The WWE 'NXT 5' - Where are they now?

#1. Hideo Itami (KENTA) - New Japan Pro Wrestling

KENTA returned to NJPW in 2019 and is currently a member of the Bullet Club

In June of 2014, Kenta Kobayashi signed a contract with WWE. His signing with WWE was officially announced during an in-ring segment with Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart in July during a WWE live event in Osaka, Japan.KENTA would make his NXT debut at the NXT TakeOver: Fatal 4-Way event, being introduced with his new ring name of "Hideo Itami"

However, Itami's time with NXT would be marred with multiple injuries. In May of 2015, Itami would suffer a serious shoulder injury which initially was expected to keep him out of action for six months.

Itami would experience numerous complications with his shoulder injury and subsequent surgery, leading to Itami being out of action for over a year. Itami would finally return to action on NXT television in August 2016, but would once again suffer an injury in October during an NXT live event - this time with his neck.

The injury would keep Hideo on the shelf for a further six months before he returned to NXT television in April 2017. After being signed to NXT for three years, Itami would eventually move to WWE's main roster, debuting on 205 Live in November of 2017 and competing in their cruiserweight division.

However, considering the high expectations that many fans had for Itami's WWE career, an injury plauged NXT career and uninspiring run on 205 Live was nowhere near enough to meet both fans and WWE official's lofty expectations. In January of 2019, Hideo Itami requested and was granted his WWE release after five years with the company.

Currently Itami is signed with New Japan Pro Wrestling, competing under his old ring name of KENTA. He would make his surprise debut for the promotion in June 2019, announcing his participation in the 2019 G1 Climax tournament.

During the final night of the tournament, KENTA would betray his fellow Chaos members and join the popular heel faction Bullet Club. During his time with Bullet Club, KENTA has captured the NEVER Openweight Championship and was the final image of Night 2 of the Wrestle Kingdom event in January 2020.

KENTA would attack the newly crowed IWGP Heavyweight Champion and IWGP Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito, hitting him with the GTS and posing with both championships to end the show. However, he would be unsuccessful when he challenged Naito for both championships in February at the The New Beginning event.