WWE News: Current NJPW Champion Opens Up About Failed WWE Run

Lance Archer is enjoying success at the moment as New Japan Pro Wrestling‘s IWGP United States Champion, but many fans will remember him for his underwhelming stint in WWE.

Archer competed in WWE between 2009 and 2010 as a member of the ECW and SmackDown brands. His most notable work was his tag team with Curt Hawkins known as The Gatecrashers, but the duo was short-lived and Archer was subsequently released by the company.

As quoted by Wrestling Inc., Archer recently appeared on Busted Open Radio to talk about his wrestling career, where he reflected on his time in WWE and opened up about what went wrong.

“There were a lot of restrictions as far as what you could and more of what you couldn’t do. Again, I went into WWE off the TNA stuff. There was some of that TNA stink where guys were trying to come into the WWE so I had to get that off of me, which I think I did well going into their developmental system to get that off of me, and then when I came up to their ECW product I went from having a complete image.”

Archer noted how Linda McMahon’s Senate run at the time prevented WWE superstars from truly shining. The company was forced to change its image as a result, so the product was much tamer compared to previous years.

The former superstar also revealed how WWE forced him to cut off his hair and goatee, which he felt hindered his chances at success because he wasn’t experienced enough to make it work back then.

#NewProfilePic pic.twitter.com/e40pTbmtV1

— The Murderhawk Monster Lance Archer (@LanceHoyt) October 21, 2019

Archer has enjoyed great success in Japan since being released from WWE, becoming a key member of the Suzuki-gun faction and winning several championships. Before he won the prestigious IWGP United States Championship, he held multiple IWGP Tag Team Championships as a member of Killer Elite Squad. Outside of NJPW, he was also a GHC Tag Team Champion in Pro Wrestling NOAH.

Archer won his newest title at NJPW’s King of Pro-Wrestling event after defeating Juice Robinson, another former WWE star who has made quite a name for himself in Japan. The championship was also up for grabs after Jon Moxley was forced to relinquish it due to being unable to make the show.

Now that he’s representing the company as their United States Champion, Archer will probably feature heavily in New Japan Pro Wrestling of America. As The Inquisitr reported earlier this week, the American subsidiary will launch in the near future as the company seeks to expand internationally.