10 Things WWE Fans Need To Know About KUSHIDA

5. He Can Make An Entrance

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KUSHIDA isn't a particularly charismatic pro wrestler which, in conjunction with his reasonable but limited grasp of English, may hamper his chances of main roster stardom - but godd*mn does he get the gaga of professional wrestling.

Taking his Back To The Future-inspired aesthetic to its most logical, most awesome conclusion, KUSHIDA and Time Splitters partner Alex Shelly entered the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in a DeLorean; substituting charisma for pure spectacle, a repeat of this iconic entrance is sure to pop a millennial TakeOver crowd raised on the pop culture institution.

From pop culture to surrealist art, KUSHIDA at this year's Wrestle Kingdom gassed us up with nightmare fuel by sending out a young child, wearing a disturbingly life-like, over-sized KUSIDA face mask in his stead. This was a bloody strange-cum-hilarious entrance; a familiar man cosplaying as Doc Brown then appeared, and then used his remote control gizmo to "blow up" the child and make him bigger.

KUSHIDA in the next two years may wish such a contraption actually exists, since there is precious little chance of the man impressing WWE Chairman Vince McMahon - but, in NXT at least, a man of his particular talents should electrify the Full Sail crowd with 1.21 gigawatts of power.

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Contributor
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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!