Akira Tozawa Has "Plenty Of Time Left" On His WWE Deal

Despite rumours to the contrary, Tozawa won't be leaving WWE any time soon.

by Andrew Pollard
Akira Tozawa Titus O'Neil Apollo Crews
WWE.com

Despite challenging for the Cruiserweight Championship at the WWE’s recent Stomping Grounds PPV, there were rumours swirling that Akira Tozawa could well be soon heading for the WWE exit door.

Moving to shoot down these reports, the ever-reliable John Pollock of POST Wrestling took to Twitter to confirm that Tozawa is going nowhere.

Since competing in the Cruiserweight Classic back in 2016, Tozawa soon found himself permanently signed to a WWE contract mere months later. By August 2017, he’d defeat uber-bastard Neville to become Cruiserweight Champion; only to lose the belt back to the Geordie later that month at SummerSlam.

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In the years since, Tozawa has largely been a bit-part player on 205 Live as names like Cedric Alexander, Buddy Murphy, Tony Nese and now Drew Gulak have taken centre-stage. Given how a talent such as Tozawa would clearly thrive in an environment like AEW, here’s hoping that WWE can now realise how to get the best of this hugely talented former Dragon Gate favourite.

Simply put, if WWE can make the most of Tozawa's in-ring skill and natural charisma, they could have a major star on their hands.

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Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.