Kevin Kelly weighs in on Jay White’s departure from NJPW after the Switchblade was defeated by Hikuleo in a loser-leaves-town match.
The longtime NJPW play-by-play man discussed this topic during a recent interview on The Shining Wizards podcast, where he speculated what the former Bullet Club leader will be doing next with his career. Highlights from Kelly’s interview can be found below.
Says the White vs. Hikuleo loser leaves town match was a lose-lose situation:
None of us were happy about it. It was a lose-lose situation. It was either gonna be ‘Switchblade’ Jay White, the current top guy, or Hikuleo, the future top guy. Do I want to give up my All-Pro wide receiver, or do I want to give up my number one draft pick, who in a couple of years is gonna hopefully top all the records that the All-Pro set?
Says Hikuleo being in a match of that caliber proved how much NJPW values him:
I think it speaks to the level of talent that Hikukeo has that he was in that spot. Let’s say Ken Patera wanted to leave the WWWF. He wouldn’t wrestle a Jose Estrada in a Loser Leave the Company match. He would wrestle a Chief Jay Strongbow, a top guy. He would wrestle a Pedro Morales, and the Intercontinental Title would be on the line. That’s what you’d have. So Hikukeo is in that conversation with Jay White, although Hikukeo hasn’t done what Jay White has done yet.
Thinks White will make a splash for NJPW in the Unite States:
I don’t think so. I think this is just what he’s doing. What else is there for him to do except conquer America? Where in that is written that he can’t do that under the New Japan banner? I don’t know, we seem to have some operations that are based in the US.
(H/T and transcribed by Fightful)