WWE NXT: Is A Frustrated Kassius Ohno About To Turn Heel?

Kassius Ohno is one of the most respected professional wrestlers of our generation, yet he is toiling away on WWE NXT without any real purpose. The frustration of losses and missed opportunities has to get to Ohno at some point, whose anger may bubble to the surface on the horizon.

As usual, the latest episode of WWE NXT was bloody brilliant from start to finish. The show opened with a lovely match between Lacey Evans and the supremely gifted Dakota Kai, who is one of wrestling’s most underrated story-tellers, and it closed with a barn-burner of a Triple Threat match that saw Kairi Sane win the No. 1 Contendership for familiar foe Shayna Baszler’s NXT Women’s Championship.

Sandwiched in between were hype packages, promos, and a confrontation between two massive egoes in EC3 and Kona Reeves. But what may have stuck out to me more than anything was a filler match involving Kassius Ohno.

Yeah, that’s right. Ohno had a match against an enhancement talent, defeating Rick Ramirez with a trademark Knockout Blow. If you’re wondering why an experienced wrestler would have a brief, showcase match, then, well, that makes two of us.

During the match, Ohno seemed a lot more focused and violent than usual. I mean, his offense is always hard-hitting, but he looked pissed. He wasn’t screaming or cursing or doing weird EC3 stuff, but this didn’t look like the same Kassius Ohno we’ve seen on NXT Television over the past year.

As a result, I asked my followers on Twitter last night if they also think a heel turn could be on the horizon for Ohno, who needs some sort of a character change. He’s been doing the same thing (and losing) for months, with little interest in his work in spite of the fact that he is still beloved by virtually everyone in the NXT Universe.

Many people saw the same signs I did, but the most noteworthy response came from a fan who was at an NXT Sanford Live Event on July 12. There, Ohno defeated Danny Burch. The fan stated that Ohno cut a promo that sounded quite heel-ish, as he even stated that he is sick of being a “Gatekeeper” (someone who faces the up-and-coming talent and *usually* loses).

Ohno has every reason to try and take matters into his own hands. This is a man who is one of the most technically gifted, most agile, and strongest wrestlers that NXT has to offer. However, he just can’t buy a victory. Ohno hasn’t lost to chumps, per se, but this man holds himself to a high standard. So even losses to NXT Championship-tier wrestlers like the Velveteen Dream, Adam Cole, EC3, Johnny Gargano, and Tommaso Ciampa have to sting.

I bet Ohno sees that his career is stalling, and he needs to start channeling his striking power into something more mentally vicious in order to conquer opponents that are becoming increasingly better and more conniving. In a sense, Ohno has to become a bad guy because everyone else he faces is “bad” and he’s only getting older. To counteract everything working against him, he has to become someone he may not want to be.

Briefly, I’ll discuss a potential heel turn outside of the realms of kayfabe. Ohno is in NXT to help coach up younger talent and make them look better in the ring. He’s accomplished a lot in his career, so he’s unselfishly helping others as a way of paying it forward to the business. It’s awesome.

But at the same time, I’m sure those at NXT know how good he is and know how much everyone could benefit from an Ohno heel run (with victories). So if Ohno does turn heel, then it would be an exciting development that helps the NXT brand in a slightly different way.

And you know who would benefit the most from working with a heel Ohno? New NXT signing Keith Lee!

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It will be interesting to see if this heel turn happens and when Ohno decides to make his intentions clear. I see the writing on the wall for Ohno as a stand-up character in NXT, as the signs are starting to surface.