The report that Hideo Itami, fka and soon to be known again as KENTA, was leaving WWE came out of nowhere and was quickly met with an outpouring of well-wishes from his coworkers. Today, Itami’s fellow 205 Live wrestler Jack Gallagher showed more appreciation for the former Pro Wrestling NOAH star when he tweeted a link to mini-documentary entitled #205Life – 008.
The video, filmed between January 22-29, 2019, provides a glimpse of Itami’s life as a WWE superstar. It shows him answering questions with Ariya Daivari at his side and interacting with other wrestlers in the locker room and backstage.
The video’s most revealing moments include Itami talking about how it was “so scary” getting surgery on his dislocated shoulder in the U.S. around nobody who spoke his first language and how working with Daivari cutting promos for him on 205 Live helped him focus on his matches. His banter with Daivari also shows a different side of performer who’s in-ring persona has been very serious for most of his career. The shot of him hugging a tearful Shinsuke Nakamura backstage at the Royal Rumble is pretty moving too. Overall, Gallagher’s video, both with its content and the fact that it was made at all, show how much a WWE wrestler who was often on the list of those fans thought were underutilized by the company was appreciated by his co-workers.
