5 Reasons Hideo Itami is a Lost Cause in WWE

5. He’s Had Too Many Injuries

Hideo Itami has been cursed with two injuries, one of them major, that have been devastating to his WWE career. First, there was his horrible shoulder injury, which took him out for over a year. He went on the shelf on in May 2015, and didn’t return to action until the end of June 2016.

It was during that period that NXT experienced one of its most successful periods. The NXT TakeOver events during this period were, more often than not, superior to the WWE shows they often accompanied. The NXT roster was filled with top tier talent at this time, including Finn Balor, Samoa Joe, the Four Horsewomen, just to name a few.

So when all these names became synonymous with NXT, Hideo Itami became something of an afterthought.

Then, there was his second injury, which was a neck injury caused by a botched Powerslam. This took him out of action just as the second Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Tournament was taking off, and he had been scheduled to team with fellow Japanese superstar Kota Ibushi.

He has since returned to action, but his return now comes with a dark cloud looming. With two critical injuries in such a short span, Itami risks being labeled as injury prone by WWE’s top brass. If that happens, he could risk becoming someone in whom they would not want to invest, lest he get injured during a major push.

So now, WWE can either gamble and give Itami that long-awaited push and hope for the best, or play it safe and keep him in less risky situations. Given WWE’s track record on pushing new stars, they’re more likely to go with the latter if the risk seems to high.