8 Most Devastating Current WWE Superstar Injuries
6. Hideo Itami
It seemed for a while that WWE finally got it right with booking a Japanese wrestler. Before Itami (a.k.a. KENTA) came along, most of WWE’s Japanese superstars were presented as either comedy characters, or ethnic stereotypes, or both.
But luck didn’t seem to be on Itami’s side, as he suffered a torn rotator cuff that required surgery, leaving him on the shelf for at least six months. This couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Japanese star, as NXT is facing something of a star crisis. There’s another big NXT star on the shelf as well (more on him later), Kevin Owens is going to be on a full-time wrestler for the main roster very soon, Finn Balor may be called up in the coming months, and there’s talk of calling Tyler Breeze and Samoa Joe up to the main roster as well.
If all of these wrestlers leave NXT, who’d remain to carry the brand?
Moreover, Itami hasn’t made the impact on NXT as he was expected to, and has been eclipsed by other recent signees, especially Balor, Owens and Joe. Hopefully, when he recovers, his momentum won’t be completely gone, and he’ll still be able to kick people as hard as he can, to the delight of the NXT audience and the WWE Universe.