Tavion Heights has described his 2024 excursion with Pro Wrestling NOAH as a defining stretch in his young professional wrestling career, one that pushed him beyond the familiar surroundings of WWE NXT and required him to develop a greater trust in his own instincts.
Heights, who signed with WWE in 2022 following a successful amateur wrestling background, spent a month working in Japan during the summer of 2024. The trip gave the NXT performer opportunities against established NOAH talent, including Yoshiki Inamura, Kenoh and Manabu Soya. Just as importantly, it put him in a setting where communication, pacing and responsibility inside the ring were dramatically different from what he had experienced in the United States.
Speaking on No-Contest Wrestling, Heights explained why he views that period as such a major step in his evolution. He called Japan a sink-or-swim environment, particularly when working with opponents who did not share his language.
“I always like to say Tavion Heights was minted in Japan because I just felt like it was sink or swim for me,” Heights said. “I go from American wrestlers, people that speak English when you're doing the process of these matches, and you go out there with a guy who doesn't speak no English and it's like man, we're just in this. We're just in the moment, and if things go awry, what your heart says is what's going to fly, brother. I had to lean into me.”
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That idea of leaning into himself is central to Heights’ recollection of the NOAH experience. In the early part of his NXT run, he had the benefit of being surrounded by familiar faces, including his No Quarter Catch Crew partners, while also sharing rings with experienced wrestlers who could help guide the shape and rhythm of a match. Those are valuable learning conditions for any developing talent, but Japan presented a different kind of test.
The wrestler on the other side of the ring could not necessarily be relied upon for detailed verbal coordination. The match still had to remain coherent, physical and compelling. Heights and his opponent needed to find common ground through timing, body language and an understanding of professional wrestling’s universal fundamentals.
“In Japan, it's like hey man, the only people keeping this together is me and you,” Heights said. “It was big for me. It was growth.”
For a performer with Heights’ athletic base, the opportunity was especially notable. His amateur credentials supplied the foundation for a hard-nosed style built around throws, control and intensity. Yet transitioning those strengths to professional wrestling is about more than executing impressive technique. It also means learning when to accelerate, when to pause, how to invite audience investment and how to make a signature move feel meaningful rather than simply athletic.
That was one of the major lessons Heights took from the excursion. Japanese wrestling has long been an important destination for performers looking to improve their ring craft, with tours frequently placing talent into demanding situations against competitors with distinct styles and extensive experience. A month on the NOAH roster allowed Heights to absorb that environment firsthand rather than encountering it only through training sessions at WWE.
A Hall of Famer’s endorsement
Heights’ time in Japan also included a significant learning opportunity away from the NOAH match cards. During the trip, he worked alongside WWE Hall of Famer The Great Muta, better known by his real name, Keiji Muto. Muta officially retired from active competition in early 2023, ending an in-ring career that spanned nearly four decades, but his influence remains substantial among wrestlers continuing to seek out his knowledge.
In August 2024, Heights and fellow NXT talent Josh Briggs were seen training in Japan with Muta and Naomichi Marufuji. The latter is one of NOAH’s defining figures and a wrestler with close to 30 years of experience. Marufuji has held the GHC Heavyweight, GHC National, GHC Hardcore Openweight and GHC Tag Team Championships during his decorated career.
For Heights, the most enduring takeaway from that training was praise from Muta concerning the belly-to-belly suplex that has become an important part of his arsenal. Heights said the encouragement mattered because it came at a point when he was trying to learn new approaches without losing the traits that had already helped distinguish him.
“The Great Muta, he gave me a compliment that was unmatched,” Heights said. “He just said like ‘your belly-to-belly [suplex] is so unique and it's your own. The intensity that which you hit it with and the arch cannot be replicated.’”
The comment did more than validate a single move. It reinforced a larger message about identity. Young wrestlers are constantly asked to adapt: to different opponents, audiences, promotions, television formats and coaching philosophies. Growth requires change, but Heights came away from Japan believing that adaptation should not mean abandoning the intensity that makes his work recognizable.
Heights acknowledged that pacing was something he had struggled with while developing. Muta’s feedback helped him see that his high-impact style and the explosive nature of his signature offense were not qualities to discard. Instead, they were strengths to understand and deploy more effectively.
“That intensity and that pace you use for your signature finish is unique to you. Keep that,” Heights recalled Muta telling him. “It was very encouraging. It's like, hey, Tavion, you ain't got to change too much. Do your thing, man, because people gonna rock with it, so while you try to learn the game, don't lose yourself.”
From amateur standout to regular NXT presence
Heights remains relatively early in his professional wrestling journey, but his position in NXT has continued to grow since his arrival in WWE. After joining the company in 2022, he became associated with No Quarter Catch Crew, a group that gave him valuable exposure in tag and multi-person competition while placing him alongside wrestlers who could complement his amateur-influenced approach.
The NOAH excursion added another layer to that development. It was not merely an international trip or a chance to accumulate matches. By Heights’ own account, it represented a period of individual accountability. He learned that when the usual verbal shortcuts are removed, a wrestler has to be grounded in their own timing, reactions and understanding of the moment.
That experience can be particularly valuable on a brand such as NXT, where performers are asked to develop distinct identities while working against a broad range of styles. Heights has increasingly been positioned as a dependable regular on the roster, and his recent Weapons Wild Match against Myles Borne at NXT Halloween Havoc showed another side of his presentation. A weapons-based stipulation is far removed from a traditional amateur wrestling contest, yet it demands the same core abilities: presence, urgency, adaptability and a sense of how to keep an audience invested.
His comments suggest that Japan gave him increased confidence in all of those areas. The technical and physical elements of Heights’ game may be rooted in his amateur background, but the NOAH tour taught him to make decisions in real time and to trust the personality behind the technique.
Why the Japan experience still matters
Excursions have historically played an important role in wrestling development. They expose performers to new locker rooms, new audiences and different expectations regarding match structure. For Heights, the language barrier and unfamiliar setting made the learning curve even steeper. He was not simply trying to impress coaches or adapt to a new building; he was discovering how much of a match he could carry through instinct and connection with an opponent.
Muta’s assessment of Heights’ belly-to-belly suplex supplied a timely reminder that development is not always about adding something new. Sometimes the most important guidance is recognizing what is already working and protecting it while refining everything around it.
Four years into his WWE tenure, Heights has reason to view the 2024 NOAH run as an important point on his path. He returned to NXT with more experience, a deeper appreciation for pacing and a stronger belief that his own intensity can be an asset at any level. As he continues building his place on the brand, the month he spent in Japan appears to remain one of the clearest examples of how quickly a wrestler can grow when there is no choice but to trust what they have learned.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.