10 Wrestling Storylines That Vanished Without A Trace
6. Who Attacked Hideo Itami?
For the fans, and clearly for head booker Triple H too, it was an exciting prospect to have indie star KENTA on the NXT books.
Performing under the name Hideo Itami, the former Pro Wrestling Noah heavyweight champion wasted no time getting to work, teaming with fellow indie-signee Finn Bálor and even making an accelerated jump to WrestleMania 31 with a featured appearance in that year's André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal. In May 2015, Itami was scheduled to take part in a triple-threat number one contender's match for the NXT Championship before he suffered a legitimate injury.
Making the best of a bad situation, WWE attempted to turn the injury into its latest "whodunnit". Itami was found in the parking lot after being taken out by a mysterious attacker. This surely meant that, when he returned, he would have a ready-made feud to slot into.
The problem was that Itami was out for a full year and NXT moved fast. The man who made the most sense to be Itami's attacker, Kevin Owens, had moved up to the main roster a long time ago. Other possible picks like Samoa Joe or even Bálor were otherwise busy. More than this, WWE's desire to do much with Itami seemed to have fizzled out, which was made worse by another injury he suffered later the same year.
Maybe Itami just tripped and fell. Yeah, that was probably it.