WWE Approach Three Huge NJPW Stars

WWE Approach Three Huge NJPW Stars

Reports were flying in recently that WWE had held meetings with NJPW star Tetsuya Naito, who soundly turned down the offer to jump ship. There’s now more evidence to suggest not only that these meetings did in fact take place, but also that Naito was not the only person approached by WWE.

According to the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, WWE have been scouting two other big names in NJPW, as well as Naito.

“Naito would be one of the three (at least) Japanese top guys feelers have been sent to. The other two that we’re aware of didn’t turn the offers down without thought although one would be a huge surprise and the other would be a great worker who I didn’t see flourishing in the WWE system, but also probably wouldn’t have any reservations about moving to the U.S. like many of the Japanese might.”

While Naito seemingly turned down WWE fairly swiftly, it seems the other two stars at least considered the offer before declining. As there is no direct mention of who these wrestlers are, speculation has been rampant as to who Meltzer could be talking about.

Could it be KUSHIDA? Hiromu Takahashi? EVIL? SANADA? (Why are there so many NJPW guys with all-caps names?) It seems unlikely it would be Kazuchika Okada or Hiroshi Tanahashi, but as they say, never say never when it comes to wrestling.

Something else to consider is while Meltzer stated that WWE have been scouting “Japanese top guys”, that doesn’t necessarily refer to their nationality, and could just be an informal description of wrestlers in NJPW, especially considering one of them “wouldn’t have any reservations about moving to the U.S.” unlike some Japanese talent. As such, the wrestlers mentioned could be Jay White, Juice Robinson, Will Ospreay, Marty Scurll, Cody Rhodes or even Kenny Omega. Who do you think WWE have been attempting to sign? Vote in the poll!

[totalpoll id=”40130″]

Regardless of who the attempted targets were, WWE’s continued attempts to hinder the NJPW roster surely show a slight inclination as to their feelings of competition from the Japanese brand. Does this mean an all-out war between the brands will ensue? Probably not, but once again, never say never.

Let us know who you think considered jumping ship to WWE by voting in the poll, leaving a comment, tweeting us here and/or joining our Discord server today!

5 years ago by Pete Quinnell

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