuke Nakamura's claims against Brock Lesnar? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.