WWE’s raid of the New Japan Pro Wrestling talent roster kicked off 2016 in a big way, but it’s worth noting that the negotiations with Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson were each handled individually and things just happened to work out around the same time.
Nakamura had talks with WWE in early 2015 but wound up re-signing with NJPW for another year. What many people don’t know is that Nakamura speaks English pretty well. He’s known for his showmanship and charisma and this apparently translates to his English promo ability.
WWE was planning to have AJ Styles debut in the Royal Rumble and we haven’t heard anything about that changing. The AJ Styles situation is an interesting one because he received an offensively low offer from WWE when he left TNA. He decided to work the independent scene and head over to Japan, where he raised his profile and was able to get considerably more money from WWE this time around.
Gallows and Anderson are expected to debut on NXT TV in early March. As we’ve covered previously, NJPW owns the name “Bullet Club” so they won’t be using that in NXT.
(Partial Source: Wrestling Observer Newsletter)
