Not long after reports that AEW’s Powerhouse Hobbs had signed with WWE (he would debut a couple weeks later in the Royal Rumble as Royce Keys), we heard that former IWGP Heavyweight champion EVIL would also make the jump from New Japan Pro-Wrestling to the TKO-owned sports entertainment brand.
Nothing since has contradicted those reports, and EVIL hasn’t been back in a New Japan ring since. About a month ago we heard that, unlike Keys, EVIL wants to start his WWE run in NXT. But the rumor mill went
quiet again after that.
Today (April 24), PWInsider’s Mike Johnson says that a deal has been signed. EVIL, who debuted as a Young Lion 2011 and went on excursion to Ring of Honor under his real name Takaaki Watanabe, is expected to use a new name in WWE, per Insider’s report. Johnson also writes that Watanabe “is the significant other of WWE’s IYO SKY”, which is something that’s long been suspected online, but that I personally haven’t seen any documentation or proof of.
If it is right, that should help make EVIL’s transition to the United States and WWE easier. The fact that he’s been working more western-style matches with a heavy character focus (and lots of interference) as the leader of NJPW’s Bullet Club-spinoff House of Torture should as well.
Other than that? He’s 39-years-old, with the bulk of a heavyweight but more average height. It’s hard to see EVIL, or whatever his WWE name ends up being, as a big star in his new company. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t the right decision for him, as it’s more exposure, an easier schedule, and quite possibly more money.
We’ll see how it works out for EVIL in WWE*. Let us know in the comments down below.
* We’re leaving the jokes to y’all, here.
