Juice Robinson On Who Helped Him Go From NXT To NJPW, Who In WWE Could Work In NJPW, Social Media
NJPW Star Juice Robinson spoke with Uproxx on going from NXT to NJPW, not using social media, and who in WWE would fit in with NJPW. Here are some of the highlights:
Who from WWE would fit in with NJPW:
"In WWE there's a lot of guys. I always think Cesaro would be just so good in New Japan ? I think Cesaro, Luke Harper, Jason Jordan ? I think those guys would be great. Obviously, the Club. I mean, they were already here, so, yeah, they would do good. And then on the indies, nothing's coming off the top of my head. There are guys, but ? My friends who are flyers, well, we have Ospreay. Who can do more tricks than him? He's the best in the world at that. We got Lance Archer, he's a real good big man. Fale, he's a great big man, so it's kind of full over here."
How he transitioned from NXT to NJPW with the help of Head Trainer, Matt Bloom:
"Matt Bloom came down to ? I believe it was just changing from FCW to NXT ? he was kind of transitioning from the end of his in-ring career into a commentator for NXT, so he was around a lot. We became friends because he was a fan of the CJ Parker character; he thought it was cool ? He knew I was frustrated the whole time and would always try to give me pointers, help me try to stay positive, and he became a coach. And the frustration continued to climb, and I told him, 'I'm not going to be here very much longer. I can't stand it. I gotta get out of here.' And he said, 'If you ever do leave here, you gotta let me try to get you a look from New Japan.'
I said, 'New Japan? There's no way I could work for New Japan.' I didn't think that I could. And around that time I saw Wrestle Kingdom 9. I watched Tanahashi, Okada, Nakamura. Then I started to really get into it; I watched the G1. AJ was a big part of that, [Karl Anderson] ? and I would go back and I watched Kenny Omega and Ibushi from Budokan a few years back. And I thought, 'Oh, it's really not that much different. It's what I wish WWE was, more wrestling and less talk. Less talking and less bulls—. More telling the story in the ring. More classic pro wrestling, not so much, Oh, this is sports entertainment.'"
And then I kind of started to get fired up about it, and I just got lucky, and we were in the Bay Area, whatever WrestleMania was that, I think 31, and they were inducting Fujinami into the Hall of Fame so Tiger Hattori and the president, Sugabyashi, were there? and I went out [to wrestle Baron Corbin], and I was just joking around because I'd already told Matt I was done, and I was just acting like Shawn Michaels? calling myself Mr. WrestleMania Axxess, tuning up the band, acting like a complete ass—-, and Fergal ? I mean, Finn Balor, and Matt Bloom were like 'Hattori, you gotta take this guy to Japan. He's a good dude. He loves wrestling.' A few months later I was walking into the dojo, so it all happened really quick and really smoothly."
Not being on social media at all and if it will hurt his career:
"No, I don't think it will hurt my career at all ? I think social media's silly. There's a lot of guys on there, some of my friends, who just go on there, and the things they say ? even our president, the things he says on there ? it's just something I don't want be a part of? If you want to see me, come to the matches ? see me curtain to curtain. You don't need to know what I had for lunch ? I could get drunk and say something that I shouldn't, hurt somebody's feelings, open up a can of worms that I don't want to. Some people just aren't meant to have it."
Robinson also discussed Jay White and the G1 Climax. You can check out the full interview by clicking here.