(NOAH) "The big news is ..." KENTA reveals the whole truth about "rejoining Noah for the first time in over ten years"... and his current situation after going through WWE where "signature moves are prohibited" and "causing injury is a serious crime"
16th July 2025
NumberWeb
Pro Wrestling Noah is celebrating its 25th anniversary and is in the midst of a frenzy. One of the hottest topics is KENTA, who has rejoined the promotion. In this interview, he reveals the obstacles he faced during his time in WWE and how he feels about returning to the Noah mat, after working for New Japan!
With the emergence of the "dark hero" OZAWA and other factors, Pro Wrestling Noah and on February 13th of this year, new good news came to the promotion. Former Noah ACE, KENTA, who had left Noah in 2014 and then went on to wrestle for WWE and then New Japan, has rejoined the promotion after more than ten years.
"I don't think I've ever done anything that would deserve any criticism, but I wasn't thinking of being so bold as to expect to be welcomed back after they sent me off because of my own selfishness more than ten years ago. But I was grateful that they welcomed me so warmly. Noah and the roster have changed a lot since I left in 2014. When I rejoined and held autograph sessions, there were fans who said to me, "I started watching Noah again because you came back," so I was really happy and it made me feel like I was back."
Two days before the announcement of his rejoining, KENTA participated in an event at Korakuen Hall, the "Holy Ground"* of Noah, for the first time in ten years and nine months. After the match, he was greeted by a warm welcome from the fans, and said on the microphone to a huge cheer, "No, this is too warm. I was criticized in New Japan, but Noah is warm. In the end, what I want to say is that Noah is the best!"
KENTA spoke of his feelings at the time.
Why did he choose New Japan for his return to Japanese wrestling?
KENTA debuted in All Japan Pro Wrestling at the age of nineteen in May 2000, and just one month later, he transferred to the promotion, Noah, along with Mitsuharu Misawa and others, becoming the youngest member of the promotion's founding. He rose to prominence as a top Noah junior in the early 2000s, and from the mid-2000s, he began fighting in the heavyweight division despite his junior physique of 174cm tall and just over 80kg. Together with Naomichi Marufuji, he became a pioneer among junior wrestlers who could compete with the top heavyweights. In 2009, after the death of Mitsuharu Misawa, and the retirement of Kenta Kobashi, and the mass departure of Jun Akiyama and other wrestlers caused Noah to fall into a difficult situation, as the GHC Heavyweight Champion, a symbol of the top ranks of the promotion, he played a leading role in rebuilding the group. However, he always had a strong desire to go abroad, and at the age of thirty-three, when he was in the prime of his career as a wrestler, he decided to challenge himself in the world's largest professional wrestling promotion, WWE, and in 2014 he left Noah. He stayed with WWE for about five years, and returned to Japan in 2019, but he chose to do so in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, not his old home Noah. For that reason, he said he felt a little guilty about returning home.
"Before I left Noah, I had been talking about "rebuilding" and I was working hard towards that goal. I had my own dreams, so I left at that time to go to America because of my age. So if I were to come back to Japan, I thought it would be best to go back to Noah, but I wasn't able to do as well as I had imagined in America. I wondered if it was really okay to just accept that and go back. Truly, the ideal situation would have been to do well in the major leagues in America like Hiroki Kuroda from the Hiroshima Carp, and then return to my old team, but at the time I thought that I wouldn't be able to bring anything back to Noah if I returned like that. However, after my selfish send off, I thought that I would have to rely on them again as a member in a few years, so I chose New Japan to continue my own challenge".
KENTA's entry into WWE was initially spectacular. After leaving Noah on good terms at the end of April 2014, at the WWE Japan tour held at the Osaka Maishima Arena on July 12th of the same year, the contract was signed in the presence of superstar Hulk Hogan. He went to the US at the peak of his career as a professional wrestler at the age of 33, with fourteen years experience. It was supposed to be a challenge to see how much of what he had cultivated in Noah would work in the world's largest major wrestling promotion, WWE, but once he entered WWE, he ran into various obstacles.
"When I went there, they changed my ring name to something weird called "Hideo Itami," and I think looking back now, I feel like I just didn't fit in."
In Noah, KENTA had been free to run wild as he pleased, and his specialty was the authentic strikes he had acquired through his training in kickboxing, but stiff kicks were shunned in WWE. He was also forced to put aside the finisher he had honed in Noah. KENTA'S original "GO 2 SLEEP", in which he lifts his opponent into a fireman's carry, and then delivers a knee kick to the face, was a hold he himself had created, but in WWE, CM Punk had already used it under the name "GTS", so it was banned. Furthermore, he was unable to use his trump card, the "GAME OVER" (a combination of an omoplata and a face-lock), because Daniel Bryan (now Bryan Danielson) was using it under the name "YES!" Lock.
"The techniques I had been using up until then were taken away, and my style didn't require much hard hits. So I wondered what they were looking for in me. It was supposed to be a challenge to see how much of what I had cultivated in NOAH would work in WWE, but it turned into a challenge to throw away what I had built up and start from scratch with a new style."
He was also plagued with injuries in WWE.
KENTA had finally started to adjust to the style and and participated in the Andre the Giant Cup Battle Royal at the biggest event of the year, WrestleMania 31. Just when he was getting ready to start, he injured his left shoulder and was forced to take a long break. Following the wishes of the company, he underwent surgery in the US, but even after his return, his range of motion in his shoulder was severely limited, and the injury ended up having a major impact on his career as a professional wrestler.
"I really regret that shoulder injury. I regret having the surgery in America, and I clearly remember the match where I got injured, but I made a move that I didn't need to make. Honestly, I think that if I hadn't done that, my career as a wrestler after that would have been very different."
Injuries not only affected his career, but also those of his opponents. Soon after KENTA was promoted to the main roster, he caused an opponent to suffer a facial fracture.
"I never felt the fear of injuring my opponent in Japan. If I got injured, I just thought, "That's just how it is." Injured wrestlers would continue to have matches while recovering, so it was normal to wrestle without taking a break even if it was just a minor injury. I first felt the fear of injuring my opponent when I was there. When I was wrestling a a pretty popular wrestler in NXT, the head coach told me, "If you injure him, you'll be fired," which pissed me off, but injuring a popular wrestler over there is considered a serious crime. But if you think too much about not being able to injure your opponent, you won't be able to do anything. I was at a dead end."
He couldn't use his own finishing holds, was not expected to use his hard-hitting style, and fought in fear of injuring his opponent. He was forced into a mental state where his hands and feet were tied and his wings were torn off.
Under these circumstances, in 2018, he received an offer from his former promotion, Noah. They wanted him to compete in a singles match at Naomichi Marufuji's 20th debut anniversary, which was to be held at the Ryogoku Kokugikan on September 1st.
"Since Noah had given me such a warm welcome, I decided not to go back until I had left something behind that I could be satisfied with. So at the time, I just thought, "I'm too embarrassed to go back to Japan like this." But I was honestly happy that they asked me, and with WWE's permission, I was able to appear at Ryogoku as Hideo Itami. When I stepped into the Noah ring for the first time in a while, I could feel the fans were confused about how to call me and cheer me on. Should they call me "KENTA!" or "Hideo!*". Looking back, that may have been one of the reasons I decided to return to "KENTA"."
Five months after this match with Marufuji, he left WWE at the end of January 2019 and returned from Hideo to KENTA.
"I tried to like the name Hideo Itami, but I never got used to it. During my time there, I never felt right. My name and moves were changed, so I couldn't fight the way I wanted to. But Finn Balor (formerly Prince Devitt), who joined WWE at the same time and changed his name to something completely different, is doing well, so that can't be the only reason. Some people do well, and some people don't, and I didn't do well in WWE."
After leaving WWE, KENTA joined New Japan instead of Noah, as mentioned above. On the new battlefield, KENTA was freed from the spell of Hideo Itami and showed new charm.
New Japan gave me a fair amount of freedom. When I was in Noah, I was young and still wanted to act cool. But things didn't work out in WWE, so I realized, "This isn't the time to act cool", and in New Japan, I was able to be myself and act naturally. So when I left WWE and chose New Japan, I felt guilty, but when I think about how my experience in New Japan got me to where I am today, I've come to think it wasn't so bad."
"I came back to Noah after fourteen years and was welcomed by the fans, but I don't want it o just be like, 'Welcome back, welcome back.' I feel that since I was welcomed back, I need to give back what I've cultivated in WWE and New Japan. Since I've come back, I want the belt and to aim for the top. This year marks the 25th anniversary of Noah, and it's also my 25th anniversary since my debut, so I want to leave something behind. So far, the only big news story I've had is when I got tea spat on me (laughs)"
At the very end of the interview, KENTA brought up the story of a match in May this year where a woman in the audience spat tea into his face as he entered the ring. Not only does he have the cool and dangerous aura of his time as a young ace of Noah, but he also has the natural charm of a forty-four-year-old who has experienced both the good and the bad.
Notes
Holy Ground of Noah: Variously said to be Differ Ariake, Noah and The Budokan, so perhaps it can be said that it is part of Noah's Holy Trinity.
KENTA or Hideo: They called him KENTA, as did Marufuji.
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