It seemed like a big deal when he signed with WWE...
...4 years later he's tucked away on 205 and nobody seems to bat an eye.
Is he not as big a deal as I thought? It seemed in the year or two leading to his signing you couldn't go a week without hearing his name. I'm only now getting into international promotions, but I was under the impression this guy was a huge star. He never seemed to mesh with NXT, but he was presented as a top guy until he was injured. 4 years later, he's not even mentioned in conversations with Chad Gable and Tyler Breeze about missed opportunities. No comparisons to the Mistico experiment. Nothing.
Granted, he's small. He doesn't stand out like Nakamura, he just looks like another guy on the character select screen of Fire Pro Wrestling. I find his matches (WWE is all I've seen) to be boring, but that could just be me and my taste. I understand why he's not on Smackdown feuding with Samoa Joe, but I don't understand why people aren't pissed that he isn't on Smackdown feuding with Samoa Joe. Maybe I had a misconception about how bright his star was, as I tend to when I recognize a name.
Is this a case of his style not transitioning to WWE (Mistico), a missed opportunity (Asuke), or is he right where he belongs in the grand scheme of things?
Somebody Tell Me About KENTA
Re: Somebody Tell Me About KENTA
he WAS a big deal, he was one of the top Japanese wrestlers that had made it without NJPW, he was the successor of Kenta Kobashi, his name was a legend in the US thanks to ROH, and while his name was coming down as NJPW rose from the dead, he was still a name out there. I really think that if he had stayed in Japan a bit more, he'd be even bigger now with the possibilities of jumping to NJPW or doing the full time indie run in the US/UK
except, he decided to join WWE. He not only came in with a ton of other top names, it was when NXT realized that they can only function if they keep bringing in indie darlings, and so they quickly starting bringing more and more, he got injured and new darlings kept coming, and eventually, a bigger Japanese star came in, and he stopped being that shiny new Japanese toy Hunter had.
except, he decided to join WWE. He not only came in with a ton of other top names, it was when NXT realized that they can only function if they keep bringing in indie darlings, and so they quickly starting bringing more and more, he got injured and new darlings kept coming, and eventually, a bigger Japanese star came in, and he stopped being that shiny new Japanese toy Hunter had.
Re: Somebody Tell Me About KENTA
Ok, so maybe I built him up in my head to be larger than reality. I was under the impression that he was almost peaking when WWE grabbed him. Like, the equivalent of WCW getting Konnan out of Mexico... but the furthest Konnan goes is losing TV Title matches on WCW Saturday Nights, eventually teaming up with "Jumpin" Joey Maggs to get eaten by Harlem Heat or The Nasty Boys. He might get an angle where's he's mad about it, but he loses that too.cero2k wrote: ↑Sep 23rd, '18, 19:19 he WAS a big deal, he was one of the top Japanese wrestlers that had made it without NJPW, he was the successor of Kenta Kobashi, his name was a legend in the US thanks to ROH, and while his name was coming down as NJPW rose from the dead, he was still a name out there. I really think that if he had stayed in Japan a bit more, he'd be even bigger now with the possibilities of jumping to NJPW or doing the full time indie run in the US/UK
except, he decided to join WWE. He not only came in with a ton of other top names, it was when NXT realized that they can only function if they keep bringing in indie darlings, and so they quickly starting bringing more and more, he got injured and new darlings kept coming, and eventually, a bigger Japanese star came in, and he stopped being that shiny new Japanese toy Hunter had.
I guess I'm more confused about why nobody seems to care. I mean, I certainly don't, but I feel like SOMEBODY should. I thought he had a bigger fan base, I felt like he was a brand coming in the door... like, people are STILL pissed about Sin Cara v1.0, but nobody would even notice if Itami was never seen again.
Re: Somebody Tell Me About KENTA
don't get me wrong, he was still big in Japan, but he stayed with NOAH through thin and thick, and it was NOAH that was going down as NJPW rose again, not necessarily KENTA. He's like Marafuji, he stays with NOAH, but he's a legend that when he comes up, people pay attention, but NOAH is just not getting the spotlight that NJPW is getting.Bob-O wrote: ↑Sep 24th, '18, 17:53
Ok, so maybe I built him up in my head to be larger than reality. I was under the impression that he was almost peaking when WWE grabbed him. Like, the equivalent of WCW getting Konnan out of Mexico... but the furthest Konnan goes is losing TV Title matches on WCW Saturday Nights, eventually teaming up with "Jumpin" Joey Maggs to get eaten by Harlem Heat or The Nasty Boys. He might get an angle where's he's mad about it, but he loses that too.
I guess I'm more confused about why nobody seems to care. I mean, I certainly don't, but I feel like SOMEBODY should. I thought he had a bigger fan base, I felt like he was a brand coming in the door... like, people are STILL pissed about Sin Cara v1.0, but nobody would even notice if Itami was never seen again.
This is why I think that if KENTA had stayed in Japan even a little, he would be so much bigger now. NJPW has brought soo much eyes to Japan so that AJPW, DG, or Joshi wrestling have been able to grow out of their gutter. If he had stayed with NOAH, he would have been able to take advantage of the short NJPW/NOAH partnership and make it to the G1 that Marafuji and Nakajima went. Or even if meaningless, come work for Impact/AAA/PWG/etc as Taiji Ishimori did. And straight up, if KENTA wanted it, I have ZERO doubt that NJPW and ROH wouldn't have given him a huge offer to join them full time
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