WhyTravisFelt
Pre-Show Stalwart
Let me start off this thread by saying I think it's absolutely one of the most amazing things I've seen MacMahon and the WWE do in my life by getting Antonio Inoki into the Hall of Fame. It shows an appreciation of world-wide professional wrestling in it's entirety that they seldom seem to recognize.
My question to you can be two-fold depending on your viewpoint: One, who do you think is most likely to be the next Japanese Superstar to make it into WWE's Hall of Fame? Two, who would you prefer to see be the next Japanese Superstar to make it into the Hall of Fame. I'll throw out some names for consideration starting from most likely and downwards (in my opinion)
The Great Muta- I will accept an argument on this one, but I believe Keiji Mutoh has made the most impact here in the states of all Japanese superstars. If nothing else he paved the way for the American interpretation of Japanese wrestler from Yung Dragons to Tajiri all the way to modern superstars Kiyoshi and Yoshi Tatsu. He also formed NJPW's version of NWO after his Great Muta gimmick had run it's course, which was very appropriate considering how Nash had broken from Diesel, Hall had broken from Ramon.
Rikidozan- Alright, he's technically Korean, but he essentially started Puroresu (I know, it sounds and looks Japanese, but it's really an English abbreviation for Purofesshonaru Resuringu, or Professional Wrestling) in Japan and is probably most comparable to Bruno Sammartino and Verne Gagne combined for Japan. He also trained both Antonio Inoki and my next suggestion.
Shohei "Giant" Baba- essentially Japan's equivalent to Andre the Giant. No more really needs to be said.
Those three I mentioned are probably the closest for consideration. Let's go over some longer shots.
Satoru Sayama- the original Tiger Mask grew out of a very popular comic book in Japan (Manga) and immediately became the most popular thing going. Like, Ultimo Dragon who's also on my list, Sayama started his career trained by the bery best, but inhibited by his small size in Japan, found his first real success learning Lucha Libre which made him the eventual star he would become back in Japan. Since he was the first to really bring Lucha Libre to Japan and became one of their biggest stars ever as the original Tiger Mask, puts him so high on the list that I almost put him with Baba, Rikidozan, and Muta.
Ultimo Dragon- Pretty much the same story as Sayama; after being trained by the best of the best, Gran Hamada (another of the first innovators of Japanese-style wrestling and lucha libre) and Kotetsu Yamamoto, and being considered too small for Japanese wrestling, he honed his craft in Mexico and became a world-wide phenomenon. After winning the Super J cup (eight cruiserweight titles on the line) and beating Dean Malenko for the WCW cruiserweight title, he held nine belts at the same time, something that will probably never be repeated again. He enlightened the world into a style of Japanese-Mexican-American style of wrestling that was so magnificent that it will, again, probably never be repeated again. He made wrestling look like an incomprehensible magic act.
Atsushi Onita- Knock three times on the same story; considered too small for Japanese wrestling, he went another direction altogether and invented Hardcore wrestling which led to Mick Foley's and the most memorable part of Terry Funk's careers.
Jushin Lyger- I'm sure will be on your tongues. Another great innovator who made some waves stateside.
My question to you can be two-fold depending on your viewpoint: One, who do you think is most likely to be the next Japanese Superstar to make it into WWE's Hall of Fame? Two, who would you prefer to see be the next Japanese Superstar to make it into the Hall of Fame. I'll throw out some names for consideration starting from most likely and downwards (in my opinion)
The Great Muta- I will accept an argument on this one, but I believe Keiji Mutoh has made the most impact here in the states of all Japanese superstars. If nothing else he paved the way for the American interpretation of Japanese wrestler from Yung Dragons to Tajiri all the way to modern superstars Kiyoshi and Yoshi Tatsu. He also formed NJPW's version of NWO after his Great Muta gimmick had run it's course, which was very appropriate considering how Nash had broken from Diesel, Hall had broken from Ramon.
Rikidozan- Alright, he's technically Korean, but he essentially started Puroresu (I know, it sounds and looks Japanese, but it's really an English abbreviation for Purofesshonaru Resuringu, or Professional Wrestling) in Japan and is probably most comparable to Bruno Sammartino and Verne Gagne combined for Japan. He also trained both Antonio Inoki and my next suggestion.
Shohei "Giant" Baba- essentially Japan's equivalent to Andre the Giant. No more really needs to be said.
Those three I mentioned are probably the closest for consideration. Let's go over some longer shots.
Satoru Sayama- the original Tiger Mask grew out of a very popular comic book in Japan (Manga) and immediately became the most popular thing going. Like, Ultimo Dragon who's also on my list, Sayama started his career trained by the bery best, but inhibited by his small size in Japan, found his first real success learning Lucha Libre which made him the eventual star he would become back in Japan. Since he was the first to really bring Lucha Libre to Japan and became one of their biggest stars ever as the original Tiger Mask, puts him so high on the list that I almost put him with Baba, Rikidozan, and Muta.
Ultimo Dragon- Pretty much the same story as Sayama; after being trained by the best of the best, Gran Hamada (another of the first innovators of Japanese-style wrestling and lucha libre) and Kotetsu Yamamoto, and being considered too small for Japanese wrestling, he honed his craft in Mexico and became a world-wide phenomenon. After winning the Super J cup (eight cruiserweight titles on the line) and beating Dean Malenko for the WCW cruiserweight title, he held nine belts at the same time, something that will probably never be repeated again. He enlightened the world into a style of Japanese-Mexican-American style of wrestling that was so magnificent that it will, again, probably never be repeated again. He made wrestling look like an incomprehensible magic act.
Atsushi Onita- Knock three times on the same story; considered too small for Japanese wrestling, he went another direction altogether and invented Hardcore wrestling which led to Mick Foley's and the most memorable part of Terry Funk's careers.
Jushin Lyger- I'm sure will be on your tongues. Another great innovator who made some waves stateside.
