10 Fascinating WWE Facts About WrestleMania 34

2. The NJPW Presence

WWE WrestleMania 34 Ronda Rousey Stephanie McMahon
https://ameblo.jp/ishiitomohiro

The unexpected - but at the time very welcome - New Japan-influenced AJ Styles/Shinsuke Nakamura push going into WrestleMania resulted in several of the pair's former colleagues making themselves known over a celebratory weekend in New Orleans.

This specific picture above finds Tomohiro Ishii and Kazuchika Okada catching up with 'The King Of Strong Style' ahead of the event, whilst Twitter follow-ups days later revealed that Hiroshi Tanahashi and Minoru Suzuki were also in attendance. With NJPW at a new critical and commercial high, there was a proto-Forbidden Door vibe about the two sides overlapping even if it never materialised.

It wasn't just those in 'The Big Easy' getting in on the action. Preparing for a legendary final battle with 'The Rainmaker' for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, some exchanges with fans on the former bird app also revealed that Kenny Omega had one eye on the event. Just one, though. After tweeting this:

@KennyOmegamanX

'The Best Bout Machine' followed up with this:

Kenny Omega Twitter
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Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett