by Hanley! » Jan 08, '19, 1:06 pm
Hope he enjoys being the new KENTA.
I can understand why he wants to leave. He's not bulking up to heavyweight and he's a multiple time winner of the Junior Heavyweight championship and the Best of the Super Juniors tournament. He probably feels like he's done everything he can in New Japan.
But he's got a good spot there. With Ospreay moving to heavyweight and Takahashi on the injured list, he is the biggest star of that division. He's been one of the big names of the division for years and that wouldn't have looked like ending any time soon. He got a spot on most of New Japan's major shows. And he got to work various indies at the same time.
In WWE he'll be an also-ran in NXT more than likely. The field is too crowded for someone that size with poor English to work his way into the main event. If he's lucky he'll eventually work his way up to be a midcard act on Raw, but just as likely he ends up as a guy nobody ever sees on 205 Live.
Nakamura and Asuka have been underpushed in WWE, but they have decent spots as a result of their natural charisma and stature. KUSHIDA doesn't have those same strengths. He's going to end up in the KENTA/Itami spot which will be a desperate waste of his talents.