Kaval Talks Wrestling In Japan, His Ongoing NXT Experience, More

WWE has an interview with Kaval,, as part of their weekly " The NXT Interview " where they interview a Rookie from the current season of WWE NXT, in which he discusses a various amount of topics including wrestling in Japan, his NXT Pros LayCool, and his dream opponent. Below are some of the highlights of the interview: On wrestling in Japan: Well it's different than the WWE Universe because the culture is different. The Japenese culture is very … I guess it's based off a lot of respect and there seems to still be some type of class system for elders and people with success, so it's just a different culture. I think it's more sport-oriented than sports-entertainment-oriented, as it is over here in the United States. In Japan, there are much more crossover athletes than in the United States. The majority of the guys that I wrestled against, that I competed against in Japan, the majority of them were black belts in judo because it's a mandatory sport for people in school. I actually didn't find that out until 2006, and I had already been competing for four years, and I didn't know that. The majority of the guys are black belts in judo or they have backgrounds in amateur wrestling. I know one of the companies I wrestled for, there were several wrestlers who were national champions in amateur wrestling for the army, for the military. There were guys who crossed over from sumo wrestling. There were several people who did karate. There seems to be much more accomplished athletes in other fields crossing over and bringing their particular styles over into competition in Japan than there are here in the United States for WWE. On working with LayCool: Oh, it's definitely unique. Their personalities are so far over the top. Mine is more reserved and laid back, more low-key. It's definitely one heck of a contrast. Again, they're just so over the top. Sometimes it's a bit too much and I have to take a step back. But I think because of the dynamic of how far apart we are personality-wise, their mentoring and them trying to draw a little more out of me is eventually going to ultimately make me better. I'm actually looking forward to prolonging this to see where it goes because success is all about growth. If you don't grow, you're not going to succeed. So I think with this dynamic between the three of us, it presents a good chance for me to succeed and improve on what I already have as a foundation. So I think it's going to be good in the long run. On his biggest competition in Season 2 of NXT: I think right now it would be Percy Watson. The reason I say that is because his charisma is hard not to like. His in-ring ability is very limited at this point because of his experience level, but as time goes on, depending on his effort, he can improve greatly. But his charisma is something that can’t be taught. When people are attracted to something, it just seems to me that with his type of charisma – the type you can’t not like or dislike – that becomes a very big challenge because in-ring ability is only so much. The personality is what people get behind. It’s the same as any other field of sport or entertainment. People don’t get behind the acting; they get behind the personality behind the acting. So I think Percy presents the biggest challenge because he’s so appealing overall, whether it’s comical or it’s cheerful, that’s a bigger challenge than some of the other guys. The in-ring ability I’m not worried about. My mentality and my discipline tells me in my mind that no matter how big they are, if they’re on WWE NXT or the other two brands, I can hold my own against anybody. I just think it’s that personality, that charisma, that presents a really big challenge for anyone who wants to be a Superstar here in WWE. On who he wants to face next: In my mind, I'm not a Rookie, just because of my experience before arriving here. My ultimate goal is to get my hands on Rey Mysterio. Because I think me coming up the way that I did, him proving there's only a select group or there's a very rare occasion you have competitors of this size who can reach that plateau of success, he's the ultimate challenge for me on whether or not I belong here. Growing up watching him back in WCW, ECW, even in Mexico, traveling to and from Japan, ultimately landing here in WWE, to me, that's the greatest challenge because he's the highest level of, I guess you'd consider the small men, in our profession. If I want to compete, I'm regarded in that category as well, small men. Me, him, Evan Bourne – we're very small, very efficient with our techniques, very fast, very exciting. He's like the ultimate, I guess I wouldn't say the guy I look up to, but the greatest challenge. Because if I could hang with him, then I know that without question that I'd do well, 100 percent.