10 Failed Pushes That Weren't WWE's Fault
3. Hideo Itami
When KENTA joined NXT under the name Hideo Itami in 2014, it seemed like a major milestone in the company's history. This decorated star from the Japanese wrestling scene had garnered a reputation as a dangerous in-ring killer, and now he was poised to bring his hard-hitting style to the western market, but nothing went according to plan.
His booking started strong, with an intense feud against The Ascension, a great tag team partnership with Finn Balor and a spot in the second Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal. Sadly, a litany of issues would cause his push to fall short.
There were myriad injuries, as an initial shoulder injury took him out of action for a whole year. Further from this, he just didn't fit too well with WWE, as his brutal and stiff persona acquired in his homeland could never translate to sports entertainment's more relaxed in-ring style.
Finally, a lot of his signature offence had already been appropriated by WWE stars, such as his Go 2 Sleep finisher pilfered by CM Punk and his Busaiku Knee Kick adopted by Daniel Bryan. This was the finally step in nullifying KENTA's once-brutal in-ring style.