New Japan Pro Wrestling star and Bullet Club member Kenny Omega recently spoke with S.I.’s “Extra Mustard” blog about talking with NXT, his feeling that WWE insulted Shinsuke Nakamura with the way they had him debut and more. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On talking with NXT management:
“I have spoken with the heads at NXT, and they’ve all said, ‘If you want to come down, let us know–the second your visa is in place, you’re on TV the next week. I thought that was really cool of them to say and I appreciate they recognize that I’d add some value to their product, so I always kept that in my mind as an option. But this is going back to my Deep South days–I still haven’t quite shown them what I can do on my own, and that’s what I think this year is going to do for me.”
On WWE “massively insulting” Shinsuke Nakamura by having him debut in NXT instead of at WrestleMania:
“I certainly think it is. A lot of people heard the reaction that AJ received when he came out of nowhere at the Royal Rumble–if Nakamura debuted at WrestleMania, knowing that fans in that crowd travel from around the globe for that weekend, Nakamura’s reaction would have dwarfed AJ’s. That’s not saying Nakamura is better than AJ, but that atmosphere is built for someone who eats it up like Nakamura.
“It’s not like you can say, ‘We’ll hold off until next year’s WrestleMania,’. It’s a shame that they have decided it was on an NXT show. As someone who knows what he’s capable of and seen his character develop, I just think it’s a missed opportunity. Perhaps it’s a trust issue, not knowing if he can handle the big stage right off the bat or whether the fans will appreciate the kind of character he brings to the table.”
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