Hideo Itami was victorious in the NXT tournament at Axxess to earn a spot in the Andre The Giant Battle Royal at WrestleMania. Unfortunately for Itami, his big win coincides with WWE's decision to relegate the battle royal to the WrestleMania preshow. Adrian Neville had been the favourite to win the qualifying tournament, but Itami knocked the british star off in the opening round. Also in the opening round, Finn Balor defeated Tyler Breeze. Itami then defeated Balor in the final. The decision for Itami to win is likely based upon the fact that Japanese legend Tatsumi Fujinami is going into the WWE Hall Of Fame on Saturday night. That occasion will likely be used to profile Fujinami and Itami together, giving them both exposure over Mania weekend. Having Itami on the Mania card is certainly an indication that his full time main roster run is imminent. He's failed to light up NXT in the same way as Finn Balor, Kevin Owens or any of his other esteemed international peers. The feeling might be to leave the likes of Balor on NXT for now and put Itami on the main roster as he doesn't really have anything going in NXT. Itami is an excellent talent with years of experience, but he's arguably the least ready of NXT's top talent to move on to the main roster. Microphone skills are an obvious limitation, as the Japanese star is still struggling with the english language. The opportunity for an NXT star to be in the Andre battle royal should have been a huge deal. It was the perfect way to introduce a star to the main shows. However, with the battle royal now on the preshow, it doesn't mean as much. You could argue that it doesn't even count as Itami being on WrestleMania. He's also scheduled to face Tyler Breeze in a two out of three falls match on NXT next week. That could be seen as a sign that Itami's main show spot is a one off for the Mania preshow. Adrian Neville and Finn Balor are also expected to debut on the main roster in the coming months.
