Rohan Raja Reflects On Wrestling Without A Crowd In NXT UK: ‘Everything In The Ring Hurt So Much More Because You Don’t Feel The Adrenaline From The Crowd’

Rohan Raja discusses what it was like wrestling without a crowd.

Back in April 2021, Rohan Raja made his NXT UK debut. He wrestled Teoman on the April 29 edition of the show, losing by referee’s decision.

Speaking with Joel Pearl of Fightful and WORKING, Rohan Raja spoke about his experience wrestling there.

“That was very weird because my debut match for NXT UK was in front of no one. So the biggest thing was like, okay, I’m a very skilled TV wrestler, and I love TV wrestling. So when the camera–I remember seeing the light turn red. When it turned red, I had to go out and make my entrance. I was like, ‘Okay.’ I was in the zone. So it didn’t matter if there was one person or 200 or 2000 or 20,000. I was in the zone as soon as I seen that light because I’m like, there’s millions of people watching. So that got me in the groove. But I’ll say this. Everything in the ring hurt so much more because you don’t feel the adrenaline from the crowd and everything like that. So I remember coming to the back and all the boys were like, ‘God damn, we’re going to have some ice baths or something.’ I’m like, ‘This hurts.’ But yeah, that was weird.

I feel like, in a weird way, it really made me a better worker because it made you kind of think about what certain reactions are happening at particular times. You had to think about that as you’re in there. I feel like that’s really helped me out fast when I fast-forward down the track.”

Raja will challenge Andrade El Ídolo for the AEW National Championship at MLP Northern Rising. Fans can purchase the event on PPV or MyAEW.

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