Every Original WWE NXT Black & Gold Roster Member - Where Are They Now?

18. Jiro

Jiro NXT
WWE.com

What was he doing at the time?

Doing the job for realistically the biggest name on this entire list.

Jiro wrestled just once in NXT, but in doing so set future mutli-time WWE and World Heavyweight Champion Seth Rollins off on his path to superstardom. The contest was Seth's on the show, and the preservation and presentation of the future Shield man was fairly high on the priority list at the time. It's to the Japanese star's credit that he got the role, short and to-the-point as the actual match may have been.

What is he doing now?

As of writing, the real-life Taishi Takizawa has been prolifically, wrestling just short of 900 matches since leaving NXT and the WWE system shortly after the aforementioned loss to Rollins. He broke in via Taka Michinoku's Kaientai Dojo between 2006 and 2011, and returned there in 2012 when NXT didn't work out. He's filled his time with dates for them ever since, through a rebadging as 2AW in 2019. 

Contributor
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation for nearly 10 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 65,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has provided in-person coverage of some of the biggest pay-per-views and Premium Live Events in wrestling history, including WrestleMania, Survivor Series, All In & Double Or Nothing in destinations such as New York, New Jersey, Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live.