10 Indie Wrestling Heroes Who Flopped In WWE
9. Hideo Itami
Though he has time to turn things around, Hideo Itami’s WWE career has been hugely disappointing thus far. As KENTA, he was a tough, hard-nosed junior heavyweight who’d dominate opponents with his Strong Style offence and bully-ish attitude. Aside from dazzling Ring of Honor audiences, KENTA was a cornerstone of Pro Wrestling Noah’s success in Japan, and his signing was heralded as a huge coup on WWE’s part.
It’s understandable that WWE will look to new recruits to adapt to their PG wrestling style after signing, but Itami has been watered-down to a depressing degree. CM Punk allusions mean he’s only just started using his trademark Go 2 Sleep move, while Daniel Bryan’s adoption of the Busaiku Knee Kick has forced him to adapt a weak single-leg dropkick as his finisher.
They’re only two moves, but they were a huge part of KENTA’s offence. Furthermore, his work is nowhere near as stiff and vicious as it used to be, and while he can’t exactly go around knocking people's’ heads off in NXT, Itami isn’t himself without that violent undercurrent.
Itami remains popular, and recent signs suggest that WWE are finally letting him tap-in to his old self, but there’s much work to be done. For the most part, Itami has looked a shadow of the wrestler he used to be, and the year-long injury absence didn’t help matters either.