Given that they are now employees of AEWIt’s easy to forget that Kevin Knight was once a student of Katsuyori Shibata, who trained him and the likes of AEW’s Clark Connors, former WWE star Carl Fredericks, former NJPW Alex Coughlin and others at NJPW’s LA Dojo early in their careers. And while training under Shibata was an overall positive experience for Knight, it also wasn’t easy, especially compared to training. THE NJPW INVESTIGATION and: WWE is Natalya.
in an interview with “Battleground Podcast”, Knight discussed some of the challenges of training, including adjusting to a Japanese style he was unfamiliar with and wrestling behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But what Knight got used to the most was Shibata’s training style, which was made more difficult by the language barrier between Shibata and his trainees.
“Then I find myself hating the monotony, the monotony of it all,” Knight said. “We did the same thing every day, the same warm-up, the same rolls, the same squats, the same exercises. And there wasn’t a lot of detailed feedback, if I can say that correctly, because you know Shibata’s English isn’t the best.
“So we just had to get away from vibes, you know, straight vibes. We had to feel him if he liked it or not. We had to, you know, really trust our instincts with Shibata-san because he has a very unique way of training. And because that language was in front of his unique way of training, it was very difficult to engage, you know, if we were looking right at what we were doing.”
Knight reveals the most important lesson he learned from Shibata
Ultimately, Knight believes Shibata’s teachings helped make him a better performer overall, which is hard to argue with given Knight’s success in AEW since joining the promotion in 2025. When asked what the best piece of wisdom Shibata imparted to him was, Knight revealed that it made him drastically change his way of thinking with Knight.
“I would say patience,” Knight said. “He always said ‘be patient,’ whether in or out of the ring. And I always think about that because I come from a football world where you have to do everything fast, fast, fast, you know. So being patient and slowing things down was so foreign to me. And yeah, just that patience got me to where I am, and it’s paying dividends.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Battleground Podcast and credit ah/t Wrestling Inc. for transcription.
