One of the biggest surprises to come out of NXT over the past few years is Juice Robinson. While he was a part of the NXT roster, then known as CJ Parker, he was a glorified jobber, spending the last year of his career in the WWE putting over incoming talents like Kevin Owens, Baron Corbin, Solomon Crowe (Sami Callihan) and Hideo Itami.
However, since leaving the WWE and NXT, Robinson has hit his stride in NJPW. Recently, Robinson captured his first title in the company when he defeated Jay White for the IWGP United States Championship. Three years after his departure from the WWE, Robinson is riding high in Japan and continues to shoot higher and higher.
In a recent interview with Uproxx, Robinson spoke about his failed NXT run. However, the IWGP US Champion didn’t have any negative words about who he was working with and put the blame on himself.
You know, I loved NXT. Just, I knew I was dead in the water, so I had to get out. It wasn’t that it was bad, it was I turned it bad because I got sad. You know what I mean? So what was happening to me on a daily basis… it wasn’t like I was going home every night and crying in my room. I was still having fun and getting along with the coaches and the guys, and having fun at shows and stuff… but I just knew that CJ Parker was never gonna go anywhere, so then I started to have negative feelings… just the whole thing, just my life.
So I had to make a chance, and now everything’s great. But yeah, NXT was fun. It’s a lot of fun. You work real hard there. For a while there it seemed like anytime we were trying to lighten the mood, it was like, ‘Hey, get back in line!’ It was a little militant there for a while, and everybody knows about that. But they’ve got a good guy there now, and everything’s really – I think it’s fun again. It’s good to hear. But I’m having more fun, so, haha.
It’s great to see Juice Robinson was able to leave NXT and completely turn his career around. Now he’s one of the most popular stars in NJPW. It’s also good to know he’s not bitter about his time with the WWE.
