2017 has been the weirdest year even in professional wrestling, and we’re still managing to get some surprising and unexpected things going down in the last couple of weeks before we see what 2018 has in store for us. If NXT turning in another potential match of the year candidate in one of their final weekly episodes of the year wasn’t enough, now we’ve got some of the yellow brand’s Superstars popping up overseas when we absolutely weren’t expecting them to.
WWE already announced they’re loaning out a couple of its Superstars to some indie promotions. They’re letting main roster member Apollo Crews work for Preston City Wrestling in the U.K. in hopes of gaining inroads into a valuable venue in England, and they’re also sending NXT’s Oney Lorcan to his old stomping grounds at Beyond Wrestling for one night only.
While some NXT Superstars returned to their home countries for the holidays, a couple of them decided to pop in and say hi back where they first made names for themselves.
Oh, and also Kassius Ohno just turned up in the crowd at a DDT show, because of course he’d jet off to Japan for Christmas.
Is that Kassius Ohno in the back?? #ddtpro pic.twitter.com/5eRY1VeWjQ
— Roy ⛧ (@narukiroy) December 24, 2017
Hello again Japan 🇯🇵 ☺️
— Chris Hero (Is Back) (@ChrisHero) December 22, 2017
Anyway, the real news is that at wXw in Germany (the largest promotion in that company), NXT’s Marcel Barthel (who wrestled for wXw for nearly a decade) and SAnitY member and 2017 breakout darling Alexander Wolfe (who worked for wXw off and on before signing with WWE in 2015) popped up during the company’s 17th anniversary show.
https://twitter.com/ReallyVanni/status/944622124626477057
Just wow. #wXw17thAnni @TheWWEWolfe #WWE pic.twitter.com/ZtDfvHXz7o
— Lukas 📯 (@TheReal1ffs) December 23, 2017
Daily Update: Wolfe & Barthel appear at wXw, WWE notes, Kaitlyn https://t.co/HvaJvMKLQd pic.twitter.com/CRLNx8WQfC
— Wrestling Observer (@WONF4W) December 24, 2017
Meanwhile, over in Japan on Christmas Eve, Kairi Sane (formerly Kairi Hojo) appeared at a STARDOM show to pay tribute to Yoko Bito, who was having her last match for the promotion. Sane was, of course, one of STARDOM’s top stars before leaving for WWE, where she became the inaugural Mae Young Classic winner.
WWE NXT Superstar Kairi Sane showed up to say goodbye to Bito! pic.twitter.com/2vLmFo0mup
— We Are Stardom (@we_are_stardom) December 24, 2017
It’s very likely that neither of these appearances will make any sort of home video releases, but everyone involved definitely needed to get approval before popping up at these shows. It’s absolutely a couple of unforgettable moments for the lucky fans who happened to be in attendance at these shows, and yet ANOTHER reminder that all bets are off when it comes to pro wrestling these days.
2018 is gonna be wild, y’all.
