In late 2006 the president of New Japan Pro-Wrestling met with World Wrestling Entertainment Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis. This has caused many wrestling spectators to hope for a working relationship to be reached between the two organizations on a level not seen since 1985.
While this hypothetical working agreement poses several dream matches, especially now that NJPW has reestablished a connection with All Japan Pro Wrestling, all this speculation may just be wishful thinking. That is not to say that a business deal will not be reached, but rather that if one is agreed upon, then it will most likely not be nearly as fruitful as one may hope.
Evidence of this can be seen in the American careers of such famed Japanese wrestlers as Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin “Thunder” Liger and Taka Michinoku. Though these wrestlers had some success in the United States initially, the height of their popularity in mainstream American wrestling was not equivalent to a fraction of the support that they received in Japan.
Just months before debuting in NJPW in late 1992, Manabu Nakanishi participated in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. Having worked extensively in the field of amateur wrestling, it only made sense that Nakanishi would be a successful technical wrestler.
For three years, Nakanishi competed in NJPW without winning a title or a tournament until he captured the Young Lions Cup after defeating Yuji Nagata in 1995. Not long after this victory, Nakanishi arrived in World Championship Wrestling.
Rather than trumpeting his success in NJPW, WCW instead promoted Nakanishi as Kurosawa an unknown and potentially dangerous man from a far away place. This would later be proven as in kayfabe he went on to break Road Warrior Hawk’s arm at a 1995 edition of Clash of the Champions. The rivalry even had a pay-per-view payoff. Unfortunately this occurred at the 1995 installment of WCW Halloween Havoc, which is generally ranked alongside the WWF’s King of the Ring 1995 as being among the worst pay-per-views of all time.
Other than making an appearance the following month at WCW's first annual World War 3 event alongside fifty-nine other wrestlers in a three ring battle royal, Nakanishi was quickly forgotten about. This happened in large part because of the New World Order angle as many wrestlers were deemphasized or forgotten completely to add importance to this revolutionary storyline.
Returning to NJPW slightly over a year after leaving the organization, Nakanishi would steadily regroup and form a tag team with Satoshi Kojima. The pair went on to win the IWGP Tag Team titles, the first of three that Nakanishi has had to date. Other than these reigns, Nakanishi would eventually win the prestigious G-1 Climax Tournament in 1999 and even challenged Brock Lesnar for the IWGP Heavyweight title in 2005.
Unlike Manabu Nakanishi, Jushin “Thunder” Liger won American titles, including championships bearing the names of WCW and the then WWF. However rather than being prestigious reigns, Liger’s championships were more associated with WCW and the WWF as a result of technicalities.
The WCW Light Heavyweight Championship existed for less than a year between 1991 and 1992 and was used more to advertise the unique style of Brian Pillman. Pillman had been far ahead of his time in utilizing high flying techniques, so much so that the only opponents who could truly match him in these skills had to be brought from overseas.
Though Liger and Pillman had some unforgettable matches and a few names were added to the division such as Brad Armstrong and a pre-Raven, Scott Levy, the title scene collapsed. After suffering an injury in early September of 1992, Brad Armstrong, who had captured the title in July, vacated the championship and as simple as that the belt was forgotten about.
At least the WCW Light Heavyweight Championship was defended on television events sponsored by its company of origin. That is more than can be said about Liger’s reign as WWF Light Heavyweight Championship. Before Taka Michinoku was proclaimed the first holder of the title in the 1990’s on WWF television, the championship had actually existed since the early 1980’s. However as the WWF’s international connections waned, the championship was quickly forgotten about by the company despite being defended for over ten years after leaving the sight of WWF executives.
Still Liger continues to make appearances on the American wrestling scene, though much more rarely than in the past. Liger appeared on two separate pay-per-view events in 2005 and 2006 for Total Nonstop Action. Despite being high profile, the events did little to boost the reputation of either Liger or TNA overall. Subsequently, no long term deal between the two entities has been reached, despite TNA having a decent working arrangement with NJPW.
Jushin Thunder Liger continues to have a popular following in Japan, where he competes today, despite being portrayed as little more than a curious oddity when wrestling in the United States.
Earlier Taka Michinoku was mentioned as being the first WWF Light Heavyweight Champion acknowledged on WWF television in the 1990’s. Unfortunately this first acknowledged reign was probably one of the only reigns worth mentioning for the title when it appeared regularly on WWF television.
Despite defending the championship at a Wrestlemania and later losing the title to Christian, who would eventually win the NWA World Heavyweight title years later, Michinoku would quickly fade away from the WWF’s limelight.
For a time, Michinoku teamed with Sho Funaki, who he had once feuded with as the two formed the tag team Kai En Tai. The team had previously existed in various incarnations in Japan prior to Michinoku’s WWF stint. The two gained some level of popularity though the duo was promoted more as a comic relief combination. This was a far cry from where one would have pictured Michinoku years earlier when he was promoted as a serious competitor on his way to winning the WWF Light Heavyweight title.
In 2000 Michinoku suffered a severe shoulder injury at that year’s WWF Royal Rumble, despite technically not even being involved in the match he was injured in. The injury has been a nagging one, but since being released by the WWE in 2002 much like Nakanishi and Liger before him, Michinoku returned to Japan with success.
Shortly after being released Michinoku established the Kaientai Dojo and has also competed for All Japan Pro Wrestling. In addition to wrestling as a singles competitor, Michinoku has also reformed Kai En Tai for several short-lived appearances and teamed with former WWF talents such as D’lo Brown and Bull Buchanan.
Japanese talent can be successful in the United States. Ultimo Dragon for instance, outside of his unsuccessful WWE run had numerous title reigns in WCW, which resulted in numerous technically sound matches with the likes of Dean Malenko, Alex Wright and Lord Steven Regal. However, Ultimo Dragon is among the few exceptions in modern wrestling rather than the rule.
Before the dawn of sports entertainment, Japanese wrestlers being brought over to the United States was much more likely to result in success. As ring skills were emphasized much more, Japanese competitors could become popular for their athleticism alone. Hell, some circles even consider Antonio Inoki to be a former WWF World Heavyweight Champion.
Now that wrestling has become much more character driven, it has become much more difficult for Japanese competitors to gain fame in the United States. After all with the current way that wrestling storylines are written, Japanese wrestlers are likely to be slumped into a few generic character molds such as silent assassins, noble outsiders or evil foreigners. These character types tend to be cliché at best and border on cultural insensitivity at worst.
Copyright © 2005; TheWrestlingVoice.com & Douglas Nunnally.
All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer & Privacy Statement
| What Did You Think About WWE Backlash 2008? |
|
|