Clark Connors isn't appreciative of Katsuyori Shibata.
Since joining Bullet Club back in April, Clark Connors has been a entirely different person in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Alongside new Bullet Club leader David Finlay, Connors has become a more aggressive performer in the ring and has seemingly dropped many of the qualities that a LA Dojo graduate should have.
In a new interview with Wrasslerap, Connors went in on his former trainer, Katsuyori Shibata. Despite the fact that Shibata is regarded as one of the best trainers in the world, Connors accused him of breaking down habits in wrestlers in order to just build them back up in the sake of making himself look good. Connors also noted that Shibata's style of training gave him anxiety and PTSD.
“There was little things that I was doing before I started in the LA Dojo, in terms of my wrestling style, that I thought were really good things and I thought were good parts of being a wrestler, just little things about being a wrestler. Katsuyori Shibata went out of his way to break those habits and make it his way and I’ve come to realize that he wasn’t breaking us down to make us better, he was breaking us down and making us worse on purpose. I’ve noticed this, he would tell us certain things that I knew was wrong, and he was doing so to make us worse so he could build us back up in his own image and make himself look better as a trainer, or look better for the New Japan office or whatever the fuck he was doing, maybe it was for his own ego. There was things like that, that’s what pissed me off. It was going against my own instincts because the LA dojo tells me too, is what really broke me down and turned me into the wrestler I am today. It gave me that anxiety, it gave all of us that PTSD to be quite frank with you."
Connors went on to say that he thinks he would have became a superstar in NJPW a lot faster if he didn't abide by Shibata's ways.
"Yes, in some ways we definitely did become better wrestlers from it all but realistically, when I say that he took years off my career, I mean in the sense that in the [way that] I got the shit kicked out of me every goddamn day that I’m not going to be able to wrestle as long. But also, in the sense that I could have been a superstar faster if I didn’t listen to this man in a lot of ways and listen to the system in a lot of ways. Take that as you will, but that’s truly what I believe when it comes to the LA Dojo and the system.”
Connors is currently in the midst of competing in NJPW's Best Of The Super Jrs tournament. Fans can see results from night seven of the tournament by clicking here.
Fans can check out Fightful's interview with Clark Connors from October 2022 by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
