Jay White joined New Japan in 2015 as a young lion, coming up in the New Japan Dojo.
White would go on excursion to Ring of Honor and Revolution Pro Wrestling before returning to New Japan as "Switchblade" in 2017. White would go on to become one of the top stars in New Japan and now NJPW STRONG.
Speaking to Renee Paquette on The Sessions, White recalled coming up in the New Japan Dojo.
"I didn't have expectations. My mistake when I went into the dojo is that I didn't do enough research of just New Japan's history, its culture, and the way the system works. I really had no clue what I was going into. I also didn't want to ask too many questions because I didn't want it to come off like I had been hesitant of it all, which I wasn't. I just didn't know, am I going to train? Should I be expecting to get paid? Should I be expecting to have matches? I had no clue what to expect. Once I got there, it was a pretty big shock. Not just a culture shock, but I didn't know what to expect training-wise. Get in there, shaved my head, nobody else spoke English at the dojo. We had a couple of days before they started training us to go through and watch Wrestle Kingdom. After that, it was basically; wake up early in the morning, go clean everything. 10 am, you start training. That lasts on average for three hours, it's never really shorter than that. It's pretty intense stuff, but I was quite fortunate where, at the time, the Japanese young boys were YOH and SHO, they had been there for a little while and weren't too much of beginners. We managed to fit into their level and we kind of didn't have to do terrible shitty training for too long. Stay in line, make sure you're respectful to everybody, learn the ways of the young boy, and as long as you're training as hard as you can, you can't really go wrong," he said.
When asked if the United States wrestling system could learn from the New Japan system, White said it's about finding a balance.
"I think so, but not completely. I'm not saying New Japan's system is perfect, I think there are plenty of flaws to it. The whole respect thing, sometimes that can be overdone. In wrestling, people think that just because you've been doing something for longer, that means you're above somebody else. You have to find a balance of that, whether it's who has been there longer, talent, respect. I think it's important, but it can be overdone. Finding a balance, listening to people who have been to places you want to go and their experiences. You'd be an idiot to not listen to that stuff. If you're going to be respectful and listen to certain people, at the end of the day, it's only going to help," he said.
White praised Shinsuke Nakamura and Karl Anderson for helping him during his early days in New Japan.
White is set to hold another US of Jay Open Challenge at NJPW Windy City Riot on April 16. Fans can check out the current lineup for the show by clicking here.
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