![]() KUSHIDA’s time in NXT certainly had its fair share of fantastic matches. ![]() It was a reminder that the last three years of his career were lackluster, filled with several memorable matches, but without one thing to truly distinguish his run with WWE’s black and gold brand. It was a familiar and welcome sight to see KUSHIDA treated as a top name (albeit just in the junior heavyweight division) the moment he’s back in Japan. The two produced a solid yet relatively brief match and Ishimori’s growth into one of the promotion’s most accomplished junior heavyweights in recent years does set the stage for what should be phenomenal. Returning to face Ishimori, the man who ended his last title reign in Japan back at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in 2019, is a great reintroduction for him as the summer months roll on and fall fast approaches. KUSHIDA was one of several high-caliber wrestlers whose ring skills created a massive international boom in popularity. Adding to the maelstrom of misfortune are injuries to its roster, making the current NJPW product – by no fault of the company – feel a little hollow.īut as Japan continues to ease up a bit on what NJPW can and cannot do, we are slowly starting to see shades of the promotion that dominated the wrestling landscape for years. The roster has felt barebones at times, with feuds being regurgitated every few months. As a result of the pandemic, Japan had to close its borders, which resulted in plenty of wrestlers, including a few from the junior heavyweight division, being unable to go back there. KUSHIDA’s return adds a much-needed boost to NJPW. But instead of simply showing that he’s back, he immediately staked his claim to challenge Taiji Ishimori to become a seven-time IWGP Jr. In the hallowed walls of Tokyo’s Korakuen Hall on June 21, KUSHIDA made his return to the promotion he left his biggest mark on. Yet, the 39-year-old didn’t stay out of wrestling for too long. By April 2022, KUSHIDA had left WWE and became a free agent. It was a run that had its ups-and-downs, but its ups were few and far between and the totality was not what fans who knew of his exploits in Japan were expecting to see. However, just three years later, his time with the American promotion was done and not much to show for it. Appearing in front of nearly 16,000 raucous fans at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center for one of the company’s NXT TakeOver events, it seemed like the start of something great for one of the world’s best wrestlers.Ī likable, world-class wrestler sporting Marty McFly attire getting to wrestle on American television? KUSHIDA and NXT seemed to fit like a glove. On that day, KUSHIDA, one of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s top junior heavyweights joined WWE, after carrying the division for the better part of a decade.
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