WWE News: WWE NXT Star Hideo Itami Suffers Neck Injury, How Long Could He Be Out?

WWE NXT star Hideo Itami has had an interesting last few years in WWE. He would have a great opening run with the NXT brand and even help to introduce Finn Balor to the product. However, he would end up getting hurt in 2015, which would end up costing him an entire year of action. In fact, he has barely been back so far. It seemed that WWE was doing their best to build Itami back up to a credible threat once more as of late.

They paired him up with Kota Ibushi, another Japanese favorite, for the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic on NXT. It seemed like the two were going to get on a roll in the tournament and maybe even make the finals. Ibushi alone has not signed a contract and may feel compelled to do so if he had some big wins under his belt, such as the tag classic in honor of “The American Dream.” However, he might have trouble doing this as it seems Hideo got hurt once again.

On October 2nd, at an NXT event, Hideo Itami was involved in a tag team match where he teamed with Shinsuke Nakamura as they took on Riddick Moss and Tino Sabbatelli. During the match, Hideo took a power slam from Moss. However, in doing it, Moss apparently did not execute it correct, and it seemed Itami landed on his neck. When people who recorded it put it online, it instantly got some attention on the internet. No one knew if Itami was hurt or not. He finished the match, though, like a boss, but no one heard if there was something wrong or not.

Hideo Itami Takes Nasty Looking Bump Saturday Night At An NXT Live Event. No Word On His Condition pic.twitter.com/xK0YnPZZ9J

— Pro Wrestling Ultd (@pwunlimited) October 2, 2016

As you can see in the video, Hideo certainly landed badly, and it worried a lot of people in the crowd and even Moss and Tino. You could tell something was off even just watching it, then when the guys had looks on their faces you knew. In Japan, there are many times where stiff moves are done, and guys take hard slams and falls. However, you don’t hear of things like this happening as often due to the extreme training they go through. You do hear of the extreme injuries, though, as Japan probably has around fifty banned moves in other areas of the world.

However, WWE trains their talent well, and accidents can happen at any level, anywhere in the world. The problem is that Hideo Itami just got back from injury and it seemed like he got hurt again. Pro Wrestling Sheet confirmed the theory fans had and claimed Hideo does indeed have a neck injury that will cost him a few months. It is uncertain if he can do simple rehab on it and come back or if he’ll need surgery as of yet.

The hope is that it is not too serious, because if he does need surgery, he could miss yet another year of action. This has to be tough on Hideo Itami who was on a huge role when he first arrived, and most feel he would already be on the main roster if he never got hurt. There is a lot of money in Itami and WWE knows it.

This was the entire reason they signed him. Not only does he help the company bring in the Japanese market, he also helps the simple American market who enjoys seeing realism brought into WWE. The stiff kicks and overall ring work Itami has does certainly make you enjoy him.

He comes from the same tree as Seth Rollins, Cesaro, Kevin Owens, Daniel Bryan, and many others as he worked all over the world before finally coming to WWE. He was a huge name in Japan as KENTA and Triple H felt if he could grab him, he would be able to bring on someone who could be big for the WWE. He managed to, later on, lure Kota Ibushi in, as well as Asuka and Shinsuke Nakamura. So Hideo Itami isn’t as needed as much as he was before, but he is still someone WWE loves and wants to succeed. Let us hope he can just stay healthy.

[Featured Image by WWE]