trollrogue
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Post by trollrogue on Jan 8, 2019 2:50:11 GMT -5
D'oh Kay, pretend I'm a newb about Japanese wrestlers (cuz I am) and I only know about the ones that WWE has exposed me to. Here is my list of the best Nipponese sumo-senseis: -Hideo Itami/KENTA -Jushin Thunder Liger -Shinsuke Nakamura -Prince Devitt/Finn Balor -Chris Jericho -Kushida -Gallows and Anderson where do all of these guys rank as far as their tiers in Nippon Land?? For me and my Westernized-WWE conditions I'd rank 1- Liger 2 - Nakamura 3 - Jericho 4 - Kushida 5 - Prince Devitt/THE DEMON 6 - Itami 7 - Lord Tensai 8 - Gallows and Anderson Has Nakamura been booked poorly though? Let's be honest he's had one legit great match in the WWE and it was his first one. Through it all he's always been a big deal, main event stories, won the rumble, etc. This is my thing. Nakamura hasn’t had the main roster centered around him (guess what- he didn’t have that in NJPW either), but he hasn’t been booked poorly either. The Rusev match where he lost his first title in the WWE was as good as the Sami Zayn debut match I think. It's great how both matches are where Shinsuke worked his hardest to get the other guy over (in victory against Zayn, and in glorious defeat against Rusev-- Nakamura shines when things are high-stakes)
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Post by HMARK Center on Jan 8, 2019 6:55:41 GMT -5
^^^^^^
KENTA was super popular in Pro Wrestling NOAH when it was a company on the upswing; not necessarily the tip top star, as the main draws during his time were guys like Misawa, Kobashi, and other 90s mainstays, but he rose to the top of the company's junior division and even wound up challenging for the Global Honored Crown heavyweight title and nearly won it.
Jushin Lyger is a legend who helped define the junior style in Japan. He's popular enough that he'll appear on TV and at events in gimmick and tons of people will know who he is.
Nakamura was one of New Japan's top heavyweights as it made its way out of its "dark age", only surpassed in rank by Hiroshi Tanahashi. He was beginning to scale back a bit before he left as guys like Okada rose toward the top, but was still one of New Japan's "big four" names at the time he left for WWE.
KUSHIDA was pushed to be the ace of New Japan's junior division a couple of years ago, but the booking kind of Roman Reigns'd him a bit and the fans, while appreciative of him, saw through it too easily. He's highly legitimate in the eyes of puro fans, loved by many, but that attempt at a super push did backfire a little.
Prince Devitt was incredibly popular, became New Japan's top junior after forming Bullet Club, and like KENTA when he was in NOAH he eventually got to challenge for the heavyweight title, too. If he went back to Japan tomorrow he'd get a major reaction.
Gallows and Anderson were New Japan's main tag team for a couple of years; they fall into a traditional role many puro companies use, that of the two big, burly gaijin wrestlers who win the tag belts and eventually put over a domestic tag team at a major event. Anderson did some work in New Japan's front office, too, as a liaison to a lot of the other foreign talent. Basically they were looked on as steady, solid, and reliable, not spectacular, but they got a nice send off from the crowd when they did leave.
Jericho's a big name; WWE has never fully taken off in Japan, but Jericho is pretty well known and gets a reaction for being there. Still, his actual career IN Japan is limited, so it's not like he's fully established in puro, but he gets a lot of "Y2J" chants, and I read recently about how even when he was full-time in WWE and they did their shows in Japan, he'd get cheered while trying to insult the crowd.
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Post by SCCB Was Told To Do Steroids on Jan 9, 2019 12:47:13 GMT -5
Has Nakamura been booked poorly though? Let's be honest he's had one legit great match in the WWE and it was his first one. Through it all he's always been a big deal, main event stories, won the rumble, etc. Let's not forget one of the main reasons for Nak to come over is his schedule would be lighter, thus saving his knees and back.
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Post by Clash, Never a Meter Maid on Jan 9, 2019 13:45:23 GMT -5
I see him being above the 205 Live tier, not treading water but not really one of the tippy top guys unless he really impresses WWE. Not to rag on the company or discount KUSHIDA’s ability, that’s just where I see things standing now. I could be wrong though.
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Post by HMARK Center on Jan 9, 2019 15:10:56 GMT -5
Has Nakamura been booked poorly though? Let's be honest he's had one legit great match in the WWE and it was his first one. Through it all he's always been a big deal, main event stories, won the rumble, etc. Let's not forget one of the main reasons for Nak to come over is his schedule would be lighter, thus saving his knees and back. Is his schedule actually lighter? NJPW meant having to travel less miles, not switch time zones so frequently, and a whole lot of preliminary tag matches to let him rest in between major shows, and I'm not sure he gets that in WWE (I could be wrong since I don't know his contract details). Granted his marquee WWE matches don't need to be as physical as his marquee NJPW matches, but I'd have to think that on the whole he's keeping a busier schedule now.
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MAGGLE
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Post by MAGGLE on Jan 9, 2019 16:09:52 GMT -5
Curt Hawkins and KUSHIDA are probably facing Braun Strowman together in 2020 and I am a big fan of Kushida. He will get an undefeated run for 3months, lose once, then everyone on creative loses interest, fans lose interest, career over.
Works everytime. Except when you grab that brass ring.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jan 10, 2019 5:33:49 GMT -5
Jericho's a big name; WWE has never fully taken off in Japan, but Jericho is pretty well known and gets a reaction for being there. Still, his actual career IN Japan is limited, so it's not like he's fully established in puro, but he gets a lot of "Y2J" chants, and I read recently about how even when he was full-time in WWE and they did their shows in Japan, he'd get cheered while trying to insult the crowd. Makes me wonder any if any of the crowd remembers his 90s work in Japan for WAR or FMW, or at least is familiar with it enough to lend a bit of legitimacy to him. Obviously, NJPW's done a lot to treat him as a big deal, in any case.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jan 10, 2019 6:08:59 GMT -5
I mean they haven't done much with Nakamura but one of the common criticisms of him for years was that he could be really lazy in matches. He always did good at wrestle kingdom, but huge parts of his body of work are him half assing it when unmotivated.
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