In the spring of 2014, it was reported that three top independent scene sensations were en route to WWE: KENTA, Prince Devitt and Kevin Steen. All were signed to developmental deals around the same time, but KENTA was the first to debut in NXT under his new name, Hideo Itami. In addition to being endorsed by Hulk Hogan in Japan, he was announced to appear for the first time ever in WWE at NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way in September. Following a fine introduction from NXT general manager William Regal, Itami received a warm reception from the fans at Full Sail and took a microphone to relay his excitement to the audience and discuss his goals for coming to NXT. Midway through his promo, he was interrupted by The Ascension, who were fresh off their loss of the NXT Tag Team Championship earlier in the evening. They weren't there to greet Itami with a handshake but rather ruin his first night in NXT. Itami didn't back down, however, and cleared the former tag champs from the ring. And no, this isn't the Road Warriors rip-off version of The Ascension we're talking about here; at that time, they were the most dominant duo on the entire roster. Thus, it was a pretty big deal the standout star from Japan was able to take them out all on his own.
Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.
