{"id":6072,"date":"2017-07-04T20:10:03","date_gmt":"2017-07-05T00:10:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=6072"},"modified":"2017-12-21T21:47:52","modified_gmt":"2017-12-22T02:47:52","slug":"juice-robinson-the-rise-of-juice-from-wwe-to-njpw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2017\/07\/04\/juice-robinson-the-rise-of-juice-from-wwe-to-njpw\/","title":{"rendered":"Juice Robinson: The Rise Of Juice from WWE to NJPW"},"content":{"rendered":"

The story of Juice Robinson<\/strong> is a more inspirational success story of a man that chose to leave WWE than that of\u00a0Cody Rhodes<\/strong>\u00a0or even\u00a0John Morrison<\/strong>. The former \u201cMoonchild\u201d from WWE NXT<\/strong> has had a career resurgence since signing with New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW)<\/strong> at\u00a0the end of 2015. It was a huge career choice for Juice – leave the comforting paychecks and less active schedule with WWE for a fresh slate in New Japan, also leaving behind WWE betting<\/a>. It has proven to be the right choice at the right time in the young career of Juice Robinson, as he will enter his first ever G1 Climax tournament this year with such heavy hitters as the IWGP heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada<\/strong> in his Block.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JUICE ROBINSON: The Rise of Juice from WWE to NJPW<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo: WWE<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 2011 Joe Robinson arrived in the WWE, first working his way through Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW)<\/strong> before heading to Full Sail University on NXT TV. Over the course of 4 years, the former CJ Parker<\/strong> showed tremendous athleticism and shined as an undercard heel, and those with WWE betting tips<\/a> had him consistently performing well. The Third Eye palm strike was perfected in NXT, where CJ Parker broke Kevin Owens<\/strong> nose at Parker’s final NXT Takeover<\/strong> appearance. He proved to be an all-rounded wrestler and he has only gotten better year after year since then. It was almost like Juice Robinson looked at the landscape of pro wrestling today, his current position and saw where the young stars are crafted, like David Finlay Jr.<\/strong> and Jay White<\/strong> in NJPW, and wanted to be better than he was.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Now with the chance to open up his potential and improve in longer matches, Juice is cooking on all cylinders right now. The fire has always been in Juice’s offense but now he is armed with a deadly new finisher, Pulp Friction – a jumping version of The Kill Switch\/Unprettier. There is something about the way Juice performs with diving cannonballs and powerbombs, a mix of the cruiserweight\/Jr heavyweight style with a heavyweight brawler, that’s a real asset to not only NJPW, but every fan that enjoys the explosive offense he provides. For a Gaijin<\/em> to come to Japan and get cheered the way Juice does is quite remarkable.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The biggest matches of the career of Juice have occurred so far in 2017. A shot at the NEVER Openweight title in a fantastic effort against Hirooki Goto<\/strong>. Juice’s style meshed surprisingly well with Goto’s hard-hitting style. Then came the biggest win to date, a pinfall victory over the IWGP Intercontinental champion Tetsuya Naito<\/strong> in a tag team match. The commentators screamed \u201cJuuuuuice\u201d at the massive clean win. In maybe the best of Juice’s career, Naito was taken to the limit and needed not 1 but 2 Destino’s to finish Juice. The Japanese audience has really warmed up to Juice and in the short time he has been in New Japan, a shot at the second biggest title in NJPW is an incredible feat.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Photo: NJPW<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

NJPW decided to highlight Juice Robinson in a 4-Part Youtube series called NJPW OnTheRoad: Juice Robinson<\/strong><\/em>. The appeal of the 28-year-old sensation is very evident in the series, he is down to earth and works very hard to get where he is and he wants to work harder in the future. From the South Of Chicago, in a small town of 1500 people, he has humble beginnings and maybe is an insight to why is is so laidback today. Juice left College to pursue a career in pro wrestling. His father has supported him in all of his wrestling ventures, telling him in an emotional moment that whether you “win or lose your title match, I still love you”. When Juice went to Japan to train in the New Japan Dojo, he wanted to wear plain black trunks and cut his hair to start fresh. NJPW management thankfully decided that was not going to be necessary and the wrestling world has really embraced the new Juice Robinson.<\/p>\n