Yoshiki Inamura Reflects On His WWE NXT Experience; Credits Tavion Heights, Josh Briggs & Charlie Dempsey For Taking Care Of Him

Yoshiki Inamura discusses his experiences overseas.

It was in November 2024 that Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Yoshiki Inamura arrived at the WWE Performance Center for his excursion with the NXT brand.

Inamura is now back in Japan with NOAH and is gearing up to challenge KENTA for the GHC Heavyweight Championship. Inamura said the following to NOAH’s official website when he was asked about being back with the promotion:

“To be honest, I’m home. I was born in Pro Wrestling NOAH and grew up here, so I’m very happy to be able to come back there.”

He opened up about his experiences at NXT and discussed what made him nervous.

“Just one thing made me anxious… I knew nothing about the NXT system itself. With so many wrestlers there, I didn’t know who was wrestling or who wasn’t. At first, I couldn’t even imagine what I should do there…”

It was mentioned that the pro wrestling systems in Japan and America are different. Inamura said he got used to things quickly. He went on to credit Tavion Heights, Charlie Dempsey, Josh Briggs, and the coaches at the Performance Center for taking care of him.

“Yes, but I got used to it within a month,” Inamura said about the NXT system being different than Japan’s. “I had the ability to adapt… Also, Tavion Heights, Josh Briggs, and the coaches who were in NOAH and had experience in Japan, all of whom were former wrestlers, really took good care of me. Since they had been taken care of in Japan, they looked after me as a Japanese guy. The biggest one was Josh Briggs. And Charlie Dempsey, who’s in NOAH now, also looked out for me a lot.”

Staying on the subject of coaches, Inamura stated that communicating with coaches in Japan can feel one-sided. When it comes to NXT coaches, it was the norm to ask questions, and that’s one of the reasons why he felt the need to work on his English.

“Yes, but in Japan, it’s often a one-way street to be taught by a senior, but in NXT, it’s normal to proactively ask. What does the coach want? What do you want to know? If you don’t actively communicate, nothing starts. That’s why I pushed myself with English too.”

As far as what he learned in-ring-wise, the 32-year-old shared that Fit Finlay told him not to be a gentleman in the ring, and then things began to click.

“As you can see, my fighting style hasn’t changed. But the substance has changed significantly. My coach, Dave Finlay, told me, ‘Don’t be a gentleman.’ Don’t be a gentleman in the ring. When he said that, it hit me hard, and everything clicked into place.”

Joining Inamura for this current NOAH tour are NXT’s Charlie Dempsey, Harlem Lewis, Hank Walker, and Tank Ledger.