Hideo Itami “broke the internet” after finally hitting the GTS at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn last night. Itami saved No Way Jose from a post-match attack by Austin Aries and finished Aries off with the move formerly used by CM Punk. The announcers made a mention of Itami creating the move.
Below is video of the move and comments from Itami, who looks to be feuding with Aries now:
– Besides the stars booked for Takeover, other NXT Superstars brought into NYC, presumably for tonight’s TV tapings, include TM-61, The Authors of Pain, Paul Ellering, Rich Swann, Oney Lorcan, Mandy Rose, Daria, Blake, Hideo Itami and Bin Wang.
– The latest WWE Top 10 looks at the most extreme SummerSlam moments, seen below:
– Below are videos with Charlotte hyping her SummerSlam women’s championship match against Sasha Banks and Dolph Ziggler cutting a promo on his WWE championship match against Dean Ambrose:
Hideo Itami recently spoke with Byron Saxton for the WWE website. Below are highlights:
WWE.COM: How did it feel to finally return to an NXT ring?
ITAMI: I’m so happy to be back. Words cannot explain how much it meant. But my goal is not just to be back in action; I’m also focused on reaching the next level.
WWE.COM: For those who were unfamiliar with your shoulder injury, what exactly happened?
ITAMI: I suffered a dislocated shoulder, which was a very tough injury. I have torn my ACLs in both knees and I’ve broken an ankle, but this is the longest I’ve ever been out of action in my entire career. It was the toughest injury of my life.
WWE.COM: You joined NXT around the same time as Finn Bálor and Kevin Owens as three of the biggest signings the brand had ever seen. Both of those men have gone on to accomplish great things in NXT and WWE since then. Do you feel added pressure to do the same?
ITAMI: I sat in the crowd and watched Finn Bálor become NXT Champion in my home country. I was happy for him, but I was also a little jealous. I saw Kevin Owens defeat John Cena in his first match in WWE. Many people in Japan expected me to do big things when I came to NXT, and now that I’m back, I want to make them proud. I want to show the world how good I am and I want to prove to myself how great I can be.
– The contract signing for Bayley vs. NXT Women’s Champion Asuka at NXT Takeover: Brooklyn will take place on next Wednesday’s episode.
– Ember Moon, the former Athena, will make her debut at Takeover. Below is a new vignette for her official debut:
– Hideo Itami made his official return on tonight’s NXT episode. In the backstage video below, Itami says he’s glad to be finally back but he didn’t just return, he came back to win the NXT Championship.
– Tonight’s show also saw Bobby Roode make his official TV debut. Roode was trending on social media after his “glorious” promo seen below:
– TM-61 defeated Mustafa Ali and Sean Maluta in the dark match before Thursday’s WWE Cruiserweight Classiv tapings at Full Sail.
– No word yet on why but Austin Aries was absent from Thursday’s NXT house show in Indianapolis. He was advertised to wrestle Hideo Itami but was replaced by Angelo Dawkins. Aries was also absent from Wednesday’s NXT TV tapings.
– Below is an interesting new promo from Enzo Amore, hyping the WWE Draft like only he can. Not only does Enzo name-drop Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, he predicts Rich Swann to win the WWE CWC.
Following a series of injury-related setbacks, Hideo Itami wrestled for the first time in over a year at tonight’s NXT live event in Winter Haven, Florida.
He joined TM-61, the tag team of Shane Thorne and Nick Miller, for a match against NXT Champion Samoa Joe, Wesley Blake and Tino Sabbatelli.
Itami has been out of action since May of last year due to a shoulder injury that required surgery. He was only expected to be sidelined for six months, but complications from the procedure delayed his return.
– In an update on WWE calling Dean Ambrose the WWE Champion on this week’s RAW, the name change has now been updated on the WWE website as well. The title is now referred to as the WWE Championship instead of the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
– Based on the following tweet, it sounds like Hideo Itami could be returning at this weekend’s NXT house show in Winter Haven, FL. Itami has been out of action since May 2015 and told fans in late May he would see them soon.
– Wrestling Observer Live reports that there will indeed be split referee crews for Raw and Smackdown when the brand split kicks off in July. Referee Brian Nguyen tweetd:
– Summer Rae also suffered an injury on the recent WWE European tour. She returned to the ring on Monday for the Superstars taping but she had been out of action since 4/23. It’s believed she suffered a concussion but not confirmed.
– Hideo Itami is believed to be returning to action for NXT in the next few weeks. He’s been out of action for 13 months after his first shoulder surgery didn’t go as planned. Obviously a lot has changed in WWE and NXT since the last time we saw him in action. With the WWE brand split returning and a lot of NXT talent getting called up to fill out the RAW and SmackDown rosters, it will be interesting to see where Itami winds up.
Last night, Wrestling Twitter was abuzz over something that had been discovered when a fan was playing around with Google Translate. Apparently trying to figure out if there was some special meaning to Sami Zayn’s name (or more likely just playing around), someone translated “Sami Zayn” from English to Arabic. Remember, Rami Sebei, the man behind Sami Zayn, is of Syrian descent, so it’s not like this was the most random thing in the world. So then, when you translate the Arabic text back to English, it says…El Generico??!?!?
Clearly, there’s a big wrestling fan at the Google Translate team as no, that’s not any kind of real translation. Other machine translation sites, like the one on Bing, turn it into “Zain Sami,” and El Generico was, of course, Rami Sebei’s pre-WWE gimmick. Officially, though, they’re friends, as opposed to the Hideo Itami, Finn Balor, and Asuka treatment of acknowledging their past with different names.
It wouldn’t be a huge surprise if there were more wrestling relate Easter eggs like this within Google Translate, but since this one is so perfect, it may be best if they just stopped with this one. They can’t top it.
NXT star Hideo Itami has had complications with his recovery from shoulder surgery and is “nowhere close” to being able to return, according to the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He’s has been out of action since April 30th, 2015.
– NXT Champion Finn Balor is scheduled to attend several RAW and SmackDown tapings after Survivor Series. He is currently overseas with WWE for this week’s European tour and defeated Sheamus on Friday night at the O2 Arena in London, England.
Balor attending RAW and SmackDown tapings is by no means an indication that he’ll be appearing on WWE television any time soon. That said, with the absences of John Cena, Seth Rollins and Randy Orton, it might not be a bad idea to feature Balor on WWE TV to at least hype NXT Takeover: London (12/16).
– Sami Zayn won’t be back in action any time soon. He was at the Performance Center several weeks ago but has not been training regularly for a return. He has stated publicly that he won’t be back until early 2016.
– Hideo Itami also continues to rehabilitate his shoulder after undergoing surgery back in May. He was slated to miss around 6-8 months of action and has not yet returned to the WWE Performance Center for training.
– WrestlingDVDNetwork.com reports that there is talk of WWE releasing an NXT DVD/Blu-ray set in early 2016. Aside from a match compilation, the upcoming WWE Network ‘WWE 24’ special focusing on NXT could be included.
– NXT Superstar Hideo Itami tweeted the following response to a fan on Twitter asking about his recovery from injury:
– Independent women’s wrestler Ruby announced on Facebook that she is getting a WWE tryout at the Performance Center in Orlando, FL next month.
It’s official. Not only am I APW’s world heavy weight champion but I also have a for sure WWE …NXT tryout in Orlando Florida next month !!!!! APW has been amazing and I won’t let them down! I’ll be conditioning like crazy to prepare for the tryout and will keep everyone updated on my journey!!!
Following this week’s edition of NXT TV, below is an updated look at the scheduled lineup for NXT Takeover: Brooklyn, which airs live on the WWE Network on Saturday, August 22nd.
NXT Championship (Ladder Match)
– Finn Balor (c) vs. Kevin Owens
NXT Tag-Team Championship
– Blake & Murphy (c) vs. The Vaudevillians
NXT Women’s Championship
– Sasha Banks (c) vs. Bayley
– Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Tyler Breeze
– Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin
– Apollo Crews (formerly known as Uhaa Nation) will make his NXT debut
– Appearances by Hideo Itami and others are expected as well
– During RAW it was confirmed that Becky Lynch would take on Nikki Bella in a non-title match on SmackDown however during last night’s tapings, that did not happen.
Instead, Becky Lynch took on Brie Bella as part of the Main Event tapings. No word yet on why the original plans were nixed.
– WWE NXT Champion Finn Balor posted on Twitter yesterday that Hideo Itami had got his Florida state drivers license after apparently 27 attempts:
– While many of the WWE talent are in Japan for their tour – including tomorrow’s big WWE Network Live Special, they also held a special Hall of Fame ceremony.
The ceremony was held in honor of 2015 WWE Hall of Famer Tatsumi Fujinami at today’s live event in Toyko and a photo was shared online showing NXT’s Hideo Itami also in the ring.
The full card for tomorrow’s WWE Network Special the “Beast in the East” in Tokyo, Japan can be found by clicking on this link.
https://instagram.com/p/4q_CuwAFBi/
– Over on The Jakarta Post, they have an interview with WWE Superstar King Barrett who has been promoting the WWE Live event in Singapore.
During the interview he revealed that he wanted to be the first English wrestler to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship.
“That is definitely a goal of mine to the World Championship,” he said. “I need more time and I will wait for my opportunity and that is where I am at right now.” Read more at this link.
– Former WWE Diva Torrie Wilson is Jim Ross’ guest on this week’s edition of the “Ross Report” podcast, which is available now. You can download the show at PodcastOne.com.
– The following matches are confirmed for tonight’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network:
– Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. Jason Jordan and Sylvester Lefort
– Dana Brooke vs. Cassie
– The Hype Bros (Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley) vs. Sawyer Fulton and Angelo Dawkins
– Finn Balor vs. Rhyno
– Plus, Hideo Itami will address his injury
– WWE posted the following “unseen footage” of Triple H’s special “Terminator: Genisys” ring entrance at WrestleMania 31 earlier this year.
WWE taped another 4 weeks of NXT television on Thursday night from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. (Full Results).
Both Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami, who are out of action with shoulder injuries, commented on how long they’ll be out of action.
Hideo Itami said that he’ll be appearing live at WWE’s 4th of July special from Tokyo, Japan, but will be out of action for another 3-4 months. He also issued a challenge to the winner of the Kevin Owens vs. Finn Balor NXT Championship match.
Sami Zayn cut a promo later in the show, calling 2014 the best year of his career but letting fans know that he’ll be out of action for the remainder of 2015. Zayn vowed to come back better than ever and says he plans to recapture the NXT Championship and get revenge on Kevin Owens.
WWE is currently discussing the possibility of bringing in additional part-time talent, such as Samoa Joe and Rhyno, for their NXT brand.
Internally, WWE is looking at their plans for 2016 lately and the feeling is most of their current top stars in NXT, such as Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Hideo Itami, Tyler Breeze, Sasha Banks, Charlotte and Becky Lynch, by all rights should be on the main roster by then, meaning they will need to replace those top spots on NXT shows.
WWE is looking to secure enough high-profile independent talent to fill what is expected to be several open top spots to carry a full NXT card, which will be tough to do if the aforementioned talent move up to the main roster and the current trainees aren’t ready to move up within the developmental system.
According to one source, this is the reason that WWE has been negotiating with Evolve about a “feeder system” or a “farm league” system that would include merchandise deals and other business agreements that would help them avoid the situation they recently found themselves in with Kevin Owens’ recent Ring Of Honor merchandise.
Although he has signed a new full-time deal with WWE, Samoa Joe is still scheduled to team with AJ Styles to take on Frankie Kazarian and Christopher Daniels at the Ring Of Honor television taping in New York City.
According to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, however, WWE has been pushing very hard for that match to not be taped for television, which was the original plan before Joe signed his new WWE deal. As of right now, the belief is that the match will not be taped for the ROH television show.
It’s said that ROH wanted Joe for more dates, but their new national cable television deal with Destination America is one of the factors that led to WWE offering Joe a full-time deal, which will likely prevent Joe from doing so.
Joe is no longer accepting independent dates past August 31st, as he is scheduled to begin working in NXT full-time in September. Until then, Joe will be working the big NXT live events and any other WWE Network specials.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is also reporting that a name change for Samoa Joe and a main roster spot are reportedly still up in the air.
Another key factor in WWE bringing Samoa Joe in full-time to work in NXT is because of the perceived lack of depth of high-profile stars in the promotion. With Kevin Owens moving up to the main roster, and other top stars such as Sami Zayn and Hideo Itami on the sidelines, WWE felt the need to bring in another high-profile name to the NXT brand.
The announcement of Brock Lesnar wrestling at what we now know will be a live WWE Network special at Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan on July 4th resulted in ticket sales going from average to an immediate, legitimate sell out. Because of the way WWE will be setting up the arena, there is only 6,500 tickets for the event, however WWE will likely announce a figure close to 11,000. Lesnar is scheduled to wrestle Kofi Kingston on the show.
There was still advertising for Daniel Bryan appearing on the tour as recently as this week, although he could appear in a non-wrestling capacity, as Hideo Itami, who will not be wrestling, is also being advertised for the show.
Additionally, Japanese wrestling legend Tatsumi Fujinami may attend one or both of the shows in Japan, with the hook being that WWE put him in their Hall Of Fame earlier this year.
– NXT star Hideo Itami is in Japan this week to promote WWE’s live events tour of the country scheduled for next month. After recently undergoing shoulder surgery, Itami will be out of action 6-8 months.
– Daniel Bryan is scheduled to for tonight’s WWE RAW. Bryan announced last night that his in-ring career is not over and will likely be there to promote his new DVD/Blu-Ray set, which will be released tomorrow.
– Big Show is currently backstage at the site of tonight’s RAW. No word on if he’ll be appearing on TV, but he’s expected to be back in action soon.
– There is currently no timeframe for Rusev’s return. He injured his foot at last week’s SmackDown tapings.
– Former WWE Superstar Trevor Murdoch has been working for Harley Race’s World League Wrestling promotion, which is based out of Missouri.
