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Post by "Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay on Jan 30, 2019 8:55:48 GMT -5
It wasn't just bad luck.
Hideo was an innovator many years ago but by the time he got to NXT everyone was already ripping him off and he was just inherently less special.
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Sephiroth
Wade Wilson
Surviving
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Post by Sephiroth on Jan 30, 2019 8:57:50 GMT -5
His most memorable moment to me was the one he wasn’t in: when the cruiserweights were briefly being pushed, Enzo was an actually over heel champion, and Angie hunted he had a BIG announcement and everyone was certain it would be Itami making his RAW debut-and it turned out to be Callisto. So rare to be that stoked and then thst underwhelmed.
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Post by KofiMania on Jan 30, 2019 9:21:00 GMT -5
WWE has way too much talent, they’re not going to miss a beat even if a dozen more guys were to leave this year. That don't matter, what will is it will help the other markets out immensely and the workers, who will then be utilized better in better systems with great pay and benefits to go along with it. Really, them leaving isn't a bad thing anymore, and it might force WWE's hand on some guys to either put up or let them go. Helping other promotions, yes. Hurting WWE’s product, definitely not. They just have too much talent. And AEW is not offering benefits to wrestlers.
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nisidhe
Hank Scorpio
O Superman....O judge....O Mom and Dad....
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Post by nisidhe on Jan 30, 2019 9:44:48 GMT -5
I don't blame him one bit. I knew that WWE would be facing this kind of exodus when the big acquisitions started getting announced back in 2014 and so many of them ended up being wasted on the main roster or in NXT. These are not the guys who are just happy to be in WWE; these are wrestlers with oodles of creativity and experience to contribute to a new boom period, that were instead shoehorned into a very simplistic TV style and were largely buried due to Vince's long-standing obsession with "big guys." Now that AEW is a thing (to say nothing of everything else that's going on), WWE will have a very, _very_ hard time keeping these people without giving up at least some control over creative direction or overpaying them relative to their drawing power.
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Post by KofiMania on Jan 30, 2019 9:47:59 GMT -5
I don't blame him one bit. I knew that WWE would be facing this kind of exodus when the big acquisitions started getting announced back in 2014 and so many of them ended up being wasted on the main roster or in NXT. These are not the guys who are just happy to be in WWE; these are wrestlers with oodles of creativity and experience to contribute to a new boom period, that were instead shoehorned into a very simplistic TV style and were largely buried due to Vince's long-standing obsession with "big guys." Now that AEW is a thing (to say nothing of everything else that's going on), WWE will have a very, _very_ hard time keeping these people without giving up at least some control over creative direction or overpaying them relative to their drawing power. Vince’s obsession with big guys hasn’t been a thing in like 10 years.
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Lt. Palumbo
Hank Scorpio
On again off again watcher of a wrestling TV show
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Post by Lt. Palumbo on Jan 30, 2019 10:27:05 GMT -5
I wonder where he will end up? Same place as Scott Dawson maybe?
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Post by Slanted and Enchanted on Jan 30, 2019 10:27:43 GMT -5
It wasn't just bad luck. Hideo was an innovator many years ago but by the time he got to NXT everyone was already ripping him off and he was just inherently less special. I've been trying to pin it down...but man, Itami is basically the Kid Cudi of wrestling. Innovated a different style but others took that template and left him in the dust.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2019 10:30:38 GMT -5
He should still have some good years left, if he stays healthy. He now has some fun possible destinations, so it should be fun!
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Post by cabbageboy on Jan 30, 2019 11:46:03 GMT -5
I never got this signing in the first place, or at least was baffled at the hoopla surrounding him. I'm assuming his Japanese work is a lot better but from what I have seen in the years he's been in WWE the guy isn't all that good. Itami projects no particular in ring chasima, his look is dull, physique nonexistent. Based on what I've seen in NXT and 205 Itami wouldn't even be a serious contender in NJPW for the Jr. Heavyweight title if he wanted to go to NJPW. Add in age and injuries and this was a real swing and miss from the get go.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 30, 2019 12:22:36 GMT -5
All I could ever focus on when watching him was 1 - why on earth would he pick that ugly brown mustard color for his tights? 2 - His sad facial hair. 3 - Shouting "respect me" every five goddamn seconds.
Good luck to him.
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Post by HMARK Center on Jan 30, 2019 12:32:42 GMT -5
I never got this signing in the first place, or at least was baffled at the hoopla surrounding him. I'm assuming his Japanese work is a lot better but from what I have seen in the years he's been in WWE the guy isn't all that good. Itami projects no particular in ring chasima, his look is dull, physique nonexistent. Based on what I've seen in NXT and 205 Itami wouldn't even be a serious contender in NJPW for the Jr. Heavyweight title if he wanted to go to NJPW. Add in age and injuries and this was a real swing and miss from the get go. If NJPW announced the roster for Best of the Super Juniors and added his name to the list at the end as a surprise entrant, the response would be enormous.
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Allie Kitsune
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Post by Allie Kitsune on Jan 30, 2019 12:48:02 GMT -5
Hideo/KENTA's signing pretty much coincides with the time I got the network and started watching NXT.
You can kind of tell they wanted him to be important when they brought him in, but then the signings just kept coming and coming. Finn, Owens, Joe, Apollo, EY, Nakamura, Roode...
Between that and the injuries, it just never felt like he was ever really going to get any momentum going for him.
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Post by BRAINFADE on Jan 30, 2019 12:59:30 GMT -5
I never got this signing in the first place, or at least was baffled at the hoopla surrounding him. I'm assuming his Japanese work is a lot better but from what I have seen in the years he's been in WWE the guy isn't all that good. Itami projects no particular in ring chasima, his look is dull, physique nonexistent. Based on what I've seen in NXT and 205 Itami wouldn't even be a serious contender in NJPW for the Jr. Heavyweight title if he wanted to go to NJPW. Add in age and injuries and this was a real swing and miss from the get go. If NJPW announced the roster for Best of the Super Juniors and added his name to the list at the end as a surprise entrant, the response would be enormous. Yep. Let's not underestimate just how big of a star KENTA is in Japan.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
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Post by chazraps on Jan 30, 2019 13:03:15 GMT -5
His most memorable moment to me was the one he wasn’t in: when the cruiserweights were briefly being pushed, Enzo was an actually over heel champion, and Angie hunted he had a BIG announcement and everyone was certain it would be Itami making his RAW debut-and it turned out to be Callisto. So rare to be that stoked and then thst underwhelmed. I remember that. It was such bullshit and made absolutely zero sense.
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chazraps
Wade Wilson
Better have my money when I come-a collect!
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Post by chazraps on Jan 30, 2019 13:05:00 GMT -5
It wasn't just bad luck. Hideo was an innovator many years ago but by the time he got to NXT everyone was already ripping him off and he was just inherently less special. I've been trying to pin it down...but man, Itami is basically the Kid Cudi of wrestling. Innovated a different style but others took that template and left him in the dust. I'd say Charles Hamilton might be more apt, but them I remembered all the bullshit that comes along with Charles Hamilton being a terrible, terrible person and I don't want that stink on KENTA.
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Post by Cyno on Jan 30, 2019 13:22:41 GMT -5
Man, between injuries and WWE Creative being its WWE Creative self, KENTA got a really raw deal over here. I'm guessing he goes right back to Pro Wrestling NOAH or maybe New Japan, though he'd be a pretty big get for AEW if he wanted to stay in North America.
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jan 30, 2019 13:39:01 GMT -5
It wasn't just bad luck. Hideo was an innovator many years ago but by the time he got to NXT everyone was already ripping him off and he was just inherently less special. Yea, DB got the running knee and Punk had the GTS
He wasn't even using the GTS at first when he came in and then once he broke Kendrick orbital bone they made him switch it and that just another part that kills his heat
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Post by Tea & Crumpets on Jan 30, 2019 13:46:52 GMT -5
He was always an odd signing to me, never fit the WWE formula from the offset, and suffered by being in the door too early during the dawn of HHH's "sign all the cool kids" philosophy to really have time to either adapt, or arrive after WWE itself had already shifted to suit him. Hope he can turn his career round as he's basically been asleep for 5 years. I never got this signing in the first place, or at least was baffled at the hoopla surrounding him. I'm assuming his Japanese work is a lot better but from what I have seen in the years he's been in WWE the guy isn't all that good. Itami projects no particular in ring chasima, his look is dull, physique nonexistent. Based on what I've seen in NXT and 205 Itami wouldn't even be a serious contender in NJPW for the Jr. Heavyweight title if he wanted to go to NJPW. Add in age and injuries and this was a real swing and miss from the get go. His Japanese work is so much better it's not even funny. I was really into NOAH back in the 04-08 period and he was an amazing performer, amazing hard hitting matches and also brought swagger and personality, best as a cocky dickhead who was disrespecting the older legends and getting put in his place. If he goes back to NOAH they'll get a massive shot in the arm, if he went to New Japan he'd be a huge acquisition, if he went to AEW he could easily reinvent himself as a bitter, entitled heel who resents that a whole generation of gaijin ripped him off and got all the fame for his inventiveness. Hideo Itami was a bust, but KENTA was always a star and can definitely be again.
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Post by cabbageboy on Jan 30, 2019 17:57:08 GMT -5
Speaking of which, to me hard hitting is just not WWE style wrestling. That's another big reason why it baffles me that they want to sign these Japanese dudes, then tone down their style of hard, stiff strikes, and then wonder why they don't get over.
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Post by A Platypus Rave on Jan 30, 2019 19:15:36 GMT -5
Crazy to think if he hadn't gotten injured, he would have defeated Kevin Owens for the NXT title at Beast in the East in summer 2015. Makes you wonder what he and Finn's trajectory would have been. I'll be honest I'm pretty sure that was always going to be Finn's spot.
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