My only concern with Narita in HoT is he’s playing the same character Sho is.

7 comments

1. I think Narita was having the same issue SHO did at first, and that was not knowing how to be anything other than your generic whitemeat babyface. The 180 in gimmick direction will help him in the long run.

   But for now? That man is replacing Yujiro on HoT’s next never 6 man run, and I am here for it

2. It’s early days. It took SHO a minute to adapt to portraying that type of heel. And, unlike Narita, he was already experienced in terms of portraying a character, for lack of a better term. Narita has always been a pretty straight-laced wrestler, so this is a big adjustment for him. It might take a while for him to get the feel of how he wants to go with it, but in the long-term, this is going to be very good for Narita.

3. My take is that Ren is less deranged than SHO is, or at least deranged in a different way.

   IIRC when SHO turned it was him snapping from losing so much (which he blamed on YOH), and then *after* he snapped HoT swooped in and took advantage of his weakened mind. Now he’s legitimately deranged from their influence and thinks he’s doing the right thing. I believe that’s why he’s using the third eye imagery in his gear now, because from his POV HoT “awakened” him or something like that.

   Narita’s turn was more calculated. He went into the match, and maybe into WTL as a whole, having already been recruited by HoT. Even during the turn, he was in control of himself the whole time. He’s taking more of the lead in matches and in the group overall.

   SHO fell down the dark path because he was weak. Ren chose the dark path because he thinks it will make him stronger.

   I think the Shota match tonight will show how different he is to SHO. I have a feeling it’ll have less shenanigans than people are assuming, though of course I could be wrong.

4. Good #FreeSHO

5. He’s literally a heavyweight sho

6. Narita has a more a quiet dark nihilism bent from what I can tell. Sho is definitely more on the unhinged evil because no one respected me when I was good type deal.

7. I thought the same thing watching him the other day. I said to myself, “Did Ren take crazy pills with Sho?” He needs to be SOULED OUT like his character.