10 Great WWE NXT Storylines You Don't Remember

Rechristened Hideo Itami, the man otherwise known as KENTA did better than most remember. He won his way into the 2015 Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal when that meant a spot on the WrestleMania card. His matches, while not classics, were solid, and there was reason to believe Itami would be a force once he adapted to fit the North American wrestling style.

However, later in 2015, he suffered a shoulder injury and was written out off TV. NXT did this by placing Itami as the victim of an assault in the parking lot outside Full Sail. It's logical to think they would eventually have Itami return for vengeance, especially given several segments involving Kevin Owens (one where he discovered Itami in the parking lot, another where he denied being Itami's attacker).

An Owens/Itami program, assuming that was the plan, would have been big business for NXT. Other than a singles match at a 2015 house show, the two had never squared off, and the idea of Owens's power against Itami's striking skills was a tantalizing prospect. Even if that wasn't the plan, a fired-up Itami mowing through the roster upon his return was an idea with legs, too.

Itami, however, took more than a year to return to action. By that time, Owens was a main roster fixture. Any plans of pushing the Japanese superstar were put on the back burner, and the "attacker" storyline was totally dropped. After a few years spent in NXT and on 205 Live, Itami was released in 2019.