How Working In NJPW Made WWE's Bronson Reed A More Confident Wrestler

Bronson Reed returned to WWE last December after being released by the promotion in August 2021. During his time away, the former "WWE NXT" North American Champion regularly performed for NJPW as JONAH. Reed spoke about finding new confidence while working overseas during an appearance on "Busted Open Radio."

"I got in the ring with [Kazuchika] Okada, who I think is one of the best guys in the world and we went 25 minutes, 27 minutes, twice," Reed said. "I was like, '[If] I can do this, main event in Tokyo, like, I can main event anywhere in the world. And I think Triple H [WWE's Chief Content Officer] saw that. He watched those matches and I think that was, you know, a little bit of a factor of me coming back as well."

During his run with NJPW in 2022, Reed participated in the G1 Climax. It was in his opening match of the annual round-robin tournament that he faced multi-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada one-on-one for the first time. Reed managed to pull off an upset that night by defeating "The Rainmaker." Reed took on Okada again in his most recent NJPW bout at Declaration of Power 2022, with Okada exacting revenge and defeating the Australian-born wrestler. Since returning to WWE, Reed has been regularly featured on "WWE Raw." He appeared on "NXT" for the first time since 2021 this past Tuesday, taking part in a four-way match to determine the next challenger for the North American Championship at the upcoming "NXT" Deadline premium live event.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" with an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.