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Japanese wrestlers help

Snabbit888Posted on 04/03/08 at 07:10:51

When I get to 2007 GCW time (I'm in April of 06) I am going to run an iniative where GCW is making an effort to sign more wrestlers from other countries.  I am having trouble figuring out which wrestler(s) from Japan I'd want to bring in.  Remember this is 2007, what wrestlers can you guys recommend that I'd bring in?  I'm looking for someone of the midcard variety that could blossom into a main eventer depending on how it goes.  Also, I want it to be someone who's not one of the old guard who can't really move but keeps wrestling.  Any ideas?
YunPosted on 04/03/08 at 08:34:58

Satoshi Kojima is a former Triple Crown champion whose one Ring of Honor appearance proved that he had enough personality to hang in America (he gave himself an "I don't understand the referee" character, and ended up stealing the show from The Great Muta.) He'd be my top choice.

He may be "old guard" but Jushin Liger can still go, and still has name value in the US.

Also most of the guys from Dragon Gate and DDT have gotten over huge on the American Indy scene. Genki Horiguchi and Masato Yoshino of Dragon Gate were on WSX, and Kudo and Mikami had a MOTYC against Miyawaki and Yago of K-Dojo in Chikara. These guys are more midcard/cruiserweights than potential main eventers, though.

Also, I'm obligated to mention former ROH Champion and current GHC Champion, Takeshi Morishima.
ZedjaPosted on 04/03/08 at 14:39:13

KENTA and the new Tiger Mask
MamushiPosted on 04/03/08 at 18:01:13

Shinsuke Nakamura?  Maybe Hiroshi Tanahashi? Sanshiro Takagi?

When in doubt hire President Ramu
DJ UnrightPosted on 04/03/08 at 18:41:52

Kung Fu Chicken Noodle? Uchu Chu? American Beetle? Call-Me-Kevin? Dr. Cube? Silver Potatoe?

Link
MamushiPosted on 04/03/08 at 19:11:19

On 04/03/08 at 18:41:52, DJ Unright wrote:Kung Fu Chicken Noodle? Uchu Chu? American Beetle? Call-Me-Kevin? Dr. Cube? Silver Potatoe?

Link
You totally win for the day for the Kaiju reference.
91Posted on 04/03/08 at 20:04:12

Funaki...
CarlzillaPosted on 04/03/08 at 20:46:30

If you're looking for someone midcard with a good look that might be able to get over without using English, I'd go with a Voodoo Murderer. TARU or Kohei Suwama would be good. I'd say Kojima's too established in Japan to be considered midcard, although you could stuff him there in the US I guess.

Hiroshi Tanahashi is a good choice, and I'm pretty sure I recommended him the last time we talked about something similar to this. He's got a great look, and can be very charismatic with his gestures.

Toru Yano has a great gimmick and solid in ring ability. He'd be great in a foreign heel gimmick. He holds the record for the longest DQ streak in wrestling history.

Togi Makabe would also be a wonderful addition to your roster. He's a mid-sized brutish heel, and could easily get over as such through the use of weapons (he wields a chain to the ring, and has been known to use it to assist his top rope king kong kneedrop).
JakePosted on 04/03/08 at 21:23:27

Two words:

Curry Man
CarlzillaPosted on 04/03/08 at 21:44:19

Curry Man isn't exactly from another country.

ZedjaPosted on 04/03/08 at 21:49:06

On 04/03/08 at 21:44:19, Carlzilla wrote:Curry Man isn't exactly from another country.

Depends on what country you are from ;)
For me almost all wrestlers are from another country.

But I see your point..
JakePosted on 04/03/08 at 22:05:42

On 04/03/08 at 21:44:19, Carlzilla wrote:Curry Man isn't exactly from another country.

He's billed from India or Japan or one of them non-American countries.
YunPosted on 04/03/08 at 22:48:38

On 04/03/08 at 22:05:42, Jake wrote:
He's billed from India or Japan or one of them non-American countries.
Take the mask off and he's Christopher Daniels, though.

And, yeah, Kojima is established in Japan, but not in the US. He's good enough to be an instant mid-carder and charismatic enough to move up in the US plus the fact that he is established means he's proven that he can carry a promotion if necessary.

Also a hearty seconding to the Kaiju reference. Useless Fact: I frequently use Cube and Uchuchu in otherwise normal circuits and even made London and Kendrick into minions once.
Snabbit888Posted on 04/03/08 at 23:26:07

Would teaming Kojima and Tanahashi be a feasibly realistic move?  I don't know much about the politics of Japanese wrestling, and though ultimately I know it's my circuit and I can do what I want, I'm trying to get a better grasp on the landscape of puro.
YunPosted on 04/04/08 at 02:16:58

Kojima works for All Japan and Tanahashi works for New Japan. Beyond that I can't say, although I think they're both faces, but a) I could be wrong and b) the heel/face distinction is not as strong in the Japanese majors.
AzraelPosted on 04/04/08 at 04:45:41

Shuji Kondo might work well too, since he already uses a lot of American power moves in his matches. He's slightly bigger than the average junior, but he has pretty good charisma in the matches I've seen of him.
CarlzillaPosted on 04/04/08 at 06:41:38

Kojima is a NJPW trueborn though, and for a while a few years back there was talk of him jumping ship from AJPW back to NJPW.

Kojima was a face, but he's since joined Voodoo Murders. Tanahashi played a good heel against Nakamura in their 1/4 match though, so teaming them up wouldn't be entirely offbase. Plus neither are established enough in the US to really make it seem awkward that they are teaming anyway.

I'd say bring 'em in, both have proven that they can lead a company, both have a good look and are charismatic, and they can be put in a midcard role for a bit while you build them up.
Burning HammerPosted on 04/07/08 at 02:41:59

One Word: Ebessen
TheImpalerTMXPosted on 04/07/08 at 05:27:33

Going promotion by promotion...

AJPW: They've both been mentioned here - either Kondo or Suwama.  Kondo being a junior means he can only go so far in Japan, so in the US where weight class is far less important, there is more room for him. Suwama is basically the heavyweight star of the future, probably about 2 years away from a Triple Crown. Just note in 2007 he was a heel (he turned face towards the beginning of this year).

NJPW: A harder pick since most of the midcarders are on the other side of their careers. There are a lot of good midcard heels to pick from. Hiroki Goto isn't a bad choice. If you are looking for a tag team, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano are an excellent pick. They won the IWGP Tag Titles in Feb '08, so 2007 was the year that they really established themselves. Of course, they are also heels. If I was going to go for a face, I'd probably go with Yujiro. He is a junior, but has legit amateur credentials and it wouldn't be shocking if upon making his traditional learning excursion in foriegn lands that he would start to wrestle as a heavyweight.

NOAH: There are a lot of obvious choices here based on who has been in ROH. So there are any of those guys, but I'm trusting you want to do something a little more original. With that in mind, Mohammed Yone would be a good pick. He's still relatively young, charismatic, and has an awesome afro that would draw like a sketch artist. Plus, he is Morishima's regular partner, so not a bad idea to play off Morishima's real life success in 2007 by having his partner doing some of the same things.

Of course once you get into the indy promotions, there is a whole slew of guys available to you. Thing is, if you are going for realism, you'd probably want to use guys who are more of main eventers in their promotions. A lot of these guys aren't readily available in any updated form unless they've done US work, so that could be a problem.

Of course, there are always the freelancers. Katsuyori Shibata isn't a bad pick since he isn't really tied down to any one place. I have no idea what his 2007 was like, though. Tomoaki Honma is another guy you might want to look into.

So, there are your impact players I'd say. If you want a heel, I'd go with one of the AJPW guys. If you want a face, Honma or Yone would be my picks (though realize that Shuji Kondo wrestles as a face in other promotions, so he can go either way). Yano/Makabe is the best bet if you want a real team unit.

Hope this helps.
VertigoPosted on 04/11/08 at 21:29:58

On 04/07/08 at 05:27:33, TheImpalerTMX wrote:NOAH: There are a lot of obvious choices here based on who has been in ROH. So there are any of those guys, but I'm trusting you want to do something a little more original. With that in mind, Mohammed Yone would be a good pick. He's still relatively young, charismatic, and has an awesome afro that would draw like a sketch artist. Plus, he is Morishima's regular partner, so not a bad idea to play off Morishima's real life success in 2007 by having his partner doing some of the same things.
To me, this is a great choice. Yone was one of my favorites all the way back to the BattlArts days and as mentioned, he has a look that could be highly marketable in the U.S. Plus, there seems to be a lot more room for "believable" creative control with his gimmick rather than, say Kojima.