Former WWE star KENTA aka Hideo Itami is in New Japan Pro Wrestling and has further opened up on his decision to sign with NJPW departing from WWE.
He did so while doing a recent interview with NJPW where he explained that he thinks his style is better suited for NJPW rather than WWE. Part of his decision to sign with NJPW is not wanting to end his career in WWE because he thought his own personal vision was crumbling away.
“I don’t want to end it like this. I want to try once more to bring my vision of pro wrestling to the world. It’s hard to put into words but… it was a very tough five years,” he said. “I got hurt, and beyond that I was really grasping for something during that whole time. It’s like, I came into the company to bring my style of wrestling worldwide, but what that actually became was bending and adapting to what the company wanted. That’s important in a sense, but the strength and aggression that I bring to the table got lost. That’s a real shame.”
“One person there might tell you ‘do it this way’, and then another would be ‘no, no, do it like this’. That meant my own personal vision just crumbled away. There are people who can do very well in that environment, but I just couldn’t.”
KENTA is among the participants for the 29th G1 Climax tournament were announced by NJPW. He joins the likes of Jon Moxley, Shingo Takagi, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, and Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito as stars competing in this tournament.
He would continue by noting that his style didn’t match up to what is expected in WWE.
“My style isn’t really like the WWE style. There’s an aggression there that’s closer to Strong Style, my matches evolve in a more thrilling way. I think if I can fit in here, I’ll be able to awaken something that’s been dormant for a long time.”
