Former NJPW Star EVIL Reportedly Wants To Begin WWE Career In NXT

Former IWGP Heavyweight Champion EVIL bid farewell to New Japan Pro Wrestling earlier this year as his contract with the company expired. While he hasn't wrestled since January, his name has been brought up multiple times in recent weeks as it has been heavily rumored that the "King of Darkness" will be heading to WWE in the near future. No official confirmation of the signing has been made as of yet, but it seems that EVIL already has an idea on what he wants to do when he gets to WWE, something that actually goes against what the company itself wants.

According to sources close to the "Super J-Cast" podcast, when EVIL does eventually begin his WWE journey, he would prefer to start off in "WWE NXT" as opposed to the main roster. The reason for this being EVIL wants time to adapt to the WWE style before he moves up and is showcased in front of a bigger audience. However, it has also been reported that WWE higher ups would rather debut EVIL on the main roster instead of having him spend an unknown amount of time in "NXT."

Regardless of where EVIL debuts, one thing he is reportedly adamant about is keeping his current character and persona the same, rather than changing to a different gimmick or being renamed. EVIL has portrayed the EVIL persona for more than a decade at this point, debuting it all the way back in October 2015 when he aligned himself with Tetsuya Naito to become one of the founding members of the Los Ingobrenables de Japon stable. He would remain with the group until 2020 when he turned on LIJ to become a member of Bullet Club, where he would eventually become the leader of the House of Torture sub-group that broke away from the original Bullet Club in 2025.