WWE News: KENTA reveals why he left to sign with NJPW

What's the story?

Former WWE Superstar KENTA fka Hideo Itami signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling after his request to be released from WWE was granted earlier this year. KENTA recently opened up in an interview about his reasons for wanting to leave the WWE.

In case you didn't know...

It was a huge deal when KENTA signed with WWE and Hulk Hogan himself went to Japan for the signing ceremony. Unfortunately for KENTA, his time in WWE was marred by serious and untimely injuries.

He was eventually moved to 205 Live before asking for his release from the company earlier this year.

The heart of the matter

While speaking to NJPW ahead of the 2019 G1 CLIMAX, KENTA spoke about his time in WWE and what made him want to come back home to Japan and sign with New Japan Pro Wrestling:

"I went to America, I went to WWE, and I didn't really achieve what I set out to do there. I didn't get the results I wanted. While all this was going on, I was still in contact with [Katsuyori] Shibata, and we talked about this and that. In the end it boiled down to 'OK, what do I want to do with myself'? What I concluded was that I didn't want things to end this way, I wanted to try once more to bring my vision of pro wrestling to the world. So that said, business is booming for NJPW, and if there's anywhere that I can bring that vision worldwide, it's in New Japan."

KENTA also added that his time in the WWE was a disappointment for multiple reasons, including him having to change his style to suit that of the WWE:

"It was a very tough five years. I got hurt, and beyond that I was really grasping for something during that whole time. It's like, I came into the company to bring my style of wrestling worldwide, but what that actually became was bending and adapting to what the company wanted."

What's next?

KENTA will take part in the 2019 G1 CLIMAX tournament. KENTA is in block A along with the likes of Ospreay, Okada and Ibushi.