07/13/2017
I remember working on these with Kassius. I had no idea what the Nuggets were and thought the colours were awful when suggested, had no idea it was from a basketball team.
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Since returning to NXT, Kassius Ohno has taken to wearing basketball jerseys inspired by a variety of professional teams with his name on the front and back. The look offers him a connection to his love for basketball and nostalgia for his childhood, but also allows him a chance to connect with local fans.
"This actually started back when I was in NXT last time. I got a set of wrestling gear inspired by the old school Orlando Magic. I graduated high school in '98, so 1990 to the early 2000s when basketball was really vivid in my life and in my mind. Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway, those guys were very influential to me when I was a kid, so I just thought, "Okay, well, our home base is Orlando. It might be kind of cool to get an outfit made that looks a little bit like that. Actually, not many people caught on at the time because I really only wore the outfit maybe three or four times, so I had that, and that was the original inspiration.
"My first set after that, I got three sets, and they were based on the Seattle SuperSonics, the Chicago Bulls, and Dream Team. At first, they were just teams that were vivid in my memory from my childhood, 1992 Dream Team. It doesn't get any better than that. What an iconic team."
"Then, you've got the Michael Jordan Bulls, and I like the cursive style jersey, like from possibly his rookie year, I believe. Then, the Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp SuperSonics. How badass were they? How cool were they? I just thought all these could translate to outfits. Even if somebody doesn't know basketball, doesn't put 2 and 2 together, design-wise, it still looks pretty cool.
After spending nearly two years with NXT, Kassius Ohno and the WWE parted ways in late 2013. After three years of being one of the top independent attractions in the world, he has returned to take care of some unfinished business.