Takaaki Watanabe a.k.a. EVIL is believed to be WWE-bound.
PWinsider.com reports that the former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion has signed with the company following months of speculation that he would land in WWE.
EVIL debuted in 2011 under his real name as a Young Lion and went on excursion to Ring of Honor over a decade ago. He returned to NJPW as EVIL and aligned with Los Ingobernables de Japon.
As EVIL, he scored the biggest win of his career, beating then IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada in the G1 Climax in 2017 and challenging for the belt that year at King of Pro Wrestling.
The performer won a pair of World Tag League tournaments with SANADA, won the NEVER Openweight title four times, the Intercontinental title, and became IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in July 2020 when he beat Tetsuya Naito at Dominion during the pandemic.
He left LIJ and formed the House of Torture, and became an extremely polarizing group among fans for the constant match layouts heavily focused on run-ins, weapons, and false finishes with the bell.
He last wrestled at Wrestle Kingdom 20 this past January, losing the NEVER Openweight Championship to Aaron Wolf in the Olympic gold medalist’s debut match.
