WWE.com has posted a roundtable discussion with WWE NXT stand outs Sami Zayn, Kevin Steen, Hideo Itami, Fergal Devitt and NXT Champion Adrian Neville. Below are some highlights:
Neville on not having interest in working for WWE earlier in his career:
“I didn’t really have an interest in getting signed by WWE earlier in my career. If I did have the opportunity to come here, I wanted it to be later when I was a more traveled, well-versed performer. Honestly, with my body type and my style, I never really expected to be here. The fact that I’m here alongside these guys is kind of mind-blowing.”
Fergal Devitt on leaving New Japan for WWE:
“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.”
Sami Zayn on signing with WWE:
“We’ve all got at least a decade to a decade and a half invested here. And without blowing smoke, everyone here is really good, obviously. Before we all got here, we were kind of “the guys.” I firmly believe we once again will be “the guys,” but we had to hit that reset button and roll the dice and start from scratch. But like Kevin said, what are you gonna do? Not take the chance? I didn’t even read my contract!”
Hideo Itami on leaving Japan for WWE:
“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.”
Zayn on stereotypes:
“I don’t know what’s going to become of [Itami’s] career, but I highly doubt you’ll see him with a headband, hitting a gong or anything like that. We’re reinventing what it means to be from these countries. We’re not stereotypes. We’re not here to epitomize your preconceived notions about Canada or Ireland or Japan or England. We just happen to be from these places and we happen to be really good.”
Steen on learning the WWE style:
“People think it will be hard for us to learn the WWE style but that’s the first style I knew how to do and then I had to adapt to the Ring of Honor style, because it’s for a different kind of fan. You need to do different things to get a reaction out of those 200 people that are there, but I was trained by a WWE wrestler, so that’s the first style I learned. The adaptation process isn’t going to be as strenuous as people think just because we’re from the indies.”
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
