That Young Knockout Kid heads to Stamford

Since June of last year, hardcore wrestling fans have awaited the signing of Chris Hero. His tag team partner, Claudio Castagnoli (now Antonio Cesaro) was signed immediately, but for some reason his paperwork was delayed. There were reports of it taking a month, then another month, then a few more months but eventually one of the top independent wrestlers and one-half of The Kings of Wrestling is finally with the wrestling empire up north.

He concusses with his kicks, he KOs with his elbow, and the man known as That Young Knockout Kid is finally in the WWE.

The journey has been long for the fans of Hero and whatever the reason for delay (some reports were an undisclosed medical issue), it is irrelevant at this point. Though he’ll debut at FCW first, he’ll be ready for WWE’s roster as quickly as two other big signings, Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins.

And when that day comes, WWE’s roster will be richer for it.

In a time when WWE is more concerned with signing young former models over seasoned wrestlers with an undying passion for the business, the company made a smart choice in signing Hero. He’s charismatic and confident in his promo delivery, and gives it in that old-school style. He’s adaptive to many styles- he can hang with technical wrestlers like Daniel Bryan, pull off high-flying moves, or deliver a rolling elbow like he’s the second coming of Misawa.

After a long delay, Chris Hero is in the WWE. (credit: Wrestling Revolution)

Hero also has had the rare combination of success in singles and tag competition. He still holds the record for the longest reining Pro Wrestling Guerrilla Champion, holding the title for 425 days. He’s had some great feuds, including an emotional battle between Human Tornado, which involved Candice LeRae.  No matter what some think about Combat Zone Wrestling, a lot of talent has come out of that promotion, and Hero was the company’s champion there too.

Hero has shined even more was in the tag-team division, as he and Castagnoli won tag titles in CZW, JCW and ROH. In 2010, The Kings of Wrestling were named Tag Team of the Year by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. They defeated a who’s who of tag teams, including The World’s Greatest Tag Team, The American Wolves, and the Briscoe Brothers. Arguably the best tag team in the world, Hero and Castagnoli will immediately find a place in a tag division that Triple H is trying to bring back to the days of old. Despite a shift in focus on the teams, and rededication to the belts, much work is still needed. Though they’ll go by another name in WWE, the Kings will give a shot in the arm to the tag ranks.

Time will tell when Chris Hero will debut, or what name he’ll use, but no matter what he goes by or when he wrestles, his wrestling ability will shine through. The hardcore fans already know about That Young Knockout Kid, and soon, the rest of the world will know as well.