KENTA to WWE?

[Guest Archmage]

I felt that this was warranted in the US section, because most of the speculation about his resignation revolves around moving to WWE.

 

https://www.facebook.com/PuroresuSpirit?fref=nf

 

http://keepingthespiritalive.tumblr.com/post/84315494760/noah-kenta-news-a-press-conference-was-held-at

 

[NOAH / KENTA News] A press conference was held at the Differ Ariake in Tokyo to formally announced that KENTA has resigned from his “exclusive contract" under Pro Wrestling Noah as of today, April 30. KENTA was present with the Vice-President of Noah in Naomichi Marufuji for the announcement.

 

KENTA’s own words are that it “there is only one life, and it is now or never to try something new in a different environment.” As of where he plans to go that is completely uncertain at this time, but KENTA “did” partake in a WWE tryout earlier this year which led to plenty of speculation as to what that means for the future.

 

KENTA will though still be competing in Noah this coming month as he is booked to compete on the May 3rd show at Differ Ariake as well as on May 17th show at Korakuen Hall.

 

The President of Noah, Akira Taue, released a statement before the press conference stating that KENTA has indeed resigned from the promotion. Though he apologized for any issues this may cause with the fans and for their full understanding on why this is happening.

 

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My take on the matter…

 

This news has almost been expect for some time now in all honesty. Ever since KENTA made a special trip to the USA to partake in the “WWE tryout” session, I don’t know about anyone else, but I felt failry certain that he would at least earn a bigger oppurtunity to at least work on NXT. At least a chance to see where he could even fit in the long term of things.

 

Now as for what this means for NOAH as a whole, is completely up in the air. There is no denying that KENTA was a huge part of the latest restructuring of Noah, but as of late, this year more or less, he has been slowly put to the side to see how things can be centered around others. It completely feels that those in charge of Noah knew that their present time with KENTA might be coming to an end.

 

Now KENTA (33) talks of heading to a new stage of his career and change of environment. KENTA “has not” stated to where he will be going, so all we are left is with speculation at this time. But he did say that he will address everyone when details of such have been more “secured”. - CP/BushidoRX

Edited April 30, 2014 by Archmage

[Guest John Hancock]

I really, really hope this is true. There's a great little clique of stiffish, technical-brawler dudes like Bryan and Cesaro and del Rio and Sheamus and the like, and I think KENTA would slot right in.

[dsrchris 190]

I wonder what his slave name is gonna be?

 

Ken Takeshi?

 

And what bullsh*t new finisher are they gonna give him since Punk already stole his GTS and Bryan stole the running Busaiku Knee?

[Guest The Beltster]

Hopefully his finish will be salt to the eyes and he comes out to the old Orient Express music.

[DC 536]

He can still use the GTS (Punk has acknowledged numerous times on WWE releases that KENTA was the creator of the move).

 

This could then lead to a return for Punk to feud with KENTA over it (much like the various rivalries where people have had the same move) or even team with him.

[Guest John Hancock]

I wonder what his slave name is gonna be?

 

Ken Takeshi?

 

And what bullsh*t new finisher are they gonna give him since Punk already stole his GTS and Bryan stole the running Busaiku Knee?

 

I checked with WWE creative, and he's going to be packaged as Nicky Nippon, a violent Japanese tourist who interferes in matches after the lights go out.

[dsrchris 190]

Well there's plenty of room for him at NXT. Apparently they released Mason Ryan, Danny Burch and Oliver Grey today.

[Guest Boyo]

WWE's recent Japanese wrestler naming policy is take trendy Japanese fashion brand + Japanese motor brand = Japanese wrestler. See: Kenzo Suzuki.

 

Or they give them single word names. See: Tajiri, Yokozuna

 

If they don't keep him called KENTA then I'm going for Evisu Sony. Or maybe even Bape Lexus. :P.

 

Cheers!

[GENE 86]

They have to get a Pearl Harbour reference in somewhere.

[Maxximus 353]

Hopefully his finish will be salt to the eyes and he comes out to the old Orient Express music.

 

I would be down with this. I hope they give him a purely American name though like Ford Vegas.

[Guest John Hancock]

Ford Vegas: Bounty Hunter

 

Make it happen spies.

[dsrchris 190]

I wanna see him tell someone he's gonna "Choppy choppy you pee-pee"

[Guest The Beltster]

I'd be happy for them to go full 80's and call him Buck Flash and make him wear neon. Neon is pretty cool. Plus, Japanese people seem to enjoy mullets.

[Guest Ciaran The King]

I'd personally love to see KENTA in WWE and talent wise he would fit in perfectly yet I fear for the promo and character side of things

[DC 536]

I'd personally love to see KENTA in WWE and talent wise he would fit in perfectly yet I fear for the promo and character side of things

Put him with Paul Heyman and have "the best manager in the history of the business" talk for him. KENTA could be classed as an upgraded CM Punk and Heyman could even use the fact Daniel Bryan and CM Punk use "his" moves as testament to how good KENTA is.

[Evil Gringo 279]

The reason Bryan started using his knee kick was because KENTA started using his YES Lock and called it GAME OVER (because KENTA loves capitals in English).

 

The fact is KENTA might not be coming over to WWE, one of the main reasons he is leaving NOAH is because right now it is on it's a**e, even AJPW draws better then it and that was after more then half of its roster jumped with Muto to form Wrestle-1 last year.

 

He could end up in NJPW were the pay, show size and fan base is far bigger then anything else in Japan right now and they would welcome him with open arms into the promotion. He is great friends with Shibata and the two have teamed together on a few occasions as well, plus at 33 and with knees that have been repaired twice he has to be realistic - can he make that jump over to the US and hope for at best a semi-successful run like Tajiri or will he at worse end up like Suzuki or Yatsu? Will he ever get out of NXT due to the language barrier and will the WWE be able to find him a gimmick that sticks?

 

In my dream The Authority have no idea how to get rid of Bryan so they hire the Japanese Bryan to be their bounty hunter and take him out - cue KENTA, just being KENTA which is pretty much what Daniel Bryan is. Duelling knee kicks, Crossface to Crossface counters, stiff shots, suicide dives (JBL making a Kamikaze reference as KENTA does his) - but alas that isn't going to happen.

 

Dreaming aside, he is going to freelance and move about in Japan, maybe do some US indy work for RoH and PWG etc - he is not going to end up in the WWE. After all remember Okada and Nakamura from NJPW did try out matches for the WWE last year and they haven't suddenly appeared in an NXT ring have they?

[dsrchris 190]

So no Buck Flash then? :(

[DC 536]

It's the "try something new in a different environment" comment that makes me think he's WWE-bound and regardless of how he does, he can't tank worse than the original Sin Cara did (with respect to the "star power in homeland" to "impact in WWE" ratio).

[Evil Gringo 279]

When people say new environment they often mean a different company - which could mean the WWE but he has never worked in NJPW either full time (he had a couple of tag matches back in 2003 on some bigger shows as part of the NJPW v NOAH feud between the juniors) and given his age, prospects and earning power there, not to mention his existing connections over there as well that would be favourite.

 

I could be wrong, he could end up turning up in NXT but as a former World Champion who is Japanese, small by US standards and already has his existing move set and gimmick replicated within the main roster do you really think, logically that NXT and therefore the WWE would be the right step for him? Like at Tenryu, Tensai, Jimmy Yang and hell even the current IWGP champion Okada when he was in TNA - all stars in their Japan and all poorly promoted, packaged and utilized talents in the WWE or elsewhere in America. If we can see that then surely KENTA can too and realise that no Japanese Wrestler has even been the world champion of an American promotion in America - any other reigns like Baba's happened merely on NWA tours of Japan and the belt was lost to an American, usually the previous champion, before the tour was over and they headed back stateside.

 

It reminds of when MLW started in 2002 after the death of WCW and ECW. Mike Awesome was their first champion and Kojima of NJPW and AJPW fame came over and defeated him to become their 'World Champion'. Whilst they were doing the tapings for MLW in Florida, the WWE was in town and Kojima actually, believe it or not, met HHH, then the WWE champion. They were discussing wrestling when Kojima mentioned he was currently a champion as well, at which point HHH looked at him and told him he was a champion of a nothing company and wouldn't prove himself worthy unless he succeeded in the WWE.

 

Kojima is the only man ever to hold the IWGP title and the Triple Crown of AJPW at the same time, in terms of titles won he is one of the most decorated Japanese wrestlers ever. But in HHH's eyes that means nothing unless he can get over and do the same in the WWE. The same will apply to KENTA and any other wrestler from Mexico, Europe or Japan - so with that in mind, will his ego allow him to be treated that way? Because you can be sure that mind set will be held by every member of talent relations and management, not just HHH. You think a person who is a 10+ year veteran of the sport is going to enjoy being told how to work and trained all over again when half his move set is or has been used by the roster?

 

KENTA going to the WWE is just a bad move for both parties, the WWE already have the available niches he could fill occupied and KENTA and his prospects over their are dead before they begin because of it.

[DC 536]

no Japanese Wrestler has even been the world champion of an American promotion in America

No UK wrestler has ever been the top champion in WWE; so by that logic are you saying no British wrestler should go to WWE and should instead stay in their homeland promotion(s)?

[Guest Boyo]

I'm with DC. I think even in Japan the WWE is seen as the pinnacle of the wrestling trade, especially in terms of money and global exposure.

 

How big a decision is it really to leave your home country for a few years, earn great money, travel the world, be on global TV, and have a gnarly action figure?

 

I'd trade being the UK Champion for some perennial mid card, talent elevation role in the WWE any day of the week.

 

Cheers!

[Evil Gringo 279]

That's even if he gets that far, he will be sent to NXT first like everyone else these days and whose to say he will ever get out of there before being released?

 

Plus with European wrestlers it is different as well, the pay offs over here are far worse then Japan and certainly miles worse then in NXT or if they make it the main roster with the downside guarantee system. KENTA has made a decent living in NOAH and could make a better one in NJPW without upheaval and a year or more of being stuck in developmental limbo.

 

FYI - Only certain parts of the Japanese wrestling industry think that the WWE is the pinnacle of the profession by the way - ask the leading lights like Tanahashi or previous headliners like Chono, Kawada, Kobashi etc - they respect the WWE for what it is but prefer and believe their style and their product was or is better. That is why when the WWE came sniffing around Tana a few years back he went nowhere and I expect to be the same with KENTA - he can just move from NOAH to NJPW and have a tonne of fresh feuds, fresh opponents and fresh title opportunities whilst having a chance to win gold and cement his position in his homeland rather then risk it all on something that is 90% likely to fail - that being a trip to the WWE.

[Guest Boyo]

Out of curiosity Gringo, let's say a big megastar in Japan makes the move to WWE and tanks, before returning to Japan a year later... how much would his stock fall, if any?

 

Would the Japanese audience overlook it as stupid Americans not realising the great talent they had, or would they think the wrestler himself failed?

 

Assuming said talent was given what most of us think will be "Japanese Wrestler Gimmick".

 

Cheers!

[Evil Gringo 279]

Okada was nothing before he left in Japan, did nothing over in TNA and then was completely repackaged by New Japan before they tried him out on the audience. Most of the time like Okada, wrestlers leave Japan before they are truly well known and established as headliners.

 

Muto, Tajiri, Kaz Hayashi, TAKA, Nagata, Tanaka - all known but not on top of their respective trees before they left.

 

Generally once a wrestler is on top of the tree in Japan, which KENTA would be classed as being in NOAH, that is were they stay. The only exception to this rule was Tenryu who left All Japan after he won the Triple Crown to form his own company, that being SWS. That bombed, he spent time in the old WWF gathering funds and returned to make a new promotion known as WAR.

 

That did okay for a bit but required massive amount of help from NJPW and his old friend Choshu who was the booker at the time to remain relevant thanks to the NJPW v WAR feud of 1996. It wasn't until WAR folded and Tenryu returned to a severely weakened AJPW which has lost all but three or four wrestlers in the formation of NOAH that he truly returned to the top of the profession as he was in 1990. That was ten years later and he was approaching 50 and only occurred against Giant Baba's dying wishes and due to a remarkable set of circumstances.

 

Given that is the only true time a headliner has left Japan and it took ten years of hand outs and existing in the indy wasteland of Japan before he got back to the top ask yourself, why would KENTA risk the same?

[DC 536]

Perhaps he is financially secure and just wants to see if he can make it in WWE in a "personal pride" capacity.