WWE Rumor Mill: WWE interested in former ROH/NJPW star?

What's the story?

With free agency rumours heating up, PWInsider.com is reporting that WWE has interest in former ROH/NJPW star ACH.

Could WWE be signing him in early 2019 for NXT or the main roster?

In case you missed it . . .

ACH became well-known in the industry during his start in ROH. He was with the promotion from 2012-2016 and routinely wowed everyone with his feats of athleticism and agility.

It seemed to come so naturally to him, so of course, most promotions would look to secure his services.

He also had runs in AAA in Mexico in 2015 and 2018 but has recently been competing in NJPW and numerous independent promotions across the United States.

While in Japan, he competed in the Best of the Super Juniors Tournament and the Super Juniors World Tag League in 2017.

Also in 2017, ACH competed in Impact's Super X Cup that was ultimately won by Dezmond Xavier. ACH defeated Andrew Everett in the first round but was eliminated by Taiji Ishimori.

The heart of the matter

PWInsider.com confirmed with many sources that WWE indeed has interest in ACH for NXT. They also noted that ROH had been trying to re-sign ACH to a new deal but the talks ended without a new deal in place.

ACH had ROH World Title matches with Adam Cole and Jay Briscoe and an ROH Television bout with then-champion Jay Lethal that ended in a 30-minute time-limit draw.

Wikipedia notes that he took place in the same tryout camp with Kevin Owens and Roderick Strong at the WWE Performance Center but was not offered a contract.

What's next?

ACH is 30 years old and would appear to be a wrestler ideal for 205 Live. While that might be true, he's so talented that he might hope to start in NXT and land on Raw or Smackdown.

Wrestlers who are relatively the same size as ACH (5'9'' and around 210 pounds) are usually earmarked for the cruiserweight division.

Some like Finn Balor, Ricochet and Daniel Bryan are too good for that show and ACH might fit into that category.

He has faced plenty of wrestlers bigger than himself like Matt Riddle and Keith Lee, so he might be one of the smaller guys who get to go to one of the main roster shows.

ACH has faced current NXT signing Matt Riddle in 2017 when both wrestled for Evolve.

Going to 205 Live isn't necessarily a death knell for someone's career, but they would usually have a better shot on Raw or Smackdown rather than be pigeonholed onto a show specifically for cruiserweights.

Starting in NXT would be the right first move, but after that, his destination would be unknown.

Hideo Itami had a great run in NXT (when he was healthy) but hasn't had much success on 205 Live.