Back in early 2014, when the WWE signed Japanese pro wrestler KENTA, it was a huge deal. He was one of the biggest stars in Japan and an in-ring wizard. It was also a sign of things to come for WWE’s NXT developmental brand.

Kevin Steen, El Generico, Prince Devitt and KENTA were early coups for the NXT brand. Those four performers were supposed to be the foundation for bringing the NXT brand up to the level of Ring of Honor and other upper indies. Three of the four performers met or exceeded expectations, but KENTA never really even stood a chance to succeed.

KENTA is an innovative wrestler. He invented and popularized many moves that other wrestlers imitated, which is one of the many reasons for his short-lived WWE career.

KENTA was a mainstay in Pro Wrestling NOAH. He was there for over a decade and was one of the biggest stars for the promotion. Unfortunately, NOAH was going through some business trouble in late-2013 and was seeking new ownership. It seemed like the perfect time for KENTA to jump ship and sign with WWE.

KENTA debuted at NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way, and announced his WWE name, Hideo Itami. He spent the rest of 2014 in the mid-card and feuded with Tyler Breeze for most of the year. He won a spot in Wrestlemania 31’s Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. He had a fairly uneventful outing and was eliminated by the Big Show. Soon after Wrestlemania, he suffered a shoulder injury and was expected to miss six months. Unfortunately, there were complications after the surgery and missed over a year.

Itami returned in June 2016 and was visibly smaller. He now wears a sleeve on his arm that most likely tries to hide the atrophy due to the shoulder injury. He has a long scar on the shoulder that is hard to ignore.WWE signed many indie wrestlers while Itami was out with injury. He was leap-frogged by Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Roode, Samoa Joe and others. He was just stuck in the low-to-mid-card when Itami was healthy to return. Also, the top brass didn’t see any room on the main roster for him. Itami ended up on 205 Live and made his final appearance on the 2019 Royal Rumble Kickoff Show in a four-way for the Cruiserweight championship. He asked for his release and it was granted.

Itami’s time in the WWE was very unlucky. His shoulder injury happened at the worst time possible and the setbacks in healing was even more defeating. Also, even though he was very creative in the ring, all of his moves have been seen by the WWE audience too many times thanks to CM Punk and Daniel Bryan. Itami was the originator of the ‘Go 2 Sleep’, but that move was taken from him and brought to the States as a finishing move by CM Punk years ago. Also, many of the moves Daniel Bryan made popular during his big Wrestlemania 30 championship run, was borrowed from Itami.

I believe Itami never stood a chance to succeed in the WWE, even if he was healthy the entire time. He couldn’t speak English well and his moves have been seen by the WWE audience too many times by other wrestlers, even though he created them. Lastly, Vince McMahon doesn’t have a great track record of booking Japanese talent on the main roster. I fear that if Itami would have made it to the main roster, Vince would have made him into a ninja or some cookie cutter Japanese stereotype. I wish him the best and hope he goes back to Japan and become a superstar again.

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About the Author…

Bobby Roberts (otherwise known as Sweetbob) is the creator of ‘America’s White Boy’ and contributor at Project Shanks. His writing has been featured on ESPN’s ‘SportsNation’, Sports Illustrated’s Hot Clicks, Guyspeed, and various other sites. You can follow him on Twitter at @Sweetbob