Bryan Keith reflects on his time with DDT Pro Wrestling.
Before he was officially announced as being All Elite in February, Bryan Keith traveled to Japan to begin the year, working a tour with DDT Pro Wrestling.
It was Keith's first tour of Japan, and he worked three matches, including challenging MAO for the DDT Universal Championship.
"First of all, shoutout to my DDT boys, I love DDT with all my heart man. Those guys are amazing, showed me a great time, and I can’t wait to go back and work with them. This DDT opportunity came along, shoutout to Shota, he was one of the guys showing me around and helping me out. The opportunity to go to DDT came, and I ran to it as quick as I could. It was a dream of mine to go to Japan. I had expectations going in, like this is going to be great, you’re gonna enjoy it. But everything I experienced, everything I went through blew me out of the water. I was there for two weeks, but every day was like a dream, man. Everyday waking up, I was like, ‘I can’t believe this is happening.’ I’d wake up some days and forget I was in Japan, ‘Oh I'm waking up in the U.S, no, you’re still in this hotel in Japan.’ Every day I was gone from my hotel, I wasn’t there hanging out or just chilling. I brought my Switch in case I needed to pass the time, but I didn’t even need it, every day I was doing something different or seeing something different, or eating something different. The food there is phenomenal, I didn’t feel bloated or nothing after eating there. In fact, after eating all day and walking, I’d wake up in the morning and I’d have abs. I was like, what is this life I’m living dawg," Keith said on AEW Unrestricted.
He continued, "It was amazing. You just gotta eat a bunch of beef and rice and another delicious Japanese food and walk multiple times in a day, wake up, and you’ll be strong. I was enjoying every moment of it. I got to wrestle in Korakuen Hall, definitely a legendary venue. For me to be there and present my package, what I have as a professional wrestler to the people of Korakuen Hall and for them to take it in and receive it well. I was tag teaming with DAMNATION, which is crazy because they kind of have the same aesthetic I do, they’re just not a cowboy or anything. They’re super scary looking and their gear matched my gear, we’re a match made in heaven. It was cool for us to have six man in Korakuen Hall. I had the one on one match with Mao at Prince Hotel, I don’t know where it is in Tokyo. I hate to keep using the phrase a dream come true, but when I’m watching these Japanese matches, usually the crowd is quiet. You hear cameras going off and people clapping and random Japanese women screaming people’s names in the background. That was exactly what was happening during the match. I remember he gave me an michinoku driver off the top rope, bam, cover, 1, 2, I kick out. I remember taking a moment and breathing and looking up at the lights and being like, ‘I did just get dumped on my head, but I got dumped on my head in the middle of Japan.’ It was definitely a dream come true, it was an opportunity and experience I’ll always hold close to my heart.”
Keith was in action on Saturday's AEW Collision, losing to Kyle O'Reilly.
Elsewhere during the podcast, Keith discussed his signing with AEW. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
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