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Rising AEW star Wheeler Yuta has been the talk of the wrestling industry over the last few weeks after a number of memorable performances.
First, the 25-year-old became the ROH Pure Champion at Supercard of Honor. Less than a week later, he finally earned his way into the Blackpool Combat Club after an outstanding match against Jox Moxley on AEW Rampage.
His match against Moxley garnered widespread acclaim from fans and wrestling veterans alike, including Mark Henry. On the Busted Open podcast, Henry talked about watching the main event with his son, who was also impressed by Yuta's performance:
"Tremendous storytelling. I watch with my son, watched the match. I saw the match and I was really impressed with Yuta's energy, like his desire to be great. All Jacob [his son] saw was one exciting moment after another and he kept turning with his mouth on the ground *exhales* What!! He kept doing that, he did that like four times, and that was about four-five times in a match where you get that type of feeling. It was a unbelievable match. Wheeler Yuta, not only did it put him on the map, but it established him as a guy that has a level of toughness and resolve." (16:40)
While Yuta has been wrestling in AEW for nearly a year and was a mainstay with the Best Friends faction, it is only recently that fans are taking notice of the wrestler's toughness and potential. Here are five things you need to know about the young wrestler.
#5. Wheeler Yuta's age & childhood
Wheeler Yuta's real name is James Yuta and he is only 25 years old. Born in 1997 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he has Japanese ancestry on his mother's side. In an Instagram post, he wrote about his maternal grandparents:
"These are my Japanese grandparents. My grandfather passed away when I was very young, but I have many fond memories of my grandmother. She learned English for the sole purpose of being able to communicate with my sister and I. She would visit America whenever she could, bringing all kinds of presents for the two of us."
Yuta would get a chance to live in Japan early in his wrestling career when he trained with Michinoku Pro Wrestling. But growing up in America, his first exposure to pro wrestling was through his cousins who introduced him to wrestling video games.
Speaking on the latest episode of the AEW Unrestricted podcast, the current ROH Pure Champion revealed:
“When I was like a little kid, my cousins showed me this wrestling video game. I played that video game with them all the time. Then at one point, they told me that real people did this. I didn’t know that human beings could do this. Then I remember they showed me. They turned on the TV, and there it was. I was like, wow, that’s what I want to do,” said Wheeler Yuta (H/T WrestlingNews.Co)
The athleticism and larger-than-life characters Yuta saw on television inspired him to pursue wrestling as a career. But first, he needed to figure out how to get his foot in the door.
#4. Wheeler Yuta discovered independent wrestling through Colt Cabana's Art of Wrestling podcast
While WWE was the only major promotion in town throughout his formative years, Yuta soon became an avid listener of Colt Cabana’s "The Art of Wrestling" podcast, which introduced him to the wider world of independent wrestling.
The highly-acclaimed classics from 2000s ROH, the monthly supercards of early 2010s PWG, the bright characters and lucha-influenced wrestling of CHIKARA - all stood in stark contrast to weekly episodes of RAW and Smackdown for the young man.
Long before Yuta shared a locker room with independent veterans such as Bryan Danielson, Colt Cabana and The Young Bucks in AEW, he was already learning about them through the podcast as well as the internet.
#3. Wheeler Yuta was trained by WWE Superstar Drew Gulak
Before making a name for himself in AEW and the independent scene, Wheeler Yuta got his wrestling training from current WWE Superstar Drew Gulak.
Yuta learned how to be well-versed in multiple wrestling styles such as lucha libre, Japanese wrestling and technical wrestling. He even adopted his striking and submission grappling moveset while training because of Gulak's style.
It was during this time that Yuta would get the opportunity to learn at the Chikara training factory. This is where Yuta would meet and train with other great talents such as future Best Friends stablemates Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy.
By age 18, Wheeler Yuta already had two years of wrestling experience under his belt and was ready to carve his path in the minor leagues.
#2. How Wheeler Yuta joined the Best Friends in AEW
Wheeler Yuta would gradually work his way up the ranks in smaller promotions such as Beyond Wrestling, Chikara and CZW before gaining the attention of AEW president Tony Khan. This led to him being inserted into the Best Friends faction while Trent Baretta was out with an injury.
Speaking on AEW's Unrestricted podcast, Yuta shared more details about his early career in AEW:
“Those guys obviously have been very instrumental, especially Chuck and Orange, have been very instrumental helping me, training me, and bringing me up in wrestling."
Yuta went on to describe how working on AEW Dark provided a path to Dynamite as part of Best Friends:
"I think that once we did the stuff on Dark, I think Tony (Khan) kind of saw that it would be a natural fit for me to come in and be there with my real life friends. I didn’t know what was going to happen. They hugged me at the end and just kind of took off from there." (H/T - Wrestlingnews.co)
While Chuck Taylor and Orange Cassidy provided the stepping stones for Yuta to establish himself with the AEW audience, it's clear that he is ready to take the next step with William Regal, Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson as part of the Blackpool Combat Club.
#1. Wheeler Yuta's long-term goals in AEW
Wheeler Yuta has revealed that he has three major goals in professional wrestling. In the same AEW Unrestricted podcast, the 25-year-old admitted that he would like to go back and wrestle in Japan. As far as being in AEW, he would like to win the TNT Championship and eventually the AEW World Championship.
For now, the ROH Pure champion is focused on impressing his new groupmates William Regal, Moxley and Danielson. Yuta's first match as part of his new faction saw them besting the Gunn Club on this week's Rampage.
It will be fascinating to see if Yuta can follow in the footsteps of the promotion's other young stars such as MJF, Darby Allin and Jungle Boy, who have all become major players in the company.
