5 Reasons Hideo Itami is a Lost Cause in WWE

Despite considerable hype and being a major star in Japan, NXT’s Hideo Itami has failed to make an impression on the WWE Universe.

When Hideo Itami debuted in NXT in 2014, he was a major signing. At the time, he was arguably the biggest Japanese wrestler WWE could’ve gotten. He had made a name for himself both in his native country and in the United States as a no-nonsense, tough-as-nails striker. WWE wanted to expand their ‘international scope’ of talent, so they reached out to the Japanese star.

Itami’s signing was treated as an enormous event. They even had Hulk Hogan preside over it to give it an extra layer of importance. All of these things were done to give off one message: KENTA, or Hideo Itami as he was to be known as, was going to be one of the next big things in NXT.

Fast forward to 2017 and where is Hideo Itami now? Fresh off yet another injury that has crippled what little momentum he had. Time has not been kind to him in NXT. It was bad enough that he got injured just as the NXT brand was undergoing a massive evolution from the developmental brand to arguably the best WWE weekly program.

It was made worse by the fact that so many other stars have come and gone through NXT that he has become an afterthought. Even with the top tier talent in NXT right now, there is little hope, if any, that Hideo Itami will become a big star in WWE.

Here are five reasons why Hideo Itami has become a lost cause.