THE VAUNTED ‘WWE STYLE’ HAS BEEN TALKED ABOUT FOREVER, AND WITH GOOD REASON.
Like many promotions, Vince McMahon’s empire has a certain in-ring style, one that can take time to adjust to. There have been countless talented performers who, for whatever reason, just couldn’t seem to find a way to make it “click”.
In recent years, however, the number of said wrestlers who can’t seem to adjust has decreased significantly. And there’s probably a number of reasons and factors that have gone into that.
Chief among them, however, has to be the process in which wrestlers are brought in to the company.
The Performance Centre, NXT, and the main roster all work together seamlessly, a symbiotic relationship that has fostered and nurtured talents, allowing them to adjust at their own pace. In the past, these levels (development and main roster) have been somewhat disjointed and fractured, which led to the wrestlers having to overcome many obstacles en-route to achieving success on every altitude.
It wasn’t impossible. But it was exponentially more difficult.
Now, with a tiered system that feeds more directly into each other-and one (NXT) that has a global stage of exposure-the performers have all the tools to not only succeed, but do it on their own time, and take as many steps as necessary to get there without it seeming as though they’re just spinning their wheels aimlessly in what was once thought of as development hell.
Which brings us to the curious case of Hideo Itami.
The wrestler formerly known as “KENTA” signed to WWE with much fanfare during a July 2014 event in Osaka, Japan. He then transitioned to North America, where he began putting in work at the Performance Centre before resurfacing for his official NXT debut in September of the same year.
Throughout the remainder of the year, Itami was involved in high profile matches for the development brand, and was even hand selected by WWE to compete in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at Wrestlemania 31 (where his night ended at the hands of the eventual winner, Big Show). It certainly seemed as though the rise of Itami through NXT and eventually the WWE was inevitable.
And then an injury occurred.
Itami elected for surgery in May of 2015 on a bad shoulder that was supposed to keep him out of action for around six months. By the time the calendar turned to 2016, however; all involved were singing a decidedly different tune. Electing to not even hazard a guess, those inside the WWE simply stated that the Sõka, Japan native was “nowhere close to being able to return”. Itami finally made his much anticipated return in late June of 2016.
It was short lived.
In October of that same year, Itami would suffer an injury at a live event after a powerslam gone wrong from Riddick Moss (the fact Itami was working with him to begin with was, likely, an indictment to how much trust WWE has in him to help the younger workers along).
The strong style striker would once more sit on the side-lines long term, not surfacing again until April of 2017. He returned, immediately targeting NXT champion Bobby Roode, thrusting himself into the main event picture.
And as I found myself watching the build to NXT TakeOver: Chicago, I couldn’t help but think something very unfortunate while watching Itami: I just didn’t have that much vested interest. There are a lot of reasons why certain wrestlers have issues connecting with fans (not to say Itami has that going for him, for all I know I could very well be an isolated case).
Said wrestler could have issues adjusting to the style of his new company. He could be saddled with a character that doesn’t particularly evoke any strong emotion. And yes, sometimes even the language barrier wrestlers like Itami face can be a burden, a strain on their push to the top.
But none of that certainly seems to apply to Itami. He appears to be a quick study of in-ring work. His character, though not particularly layered, is interesting enough in that cold-blooded assassin type way. And the language barrier isn’t really an issue, as his command on the language is fine.
More to that point, one has to wonder if the issue of a language barrier isn’t being overstated to begin with. After all, Shinsuke Nakamura and Asuka are far-from-fluent, and yet seemed destined to be two of the WWE’s biggest stars by the end of 2017 (if not sooner).
No, it isn’t any of those things holding Itami back.
So what is it? I wracked by brain, searching long for an answer that was tantalizingly close to me the entire time.
The one thing Hideo Itami needs? It’s time.
During their various runs in NXT, the likes of Sami Zayn, Adrian Neville, Kevin Owens, Bayley, Charlotte, and the aforementioned Nakamura and Asuka all had one thing in common: they all shared relatively good health during their respective runs.
Not only is that tantamount of importance for “getting in your reps” while with the development brand, but it’s key in engineering momentum for the character.
With the style of the company itself changing and evolving before our eyes; Itami -now more than ever-has all the tools to be a big star for World Wrestling Entertainment. And not just in North America, but all around the world, and certainly in his native land.
If only he’ll get the benefit of good health to show it.