The REAL Reason KUSHIDA Left NJPW For WWE
Not just timing for the Time Splitter.
In another interesting tidbit from the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter, which we again encourage you to read in full, a key reason behind KUSHIDA's New Japan departure has come to light.
Many inferred that KUSHIDA felt his act had grown stale within the organisation - and publicly, the man himself expressed a desire to broaden his horizons - but according to Dave Meltzer, the story is slightly more acrimonious than we first understood it. KUSHIDA had in fact recognised that he was in need of a refresh of sorts, and had wanted to subvert his role in New Japan - as the newest turncoat member of the heel Bullet Club faction.
Booker Gedo turned down this request, which didn't infuriate KUSHIDA - he handled his departure professionally - but it mobilised him into leaving, nonetheless. With other top NJPW acts allowed to forge their own destiny, like Kenny Omega, who successfully persuaded Gedo to reform the Golden Lovers, perhaps KUSHIDA felt dismayed enough to leave the organisation.
Ironically, given how this story ended, Gedo saw him as the only top-level New Japan representative in the Junior scene's fictional universe, with his rivals (Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Hiromu Takahashi, and the debuting Taiji Ishimori and Shingo Takagi) tied up in the CHAOS, Elite, Bullet Club and Los Ingobernables de Japon factions.
Now, there is nobody in the slot Gedo sought to protect - a rare political misfire from a booker known for his intricate long-term storytelling.