Charlie Dempsey Reflects On ‘Incredible Experience’ With AJPW: “It Made Me Feel More Confident”
It was a memorable experience for Dempsey.
In late 2023, Charlie Dempsey went to Japan while under contract with WWE and did a mini tour with All Japan Pro Wrestling.
At the conclusion of that stretch of shows, Dempsey challenged for the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship. He reflected on the experience while appearing on Busted Open. He feels it made him more confident.
“It wasn’t talked about much but, in the beginning of 2024, while working for NXT, they had me go over to wrestle for All Japan, for the Triple Crown Championship, and I thought that was an incredible experience. Because that 90s King’s Road-style wrestling has always been some of my favorite of all time. Watching people like Kenta Kobashi and (Mitsuharu) Misawa, all those, and then being able to wrestle for that title that meant so much to them and was always such a big deal while working for WWE.” He continued, “It made me feel more confident. It made me realize that I may have been holding back on certain things. But once I did that style there and again, we main evented Korakuen Hall, which was always a dream of mine. That was the venue to go to. Again, made me feel more confident, made me realize I can do this. I can go out there and just kill it out there, and that’s what I need to do. I need to stop holding back and then just put my everything into it whenever I’m in the ring.” He added, “So I wrestled (Katsuhiko) Nakajima for the Triple Crown Championship but I was also able to wrestle Hideki Suzuki who used to be here in NXT as Hachiman, who, one of my favorite wrestlers of all time. I’ve always admired him. Got to train with him a few times when he was here at NXT, and then got to wrestle Tatsumi Fujinami, who’s a WWE Hall of Famer and again, one of my all-time favorite wrestlers. He was 70 years old when I wrestled him.” Dempsey added, “The one thing he said to me before the match was, ‘Hit me hard,’ and I remember smoking him with a strike and he just stayed still.”
Dempsey is in his fourth year with the NXT brand. He is a member of the BirthRight faction (Lexis King, Uriah Connors, Arianna Grace & Channing ‘Stacks’ Lorenzo).
If the quote in this article is used, please credit Busted Open with an H/T to Fightful for the transcription.
