Wheeler Yuta is looking forward to a big weekend.
WrestleZone Managing Editor Bill Pritchard spoke with ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta ahead of AEW Worlds End. There, he will challenge HOOK for the FTW Championship.
Before he gets to Worlds End, Yuta will defend the Pure title against Matt Sydal on AEW Rampage. Yuta previewed the match against Sydal, who has a long tenure in ROH.
“It’s incredibly exciting to wrestle Matt Sydal. Someone who obviously spent a lot of time in Ring of Honor and helped pave the way for guys like me to be able to do what I’m doing now. And to be able to mix it up with him is going to be really fun. I enjoy the Pure Rules set. It’s fun to be able to have, in a way, a throwback,” he explained. “But also, just showing this style of technical wrestling to an American TV audience in a much broader sense than I think has ever been done before. So it’s really fun to have those rules, and I’m really looking forward to the match.”
“I’ve been able to do this”
Wheeler Yuta was asked what it would be like for him, a Philadelphia guy, to beat an ‘ECW legacy’ in HOOK for the title Taz created. Yuta said he not only looks forward to that, but also wants to beat HOOK in front of his ‘hometown’ New York crowd.
“I think that it’ll be really special to have to have that FTW championship. Obviously, Philadelphia has such a rich history with ECW. Taz knows about it better than anyone, and I’m sure HOOK is well aware also. But even more than that,” Yuta explained, “it’ll be very special to me, as someone who lives in Philadelphia, to beat HOOK in Long Island, where the Islanders used to play. I think that’ll be really cool for me. So I’m very excited for that.
“I’m very excited to kind of prove that not only can I do the Pure wrestling thing, obviously, I’m a three-time Pure Wrestling Champion, but I also won in Anarchy in the Arena,” he noted. “I also have had Stadium Stampede matches, and I’ve won in Blood and Guts. I’ve been able to do this. I’ve been able to get down and get dirty. And I think that’s what’s gonna happen on Saturday.”
When asked if he had any closing thoughts on the match, Yuta said he hopes fans watch Worlds End and “cheer for me and boo HOOK very loudly in his own hometown.”
We’re forever connected
William Regal left AEW last year, but he’s still a mentor to the Blackpool Combat Club stable he helped create. Pritchard noted how great it is to see that their connection hasn’t wavered in Regal’s absence, and Yuta said they have an everlasting bond with each other.
“Yeah, absolutely. Like, for me, obviously, most of our history you can see in AEW, and that’s where most of it is. Of course, when I was still in the independents, I would definitely go to camps where he was at and he would always give me great advice at those. But yeah, we’re intertwined. We’re forever connected. And I’ll always be eternally grateful, and I know that the other guys would say the same thing.”
Watch our full interview with Wheeler Yuta below:
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