Hideo Itami Returned From Injury At Last Night’s WWE NXT Live Event
Hideo Itami returned from injury at last night’s WWE NXT live event in Winter Haven, Florida. He teamed with TM-61 (Shane Thorne and Nick Miller) to defeat NXT Champion Samoa Joe, Wesley Blake and Tino Sabbatelli.
Itami has been out of action since NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable on May 20, 2015. He was originally scheduled to be the third participant in Finn Balor and Tyler Breeze’s number one contender match for the NXT Title. However, due to suffering a legitimate shoulder injury that required surgery, he was taken out of that triple threat match. Itami’s absence was explained by NXT as a parking lot attack prior to NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable. It was never revealed who may have attacked him, but Kevin Owens was the top heel at the time.
Below are some photos of Itami’s return.
https://twitter.com/JJWilliamsWON/status/748693074788782080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
He's BACK! @HideoItami#WelcomeBackHideopic.twitter.com/hYvjxtHdgE
— Finn Bálor (@FinnBalor) July 1, 2016
I'm back.#thankyou#NXTWinterHaven
— KENTA aka Lil’K (@KENTAG2S) July 1, 2016
Mark’s reaction: It’s great to finally have Itami back. It’s been long enough. He’s returned at a perfect time too, as the WWE Draft is two and a half weeks away. With all the rumored NXT call-ups in time for the brand split, having another wrestler like Itami present in NXT helps the brand stay hot. They could also bring him up to the main roster as well.
Picture used above is courtesy of WWE.com.