Former New Japan Pro Wrestling star Karl Fredericks is ready to take WWE NXT by storm, albeit under a new name.
Fredericks signed with WWE in January of this year, after previously spending the past four years of his career with New Japan.
Karl’s highest accomplishment with the Bushiroad promotion was winning the 2019 Young Lion’s Cup.
WWE NXT
Fredericks has only been under contract with WWE for a matter of weeks, but his TV debut is already on the horizon.
WWE has announced that Fredericks will be making his in-ring debut on NXT Level Up, and will be working under the name Eddie Thorpe to face Dante Chen.
Other matches include Ivy Nile taking on Valentina Feroz in singles competition while Xyon Quinn will square off against Oba Femi.
Fredericks has previously appeared for WWE NXT during a house show in Fort Pierce, where he confronted Axiom.
The former New Japan star teased that he was going to say something, but left the ring without saying a word.
Huge Signings
Eddie Thorpe is a notable signing by WWE, but he is hardly the only interesting name that Vince McMahon’s promotion recently acquired.
In December 2022, Dragon Lee announced that he was joining WWE after he and Dralistico captured the AAA World Tag Team Championships from FTR.
WWE had been interested in Dragon Lee after they saw him compete in AEW, as he worked the House of the Dragon edition of AEW Dynamite in August 2022.
AAA reportedly believed that Dragon Lee’s announcement of his AAA exit was a joke at first, but of course, later learned that it was true.
