Wheeler Yuta on Jon Moxley Telling Him That His Hair Was “Like It’s Own Character On The Show” Prior To Getting His Head Shaved, His Matches with Jon Moxley & Bryan Danielson Being His Favorite AEW Matches, Childhood Dream of Becoming Successful Pro Wrestler, & His Pet Cat

94WIP held a recent interview with Wheeler Yuta. One of the topics discussed included Yuta’s thoughts about his Hair vs. Hair tag team match with Marina Shafir against Orange Cassidy & “Timeless” Toni Storm at this past February’s AEW Grand Slam Australia 2026 event.

“Yeah, I mean, if I had won, it probably would have felt… a lot different. But no, I did have- that’s gotta be up there as one of the crowning achievements for me, just to be able to have such an important match. It’s in Toni’s home country, to be able to have everyone just fully behind her and Orange, and that was a very special night. Crowd reactions are really what we’re going for in professional wrestling, and that was just such a special crowd.”

Wheeler also gave his thoughts about how he felt about getting his head shaved.

“I didn’t like when I was first bald. Not a fan of that, but I got used to it pretty quickly. It was nice when I was like, I think after that match, the next day I was like taking a shower, and I was like, all right, I get out of the shower and I go to dry my hair, ‘oh, this is great. There’s nothing there. This is so nice.’ Then every once in a while, I’m usually wearing a hat, so I’ll flip my hair. ‘Oh, no, I don’t have to, just put the hat on.’ So it’s been nice.”

Yuta also gave his thoughts about how much of a role he played in the idea being pitched and Moxley telling him that his hair was “like its own character on the show” at that point.

“You know, there was like- I’m trying to think of how long it was. It was months and months of me getting chanted at to take a- like get a haircut. So I was like, okay, I think I need to like, all right, there’s something here. So they’re chanting it at me. So I’m not going to do it, much to the dismay of my barber. I was like, ‘I’m sorry, man, I’m not going to see you for a while.’ I was like, I’m not going to do it. Then as it just kept building and building and like, Mox would laugh sometimes in the back. He’s like: ‘your hair’s just taking on a life of its own, man. It’s like its own character on the show at this point.’ So I was like, okay, I think it’s time. Let’s see what we can do. So I was willing to put it on the line, and it didn’t go my way. But it was a lot of fun for sure, and it was definitely – I had a lot to do with it, I would say.”

Yuta also gave his thoughts about his matches against Jon Moxley and Bryan Danielson being some of his favorite matches he has had in AEW so far.

“About five years now, yeah. I think the go-to for me, the two of them, are the ones that got me into the Blackpool Combat Club. One with Bryan Danielson, I just never thought I would ever get to wrestle him. So the fact that that came true was really, really something special for me, and then obviously the match with Jon, I think that the one on Rampage where I bled everywhere, the one in Boston. I think that that was, a real turning point in my career and it really gave me confidence going forward, and I think that it’s sort of the leaping off point for me. Obviously I’ve had other matches that you know, since then that I loved just as much. But I think that that’s always like a really good one to talk about. But any of those like Anarchy in the Arena matches, Blood and Guts, they’re so much fun.”

In a separate recent interview with Positively Philly, Yuta gave his thoughts about his rise in AEW and how it was always a childhood dream for him to become a successful pro wrestler.

“I mean, I guess I’m not new now. I’ve been around for about five years in AEW. But I’ve always grown up wanting to be a professional wrestler. My cousins actually introduced it to me when I was very young. So it was just a childhood dream, and then I chased that dream my whole life. I was able to pull it off, join AEW. I had a lot of great support from- originally there was a group called the Best Friends in AEW, and they’re all from around here, or they all live around here. So it was very nice to have that. That sort of got me into AEW, and then I was able to grow my wings. I joined a group called the Blackpool Combat Club with William Regal, Bryan Danielson, Jon Moxley, and then that sort of formed into the Death Riders, which is where we’re at now. It’s been one hell of a ride, that’s for sure.”

Yuta also gave his thoughts about him having a pet cat named Petunia being one of the softest, sweetest things that fans may not know about him.

“I have a cat named Petunia. She’s very sweet. She’s very adorable. She bites me all the time, and I play the steel drums. I don’t know if that’s cool. I used to do that for weddings. That’s what I did before I was a wrestler.”

Yuta also gave his thoughts about if he could bring his steel drum talents into pro wrestling.

“So I thought about it, but it’s kind of hard because the steel drum is stationary, so I have to stand there. Let me play my song, and then I’ll walk to the ring eventually.”

Transcript h/t: Fightful.com 1, 2, 3, & 4