Karl Fredericks feels at home with New Japan Pro Wrestling.
Working his way up from a Young Lion, Karl Fredericks has become one of the top names on NJPW STRONG. In 2018, Fredericks went to a NJPW tryout in Los Angeles hoping to secure a spot with the company despite interest from WWE.
Appearing on The Shining Wizards podcast, he said that though it was initially scary to go with NJPW over NXT, he couldn't imagine being anywhere else. Furthermore, even though his friends are signed with AEW and he has wrestled guys signed with IMPACT, Fredericks wants to test himself against everyone.
"It was scary for me when I took the leap and chose the New Japan route as opposed to NXT because I had to learn a completely new style and I'm going to look way different, which is a good thing for plenty of reasons, but I didn't know if I was going to be able to adapt or make it work, but now, I can't see myself belonging to anywhere but the blue canvas. It's more than I ever thought it could be and I love it. Places like AEW, the rosters are so big and everyone is so good. There are a lot of young guys that I came up with, just thinking about being at WWE tryouts, I shared a car with Ricky Starks and Sammy Guevara. I wrestled guys now signed with IMPACT. Sammy and Ricky are killing it. That's all I've been missing is those big matches. You see me against Christopher Daniels, if you don't know who I am, you at least know that I'm fucking good. I want to test myself against every one of these cats," he said.
Elsewhere during the interview, Fredericks elaborated on his decision to sign with NJPW instead of WWE. Click here to read more.
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