{"id":112488,"date":"2022-06-14T16:02:27","date_gmt":"2022-06-14T21:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/?p=112488"},"modified":"2022-06-14T16:02:27","modified_gmt":"2022-06-14T21:02:27","slug":"chris-brookes-on-turning-down-a-spot-in-nxt-uk-struggling-to-learn-maki-itohs-dance-and-her-frustration-with-him-pulling-out-of-the-pwg-battle-of-los-angeles-due-to-injury-how-he-got-started-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2022\/06\/14\/chris-brookes-on-turning-down-a-spot-in-nxt-uk-struggling-to-learn-maki-itohs-dance-and-her-frustration-with-him-pulling-out-of-the-pwg-battle-of-los-angeles-due-to-injury-how-he-got-started-with\/","title":{"rendered":"Chris Brookes on turning down a spot in NXT UK, struggling to learn Maki Itoh&#8217;s dance and her frustration with him, pulling out of the PWG Battle of Los Angeles due to injury, how he got started with DDT Pro Wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"prowr-899582967\" class=\"prowr-apple-podcast-button-link prowr-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/pro-wrestling-boom-podcast\/id1365989370\" aria-label=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?fit=320%2C78&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?w=320&ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?resize=300%2C73&ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" width=\"320\" height=\"78\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p><b>By Jason Powell<\/b>, ProWrestling.net Editor (<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prowrestlingnet\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@prowrestlingnet<\/a>)<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8220;Andrew Thompson Interviews&#8221; with guest Chris Brookes<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Host: Andrew Thompson<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong> Full interview available at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iwKAEB-jGQ4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">YouTube.com<\/a> <\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.postwrestling.com\/2022\/06\/14\/interview-chris-brookes-details-how-he-started-with-ddt-pro-reflects-on-teaming-with-jon-gresham-turning-down-nxt-uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">PostWrestling.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"YouTube video player\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/iwKAEB-jGQ4\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>Chris Brookes on having to pull out of PWG BOLA in 2018 due to injury, still hopes to make his debut one day:<\/b> &#8220;I guess I think that was what? 2018 [was when I was supposed to debut for PWG]. So in \u201819, around the same time that PWG\u2019s B.O.L.A. would have been happening because it\u2019s always like September-time. I think around that time, I was getting ready to go to DDT again for the whole latter half of 2019 and that was when I did the first D-Oh Grand Prix for DDT and then every September following that has been Corona world so it\u2019s not been possible so I mean, it\u2019s still a bucket list thing, I\u2019d like to do it one day. I think, like you said, there\u2019s \u2014 not a \u2018notch\u2019. There\u2019s that mark on your \u2014 you have your board of achievements for your entire career and there\u2019s B.O.L.A. on there still with a question mark next to it because it never got to happen so, of course I\u2019d like to do it. I mean, PWG now is a completely different kettle of fish to what it was years ago, especially when I started watching it because PWG was one of the first indie companies I watched back in like 2005, \u201806 and I mean, that was when they were still running \u2014 it was like a sports hall, before they had even gone to Reseda. So yeah, it\u2019s very different but still obviously something I\u2019d like to do at some point.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>Brookes tells funny story of when he teamed with Maki Itoh, and had to learn a dance for her entrance and she grew frustrated with him for not picking it up in a timely manner:<\/b> &#8220;I remember the first time we [Brookes &amp; Maki Itoh] ever teamed was \u2014 well not the first time but the first big match we had together was DDT\u2019s Ultimate Party in 2019. It was almost like a very unfortunately, frequently used GIF of me doing Maki Itoh\u2019s entrance dance that still three years later refuses to go away. But I remember I was trying to learn that dance before the show and it\u2019s like my first time at Ry\u014dgoku Sumo Hall so I\u2019m like so nervous about that but then, before, I find myself not nervous about the match whatsoever. I\u2019m just nervous about nailing this dance routine and trying to get it right and she keeps going through it and through it and through it and I\u2019m like, I\u2019m not a dancer so I\u2019m struggling to pick it up and I remember at one point, she gets really angry with me. She\u2019s like, \u2018You\u2019re not trying hard.\u2019 I\u2019m like, \u2018I am trying hard. I\u2019m not a dancer\u2019 and she gets like \u2014 she was hot and it took Yuki Iino, DDT wrestler to come in and calm the situation down. I was like, \u2018Enough of this. I\u2019m doing my best. [Chris laughed]. I don\u2019t need this stress today.\u2019 She was like, \u2018You need to try harder.\u2019 I was like, \u2018Why are you so mean?\u2019&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><b>Chris was offered a spot on the NXT UK roster when it first launched, explains why he turned it down:<\/b> &#8220;For me, WWE was never my goal in wrestling. I think I watched WWE when I was a kid obviously and then when I was like 10 or 11 years old, I kind of had that period where I fell out of interest with wrestling for a little bit and then what got me back into it was there was a TV station called The Wrestling Channel for a short while in the U.K. and they would show a bunch of indie wrestling. It was the first time I saw Ring of Honor and CZW and they would show Pro Wrestling NOAH and stuff on there which kind of led me down the rabbit hole into discovering all the indie companies in Japan and me becoming a fan of Big Japan and DDT and stuff like that so, I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s necessarily \u2014 I think I just \u2014 I guess I just have a different perspective to a lot of people but I think sometimes people\u2019s judgment gets stuck in one place in terms of goals maybe?<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Obviously, there\u2019s a lot of my generation that came up watching WWF, WCW or in the Attitude, Monday Night Raw era or whatever and I think for a lot of people, they have the same story as me in like they found other things and they watched other things and that took their interest but, for whatever reason, their goal stays fixated on that one thing being WWE because it\u2019s like, \u2018Oh, I watched it when I was kid. That\u2019s my dream, I wanna go there\u2019 or whatever but I think you have to realistically look at it in a sense of even if that was what you loved growing up, it\u2019s so different these days to what it was when you were a fan of it, when you were a kid or whatever and for me especially, I just look at WWE now and then a few years ago, it was just never a goal for me.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;My goal was always to go to Japan and do stuff over there and I never really had any interest in not even just going but like, I remember around the same time, there was a lot of people who like, they wanted a tryout so they could try and get an opportunity. It just never \u2014 even that didn\u2019t appeal to me. I got offered the tryout I think in 2017\u2026 so I got offered the tryout thing first and I remember when they called me, I was like \u2014 I think I spoke to maybe Pete Dunne about it at the time and I was like, \u2018They\u2019ve offered me a tryout thing but I don\u2019t think I\u2019m gonna go.\u2019 He was like, \u2018What do you mean you\u2019re not gonna go?\u2019 I was like, \u2018\u2026<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There\u2019s nothing that I wanna get out of it. It doesn\u2019t feel worthwhile going\u2019 and I think he convinced me. He was like, \u2018Even if you don\u2019t wanna get anything from it, you should still go just to get the experience\u2019 which he\u2019s right. I\u2019m glad I got to do it and have that tryout [at] The O2 [Arena] and stuff. It was a cool two days and whatever and then when they decided they wanted to start the U.K. brand, I guess maybe a year or so after, they offered me a position in it, but they offered so many people contracts and whatever but like, they really cast a wide net at the time and they offered me one of the deals, same as the other guys and I thought about it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think the initial one was like a year or two years thing and I guess if that\u2019s 2018, I was 27-ish around that time and my mentality towards it was like, of course it\u2019s only two years or whatever but no one knew how it was gonna pan out, no one knew what the exclusivity to it would be and I didn\u2019t feel done by any means with doing indie wrestling and stuff that I wanted to do and my goal was always Japan and I was like, if it\u2019s two years, I\u2019m 27, 28 now. By the time it ends, I\u2019ll already be 29, 30, which is not old or near the end of your career but, I looked at those two years and I thought those two years, that period from 28 to 30, whatever it is, I think it\u2019s important.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Those are gonna be critical years to your development as a wrestler and you know, what you wanna do and I was like, I don\u2019t wanna spend those years potentially in a situation that I don\u2019t wanna be in or not enjoying it and my goal was Japan and I said no to the thing, which a lot of people at the time told me I was crazy, that I had like \u2014 at the time too, I had no in to Japan in any way. It was still a very unattainable thing. It was kind of like one of those quiet goals that you don\u2019t wanna \u2014 I didn\u2019t say to people at the time. I said no because I wanna go to Japan because it seemed like going to Japan \u2014 I couldn\u2019t imagine it being a thing that would happen. It was just in the back of my mind. It was like, I\u2019d love to do that one day and I don\u2019t wanna potentially not be able to do it because of doing something that I really don\u2019t wanna be doing and then everyone was like, \u2018Oh, you\u2019re an idiot, you\u2019re stupid. Why did you say no?\u2019 Blah, blah, blah\u2026 all that kind of jazz and I was like, \u2018Eh, it\u2019s fine, whatever.\u2019&#8221;<\/p><div id=\"prowr-3522798219\" class=\"prowr-content-4 prowr-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: prowrestling_incontent_2 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"prowrestling_incontent_2\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"prowrestling_incontent_2\", slotId: \"prowrestling_incontent_2\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><b>Brookes details how he got started with DDT Pro Wrestling:<\/b> Maybe five or six months after [I turned down the NXT UK opportunity], everything was starting to move with that and then there was like a Fight Club: [PRO] show one time before, we arrived there and Trent Seven was like, \u2018Big news.\u2019 I was like, \u2018What\u2019s that?\u2019 He was like, \u2018Next January, Fight Club: PRO show at Korakuen Hall\u2019 and I was like, \u2018F&#8212; off. You\u2019re not doing a Fight Club: PRO show at Korakuen\u2019 [Brookes laughed]. Well Trent Seven would always have these ideas of these grand things that were gonna happen. I was like, \u2018Yeah, bullshit. I\u2019ll believe it when I\u2019m on the plane\u2019 and then January 2019, I was on the plane going to Tokyo, we did the show at Korakuen and it kind of worked out to be kind of like a festival show in itself where there was people from every company on the show. Because of that, a lot of prominent people in the Japanese indie scene and whatever came along to watch and it turned out Sanshiro Takagi came and watched, I met him backstage. I think Konosuke Takeshita went and watched it and he liked me and [Kid] Lykos and then we did that show in January. In maybe February or March, pretty soon after, [out] the blue one day, get an email that, \u2018DDT wants to bring you over for a tour.\u2019 So, it all worked out in the end, fortunately.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div id=\"prowr-4169071150\" class=\"prowr-after-content prowr-entity-placement\"><a class=\"spreaker-player\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/show\/pwboom\" data-resource=\"show_id=3275525\" data-theme=\"light\" data-playlist=\"show\" data-width=\"100%\" data-height=\"340px\">Listen to \"Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast\" on Spreaker.<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1773,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,7],"tags":[4591,3874,2198,171,101],"class_list":["post-112488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interview_highlights","category-misc_news","tag-chris-brookes","tag-maki-itoh","tag-nxt-uk","tag-pwg","tag-wwe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Chris Brookes on turning 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