Kassius Ohno was one of the many Superstars recently released by WWE. However, in the wake of his release, Ohno has embraced his independent roots by reclaiming his former ring name Chris Hero.Following a cryptic black-and-white image of Ohno’s boots sitting in the middle of a ring, the newly rechristened Hero uploaded a followup video showcasing some of his hard-hitting strikes before quickly segueing into a series of key losses he suffered during his time in NXT, all while his WWE theme music plays.
As the video fades out, the music becoming distorted and is replaced with his indie theme "Chris is Awesome" while color footage of Hero’s dominance on the worldwide independent scene plays. Footage from PROGRESS Wrestling, Pro Wrestling Guerilla, Revolution Pro Wrestling and more all build up to title cards reading "Knockout Artist" and "Wrestling Genius" before the final reveal declares that "Chris Hero is Back." The former Kassius Ohno has also switched his Twitter handle back to @ChrisHero, with his current name set to "Chris Hero (Is Back)."
This isn’t the first time Hero has been let go by WWE. He had an initial run in NXT from 2012-2013. Once he left, Hero enjoyed renewed success on the independent circuit before eventually re-signing with WWE in 2016. He made his NXT return in 2017.