WWE.com has published an extensive feature looking at the “Leaders of the New School” – NXT stars Sami Zayn, Hideo Itami, Adrian Neville, Fergal Devitt and Kevin Steen. The article features quotes from each competitor and is definitely worth checking out. Here are some highlights of what they said about the “Leaders of the New School” coming together in NXT:
Sami Zayn:
“It’s just crazy to think where we all were a few years ago and where we are now. The other guys I tagged are guys we all crossed paths with for years all over the world on various small, independent shows. We thought we were doing something special at the time, but you don’t know if it’s going to pay off. Now that we’re all here under the WWE umbrella, it kind of validates all that.”
When we were young, we all looked up to the Jerichos and the Guerreros and the Malenkos and all these world-traveled guys who started where they were from and then made a name in Europe, then went to Mexico, then went to Japan, then went to ECW, then WCW and then they ended their careers here in WWE. Those are the guys that I looked at like, “That’s what I want to be.” Now, we’re that generation — we’re the Guerreros, we’re the Malenkos. It’s not a coincidence at all.
Kevin Steen:
“I actually had a bit of a different mentality. I remember talking with Zayn about WWE, it must have been 2003, and I told him it wasn’t a dream for me — it was the goal. I appreciate all the chances I got to wrestle all over the world and I’m really proud to have wrestled in Japan and Australia and Italy. But it was never a necessity for me, because in my head, I thought, “When I get to WWE, I’ll travel with them and see all those places.” It was never something I felt I needed to do, but now that I’ve lived through those experiences, I realize how important it was in getting here.”
Fergal Devitt:
“I’d been doing it for about six or seven years when I ended up in New Japan. I was really just a boy and I became a man in New Japan in eight years. It came to a point where I could stay the rest of my career there and have the security of a job or I could step into the great unknown that is WWE and challenge myself. And that’s what I decided to do.”
Adrian Neville:
“Honestly, it’s a huge risk, because we’ve got these reputations outside here and I know a lot of us made very comfortable livings outside here. To give up all that on what is essentially a flip of a coin, because a lot of decisions aren’t really in our hands as far as this place is concerned. One thing I liked about coming up is the ball was very much in our hands. Our success was based on what we did. That is the case to a certain degree here, but at the same time …”
Hideo Itami:
“Everything changed [by joining WWE]. [I left Japan because] I wanted more. I wanted to be famous. I wanted to prove to myself. When I started, I didn’t think about WWE, but my dream became bigger and bigger.” When asked by Kevin Steen if he plans to reclaim the “Go To Sleep” finisher he popularized (which was later adopted by CM Punk), he said, “I hope! (Laughter.)”
There is much, much more to the interview, including misconceptions about their generation, the WWE Performance Center and their goals in the industry. Head over to WWE.com to read the full article.
