It's a storyline that NXT should probably have been playing up a little harder. Probably their biggest signing of 2014 was the legendary KENTA, restyled as Hideo Itami for his inclusion into the WWE machine. This was the contemporary of Samoa Joe, Daniel Bryan and CM Punk, a huge influence all three men from all the way over in Japan... actually making his debut in a WWE ring. Hideo suffered a nasty shoulder injury and was written out of storylines on May 20th 2015 after a 'mysterious backstage beatdown angle' at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable - a 'Who Shot JR', basically. For months, people have been speculating as to who the culprit might have been. Kevin Owens was considered the most likely, being such a colossal prick, the theory being that he could have been taking out one of the possible number one contenders to his title on the same night as defending it against Sami Zayn. Owens is a much better villain for the story than Tyler Breeze, one of Hideo's two opponents that night for the number one contender's slot. Machiavellian sneak attacks don't seem like Prince Pretty's style. Can you imagine him ever doing something off-camera? Of course, both men have since joined the main roster, which more or less rules them out for long-running feuds in NXT. The other possibility touted for a few months was the Demon aspect of Finn Balor, Hideo's running buddy and the other opponent in the number one contenders match that night. However, darling little Finn is an uber-babyface, with a sweetheart offence based around jumping and kicking people in the head a lot. He'd have had to be a split personality heel this whole time, and since WWE literally just finished ripping off the Abyss/Joseph Park angle with Demon Kane/Corporate Kane, it's unlikely they'd have Finn crying that the devil made him do it. My money's on Samoa Joe. Remember, he debuted on the main roster the same night that Hideo was attacked, and it appears he's been sticking close to Finn Balor ever since, biding his time, pretending to be going for a title opportunity the old fashioned way, through earning a spot. Since Hideo was taken out, Finn Balor has beaten Owens for the NXT title, and Samoa Joe convincingly defeated Breeze, the third possible contender. Everyone assumed that Joe turned heel when it became clear he wouldn't be offered that challenger's spot... but what if he'd been playing the game for a lot longer than that? What if he took out Hideo because he wasn't sure he could beat him? After all, this is KENTA we're talking about. He's wrestled him in ROH: the man defeated him and Bryan Danielson (as was), and that was when Joe was in his prime. Joe being legit worried about Hideo is the best story they could tell, especially since they need to rebuild the Japanese legend for NXT audiences after eight months out...
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
