Shinsuke Nakamura
On January 4, 2008, Angle made his third successful IWGP Heavyweight Championship defense when he defeated Yuji Nagata at the NJPW supershow Wrestle Kingdom II in Tokyo Dome by forcing Nagata to submit to the ankle lock. On February 17, 2008, Angle lost the IWGP title to the NJPW-recognized champion Shinsuke Nakamura in a unification match. He returned in August during the G1 Climax in two special tag matches with A.J. Styles as his main opponent. In those matches Shinsuke Nakamura and Masahiro Chono became Angle's partners while Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinjiro Otani became Styles' partners. Angle's team won both matches.