Wheeler Yuta On FTW Championship Match, ROH Pure Title, AEW Worlds End, More - Exclusive
It's been a busy year for AEW star Wheeler Yuta. After regaining his ROH Pure title mid-December 2022, he enjoyed three months of successful title defenses until losing the title to Katsuyori Shibata at Supercard Of Honor 2023 in March, a loss he describes a "knock to [his] confidence."
Yuta names pinning Kenny Omega during the Anarchy in the Arena match at Double or Nothing as one of his highlights of 2023, and it's fair to think may have helped him regain some of his confidence. Another highlight, despite the loss, was participating in the Stadium Stampede at the historic Wembley Stadium during All In 2023.
Having reclaimed the Pure title from Shibata a month ago and rattling off a string of successful title defenses, Yuta is set to face FTW champion HOOK in an FTW Rules match this weekend at the inaugural AEW Worlds End. Before that, though, he sat down with Wrestling Inc. to discuss the match, his Blackpool Combat Club teammates, the Continental Classic Finals, and learning from AEW's veterans.
What to expect at Worlds End
Kevin Tall: You're facing Hook for the FTW Championship at Worlds End this weekend: What do you think fans should expect from that matchup?
Wheeler Yuta: I think that fans should expect some insanity. It's an FTW rules match, so no disqualifications, we'll be able to really fight around the building. We'll be able to really settle this finally once and for all. We've been at each other's throats for months and months, and it'll be fun to fight with no constraints. I'm the Ring of Honor Pure Champion. I'm known as the pure wrestler, but I can also cut loose, so I'm very excited to be able to do that this weekend:
As the Pure champion, do you have a preference between styles? What do you bring to the table that you think helps you out in an FTW rules match?
Yeah, I don't really have a preference. I really enjoy doing both. I love the Pure rules because it really strips down everything and forces you to focus on the technique, forces you to focus on the wrestling. But yeah, I've been in blood and guts matches. I've been in Anarchy in the Arena. I've been in Stadium Stampede, so I've been able to dabble in the violence. That's something that the BCC has been known for, so it's really exciting for me to be able to get back in there and dip my toe back into that. And yeah, I've had a lot of experience, honestly, more experience than Hook has in these kinds of matches. So I think that I'll walk out FTW champion.
Violence and HOOK
Yeah, violence has been pretty prevalent this year. Obviously the Texas Death Match at Full Gear is one of the most talked-about matches of the year. How do you think you fare in a death match, and do you have any opponent in AEW or anywhere else right now that you'd like to meet in one?
I think I'd fare very well. I think that part of me joining the Blackpool Combat Club, and then what I've continued to do since then is just proving that I can take a lot of punishment and then I can dish it out; that I can fight. We talk about death jitsu, that's using good technique, maybe a nice good throw, but on to thumbtacks, maybe it's through barbed wire or something like that. So I think that having a very unique skill set like that would really lend itself well to a death match. So I would certainly enjoy it. I think that I'm wrestling him this weekend, but I'd love to see Hook in one of those matches because I'd really like to test his mettle and see if he's really got what it is that it takes when you get into those deep waters. But I think we'll find out a lot of that in this FTW Rules match first.
What do you think Hook brings to the table as an opponent?
I think Hook has obviously the mentorship of his father. He has that great suplex game. He can throw you from any which way. He's got a very good Judo background, and he's also got that very devastating Red Rum choke. So there's a lot of different things that, as I'm talking about death jitsu, we'll see if he can do that as well because obviously he has all the skills, all the tools, but we just have to see how he can adapt them to this rule set.
Continental Classic Final
Also at Worlds End, John Moxley's in the Continental Classic Finals, how excited are you for that opportunity for him and what do you think he needs to do to defeat Eddie Kingston?
I think that it's incredibly exciting to see John Moxley in the finals as much as I would've loved to see a all BCC final with him and Brian Danielson. I think that John and Eddie in a singles match with this kind of stakes is something that's really been a long time coming. We've seen their relationship evolved throughout their time in AEW. Obviously it was a long-standing relationship even before then, but I think John just has to fight his fight. He has to wrestle his kind of match. Eddie is very emotional. He feeds on his emotion. It's one of his greatest strengths, but it's also one of his greatest weaknesses. So I think that if John can stay level-headed and fight his fight instead of fighting Eddie's fight, I think that he'll be able to come out on top and win the Continental Classic and the first Triple Crown.
Speaking of Eddie and his emotions, he name-checked you last night, calling you, "Mox's young boy b**ch." Any response to that?
I got John a Christmas present. I think Eddie was a little hurt deep inside that I didn't get him one. But yeah, people can talk. People can say what they want. Eddie knows what kind of wrestler I am. Eddie knows that I'd beat his ass, so he can say whatever he wants. Hopefully we get to fight again one day. We already had the one match. He did come out on top. I'll give him his credit, but I'd love to fight again and see where his mouth's at then.
You had mentioned a potential all BCC final here. How do you think that would've played out, given the respective styles?
I think that would've just been an awesome match. I think it really would've been a beautiful mix of technique and violence. That's what the BCC is all about. If you're asking me to pick a winner, honestly, I think it's a coin flip. I think on any given day, John could beat Brian and Brian could beat John, but I think that it would just be a beautiful symphony of violence.
Learning from BCC's veteran leadership
You've got a lot of veteran leadership at your disposal in BCC; what have you learned from Bryan, Mox, and Claudio?
They've all taught me so many different things in so many different ways. Claudio has taught me how to be a professional. He jokes that I'm too young to enjoy coffee and that I'm getting to that sweet spot now, but he's really taught me how to conduct myself, carry myself. We've had so many tag matches together. He's shown me a lot in specifically tag wrestling, and he's given me so many great lessons. I could go on for days.
John has taught me how to get a little bit grittier, how to get a little violent, how to make sure that the other person really feels you in there. The other person knows that you're not messing around, and it's not so much that you just want to beat them on that day, but you want to make sure that when they see you have to wrestle them again, they don't want to wrestle you again. They are afraid of you, and he really strikes fear into his opponents, and that's something that he's helped me sort of try to implement in my own matches.
And then Brian has shown me so much on the technique side. So much just in terms of focusing on the discipline aspects of wrestling and learning different individual holds, different individual suplexes, throws like that, but also just how to train. There's the story where he took me on a hike at five A.M. the day of the Anarchy in the Arena Match, and we had a lot of talks. It was really nice. It was really special, and I think he imparted a lot of wisdom on me that day, and I'll keep a lot of that to myself, but they've all taught me so much I could go on for hours with this question.
Sting & other AEW vets
Speaking of veteran leadership, there's plenty of veterans in AEW these days. Is there anybody else behind the scenes that has taken you under their wing or you've learned from?
Yeah, there's so many great coaches. I really love talking with guys like Dean Malenko, guys like Jerry Lin. They've always given me great advice whenever I've come to them with any certain problem, be it something in the ring, something specifically again with technique or something like that. Or even just orienting yourself for cameras. Obviously we're wrestling on television, so it can be a little bit different than what I've done on the independents. So they've always been really great at helping me with that stuff, and I, again, can't say enough good things about those two guys.
Perhaps the ultimate veteran is going to be sunsetting his career in the very near future, Sting. Would you like to see BCC mix it up with him and Darby before he rides off from the sunset?
Yeah, I think that would be a lot of fun. I'm not sure if it's in the cards. I hope it is. I think that'd be really cool. I actually, in my second match on Dynamite, I wrestled Darby in the singles and Sting was out there. I was still with the best friends at the time, so a little bit different dynamic than now, but it was really cool to be able to say that I wrestled Darby and that Sting was there. So again, just a legend and we're so honored that we have him in AEW and that we've had him for so long, and I can't think of a better way for him to end his career than in the Greensboro Coliseum. So it's been one hell of a ride, and I just want to thank Sting for everything.
Looking back on 2023 & forward to 2024
What have been your highlights in 2023 and what are you looking forward to in 2024, be it opponents, title opportunities, title defenses?
Yeah, for my personal highlights, I think the big ones that stand out are the victory over Kenny at Anarchy in the Arena. That was a huge, huge moment for me. Being able to compete at Stadium Stampede, at Wembley Stadium, just against guys that helped mentor me, helped bring me up, and then teaming with guys that are currently mentoring me and bringing me up is really special. And it was really special to have that match in such a historic wrestling event with those guys specifically. So that was really awesome for me. And then becoming a three-time Pure Champion. When I lost to Shibata, it really hurt me deep inside. It was a knock to my confidence because for so long, the Pure Championship was my identity. So to be able to not only regain the Pure Championship, but also to defeat a guy that had beaten me so soundly, that was really special to me.
As for 2024, I want to see where things go. I want to continue to bring Pure wrestling forward, whether that be the way that I've done it in the past or maybe manipulating the rule system a little bit, teaching people what the rules are and how they can be used to your advantage. I think that that's something that I really want to do. And speaking of guys that I've wrestled a lot but never beaten, I would like to finally beat Orange Cassie in a singles match. I think that's something that I'd love to do in 2024.
Your character has shown some more heelish tendencies since teaming up with Blackpool Combat Club. Do you prefer that to working as a baby face or is it just whatever they need from you?
I just prefer to get the job done, however I have to get it done. So I think that manipulating the rules has freed me up. It's given me a newfound sense of, I guess, creativity. Because you can use these Pure rules that are supposedly so rigid and so strict and you can use them to your advantage. So it's been really fun to do that and I've really enjoyed the creativity that comes with that. Some people find it constraining, but I find it really freeing, honestly.
Awesome. I think that's pretty much all I got for you unless there's any other message you want to send before this weekend's PPV.
No, just tune in to Worlds End to watch me beat Hook's ass.