You Get To Do A WWE/NJPW Talent Exchange....

[Gus Richlen Was Wrong]

Let's just say that WWE and NJPW forge some sort of working relationship where they can exchange talent, and you get put in control. Which three from each would you send over, and why?

RULES:

1. The three have to be as follows: one main event-level guy, one midcarder, one developmental guy/Young Lion. For example, you could do Styles, Elias, and Lars Sullivan for Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, and Kawato.
2. THEY HAVE TO COME BACK. No sending someone so you never have to see them again.

So, fire away.

[The Trashman]

Omega, KUSHIDA, and Kitamura for Rollins, Dolph, Gran Metallik. Rollins is doing nothing in WWE and same for Dolph. Maybe Metallik could come back with some shine. Vince would love Kitamura, KUSHIDA would be great for 205 Live or one of the main roster shows and Omega would be a no brainer.

[The Lapsed ROHbot]

I'd much rather send talent for excursions that would actually benefit all of them. If that means a top guy who's a bit stale, then sure. But I'm not just gonna send Reigns over there "because it's something different."

I'm gonna throw in an additional recommended caveat: the excursions are each one whole year.

WWE gets:
Minoru Suzuki, Kushida, Juice Robinson (CJ Parker)

NJPW gets:
Bray Wyatt, The Revival, Gran Metalik (Mascara Dorada)

Suzuki not only gets the Observer MOTY rematch against Styles, but dream contests with a variety of opponents, including Owens, Zayn, Cesaro, Strowman, and Lesnar. He would also be relied upon to be a major international/underground draw for the company, while also spreading his years of knowledge to those developing.

Wyatt badly could use an extensive break from WWE, and being in NJPW is also an opportunity to elevate his in-ring game. From a storyline perspective, programs against Evil and Jay White could be interesting. What would be the most interesting would be putting him through the annual gauntlet that is the G-1 against the likes of Omega, Elgin, and Ishii, just to name a few.

From what I can tell (as I'm not an NJPW viewer, but keep up through Voices of Wrestling), Kushida is now a junior cornerstone in NJPW, but his time as its centerpiece has passed and now he's in a bit of limbo. Bring him over to WWE to shine on NXT and in the cruiserweight division, with dream matches against Dunne, Itami, and Gargano, plus another chapter (or few) against Strong.

Although the Revival will likely end up fine in the long run, I don't want them to be patient for their time to shine. Get them over to Japan to work the dream program with the Young Bucks and generate some incredible buzz, building up their brand for their eventual WWE return, with fans frothing at the mouth for matches against the Bar, Usos, New Day, Hardy Boys, etc.

CJ Parker took a chance on himself and it's gradually paying off, so let's bring him back to NXT with his redefined Juice Robinson persona and see how it works out. A title match against Almas could be gravy, or you could have him perhaps as the bitter NXT flame-out targeting all the buzzworthy indy names that came in with the red carpet after he left, such as Ricochet, Strong, and Gargano, while looking to also hold down the lesser known names that haven't broken out yet too.

For the final WWE-to-NJPW pick, I almost went with Kassius Ohno (Chris Hero), as I'm still baffled he never went over there to work all the big names, especially in the G1. But I believe the Voices of Wrestling theory, which is that Hero returned to WWE to reduce his mileage and be an on-the-job coach/trainer. So I went with the most underutilized performer in all of WWE, that being Gran Metalik. Although he was nowhere near maximized as Mascara Dorada in NJPW either, he'd be a fresh face in their juniors division to work with Ospreay, Scurll, Takahashi, and Dragon Lee, and the hope would be that he shines enough to elevate his buzz so he can return as an NXT/205 live centerpiece.

[Deleted]

I don't know any of the younger guys in NJPW so mine will be incomplete.

Cena/Okada
Crews/Tama Tonga

[Allie Kitsune]

To WWE : Tetsuya Naito, Kushida, Toa Henare

To NJPW : John Cena, Baron Corbin, Montez Ford

Mainly that I want to see Almas and Naito together, and the three I'm sending to NJPW are to see if/how their styles evolve, and to get a year of fresh big matches out of Big Match John before it's too late.

[Johnny Flamingo]

WWE Gets:
Okada - If nothing else I think Okada/Cena would be phenomonal. Would give him some new guys to work with and elevate his star power.

Will Ospreay - Tremendous in ring talent. Could see him having great matches with AJ Styles, Samoa Joe, Seth Rollins, Orton. WWE style could help him potentially become a more well-rounded worker.

Katsuya Kitamura - Has a look that Vince would love. I could see Vince pushing him to the moon and I believe his style would translate well in WWE.

NJPW Gets:
Roman Reigns = Would benefit Roman to get a fresh start. I think the Japanese audience would support him and I could see him having some tremendous matches with the talent/style in Japan.

Ziggler - Needs a fresh start and like Roman, I could see him doing well in that style.

The Ascension - Fresh start and could benefit from good booking.

[This Player Hating Mothman]

From WWE:
Roman: It goes against literally everything that WWE wants from their #1 stars, but Roman needs to know something outside of the WWE system. Give him some time to learn in anothe environment and become a more well rounded and versatile performer, and he'll go from having good matches that are textbook WWE style to having really great matches regardless.
Dolph: I don't even think it'll do that much for the dude but dude needs the 'fair shake' most of all.
The Authors of Pain: Sending both over as a team. They're good stuff, but they can use more seasoning, and getting to work over in the IWGP Heavyweight Tag scene will give them plenty of work with dudes across the board.

From New Japan:
Minoru Suzuki: Let him be the crazy freakshow nightmare main event heel he's been everywhere else. I want to hear the Wrestlemania crowd sing along to Kaze Ni Nare.
Jay White: Yes I know he just came back from excursion, but I think as much as he's coming into his own, one area he could use some more practice is in character work, and he just might find that in WWE.
Kawato: Vince would love him.

[ronin705]

Wwe:
Tanashashi (so my person ace vs the face Cena match could happen. Literally only that reason lol)

Bad Luke Fale (he can be heel finn's personal bodyguard to make a diesel/Shawn mechanic within the faction)

Kitamura (give Vince a body guy to satisfy him lol)

Njpw:
Rollins (perfect style for this arena, plus matches with Okada, Suzuki, etc could be amazing)

Ziggler (needs a change desperately, and being the Japanese hbk might just do the trick)

Ricochet (team taguchi wants him back dammit!!)

[Josh Spicer]

WWE:

Tanahashi - Because he's in limbo as well and Ace vs. Ace would be top notch awesome.

Taichi - He can't speak of lick of English, but bring Miho along with him, slap him with another heel (like Ziggler or someone along those lines) to be their mouthpiece to talk about how they'll "never get Miho" and "not as good a singer as Taichi" to really ham up the idea. Like a mix of Rick Rude and Elias/Aiden. Have Taichi heel it up during his matches and you've got certified Tag Champs

Kitamura - Because obviously. Even in real life, if New Japan are about ready to send him on excursion, who better to take him than NXT? Have him hone his craft in the Performance Center, come up with a gimmick if he can, and let the chips fall where they may.


NJPW:

Rollins - Dude's stagnating and having Tyler Black come to Japan for some Dream Matches seems like a good way to go.

Ziggler - Originally I was going to go Revival, but having Dolph have a year-long Reign of Terror over the Junior Title with the way he sells moves seems too good to pass up.

Aleister - I get that WWE is really going full force with this guy, but with or without the NXT Title, Aleister is a good fit for New Japan. Stiff as all hell and could stand face-to-face with the most hardest hitters and you've got a guaranteed Openweight Champ.

[HMARK Center]

To WWE:
-Kenny Omega (main eventer): speaking as a fan of the guy it'd be so he could get the experience out of his system, get booked on a WrestleMania, and check the WWE off his career bucket list. The Omega/Styles dream match would be worth it, and I'm sure there'd be the chance to throw Balor/Devitt into the mix, as well, but I'd certainly want to see him back in NJPW right away afterward.

-KUSHIDA (mid-to-upper midcard): agreed that he's kind of in limbo in NJPW at the moment, and besides that he could use a bit of time away from the home Japanese crowd, as they like him but they've also seen him do just about everything there is to do as a junior-heavyweight in NJPW. Even during his run with the ROH TV title he wasn't spending an inordinate amount of time away from Japan, so he could use a refresh. Besides, the dude gets over great with American audiences because holy shit is he a great wrestler.

-David Finlay (young guy): I really like his work and potential, but wonder if he'd benefit from some time away from NJPW to really cultivate a full and solid identity for himself. Maybe a place like CMLL in Mexico would work better on that front, but given that he's Fit Finlay's son he'd have some connections in WWE that could help him out, as well. Would look great on 205 Live or in NXT.

To NJPW:
-Roman Reigns (main eventer): I'm honestly having a tough time picking a WWE main eventer to send over, as many of them have already worked the main event in NJPW (Styles, Nakamura, Lesnar albeit in an earlier era), or don't really do a lot to excite me or don't have a ton to gain from the time there (Cena, Orton, etc.). I'll agree with those saying Roman could use some time away to freshen himself up, to learn some new in-ring styles, that kind of stuff. The dude also bumps like a boss when the situation calls for it, so he'd be a lot of fun in the ring with Suzuki, Goto, or Ishii.

-The Bar (mid-to-upper midcard): this may not be feasible right now given Sheamus and his back issues, but if he was 100% I think the lads would be golden in the IWGP Tag Title scene and each would be great in the G1. They're both very strong, Cesaro is freakishly athletic, both are perfectly happy working snug, I could go on and on. Besides, Cesaro vs. Will Ospreay is the openweight match you never realized you needed until right now.

-Almas (NXT-type): The world needs the full Los Ingobernables reunion! ...Ok, Aleister Black is also a great choice, as he'd be great in the NEVER scene and it'd be fun to have him try and clobber the other Brits as he, Marty, Will, and ZSJ all work such distinct styles.