At NXT TakeOver: Respect, Hideo Itami was seen briefly at ringside during the intermission between matches. He has been out of action since May due to an injury, and is expected to return in the near future. However, when he was shown, there was a major problem: Itami barely got any reaction whatsoever from the typically vocal crowd at Full Sail University. This was despite the fact that Itami was one of the most heavily-hyped signees in NXT history, and a lot of work was put into presenting him as a huge star. Unfortunately, evidence suggests quite clearly that his NXT career so far has been a flop. Despite bring known as one of the heaviest hitters in wrestling today, he hasnt accomplished anything of significance so far. Many people predicted that this would happen, that Itamis WWE career would be a disappointment due to their inability to mirror the success that he had when wrestling in Japan as KENTA. Theres still hope that Itami can turn his misfortunes around and enjoy considerable success in WWE but, in order to do that, his presentation needs to undergo several critical changes. This article will propose ten changes that Itami can undergo in order to save his career. Because at this point, if he doesnt improve significantly, then his entire WWE career will have been one giant waste of time.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
