KUSHIDA Says He Sought A TNA Tryout In 2009, Motor City Machine Guns Were His Heroes

KUSHIDA is set to compete at TNA Hard to Kill this weekend, and he says he was a fan of the company from years ago. KUSHIDA has been working with Impact since July of 2022, and he is set to compete for the X-Division Championship at Hard to Kill when the company returns to the TNA brand. He spoke with Fightful’s Jeremy Lambert & Joel Pearl on In the Weeds and was asked if he followed the company early on.

“Yes, of course,” he replied. “In 2009, I visited Scott D’Amore at the CanAm Dojo. At that time, I was always looking for opportunities and wanted to tryout for TNA. It never happened. I felt like it was the top runner (top school/program) of its time, and it was my dream.”

He continued, “I think it attracted and interested many young people. At that time, my heroes were, of course, Motor City Machine Guns”

KUSHIDA has since become a partner of said heroes, teaming with Alex Shelley as the Time Splitters in NJPW in 2012 and then forming a sometime-trio with the Machine Guns as Time Machine.