PetrolCB Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 13 minutes ago, Zimbra said: Didn't get back into wrestling until '97 and never had much of a desire to revisit mid-90s WWF. I think maybe he had a match there with Great Sasuke? That definitely rings a bell. No. But he had some good matches with Bret and one at The SummerSlam against 123 Kid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 How bout I recognized Jinsei easily but not Tajiri? I feel dirty. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimbra Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 1 minute ago, Elsalvajeloco said: How bout I recognized Jinsei easily but not Tajiri? I feel dirty. He has weirdly boyish old-guy face and I hate it. That's a man who needs a beard. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Just now, Zimbra said: He has weirdly boyish old-guy face and I hate it. That's a man who needs a beard. I know he didn't have it during his white and blue trunks days, but I was thinking "Is that Yoshi-tatsu's uncle but why is he wearing a Tapout shirt?" Then a cursory glance of his timeline gave me an answer. I am so out of the loop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nofuture Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Social distancing indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 6 hours ago, Pete said: Taka, KENTA, Sasuke, Kaientai and these guys could have warned Nakamura and KUSHIDA, but no. In particular I think Yoshi would have some things to say to Tozawa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 5 minutes ago, Curt McGirt said: Taka, KENTA, Sasuke, Kaientai and these guys could have warned Nakamura and KUSHIDA, but no. In particular I think Yoshi would have some things to say to Tozawa I think Nakamura went for the intended purpose of an extended, paid vacation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 I think I've posited something similar before. For sure he deserves the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Remember that TAKA vs Sasuke match from IYH: Canadian Stampede? Apparently that happened because they wanted to give TAKA a tryout/ showcase match, let him choose his opponent and Sasuke whined and moaned until TAKA picked him. Then insisted on winning the match, and called it so that he would outshine Taka and make a stronger impression, because he thought it should be himself, the Great Sasuke, who got the big money American deal, not his protege. If that pre- Michinoku Pro company had taken off, where Sasuke was Masa Michinoku and Super Delfin was Monkey Magic Wakita, I think Taka would have eventually become the Great Sasuke there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 Wasn't the reason Sasuke wasn't picked because Vince didn't like masked wrestlers or something similarly trivial? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PetrolCB Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 (edited) I think it was Sasuke being a pain in the ass and telling the Japanese press that when he wins the Lightheavyweight title (I don't think the tournament was made public yet), he would never defend it in the states and only in Japan. I suppose like how that title was defended before somebody clued them into the fact that Ultimo Dragon was on Nitro with the belt. Edited March 23, 2020 by PetrolCB 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattdangerously Posted March 23, 2020 Share Posted March 23, 2020 1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said: Taka, KENTA, Sasuke, Kaientai and these guys could have warned Nakamura and KUSHIDA, but no. In particular I think Yoshi would have some things to say to Tozawa What do you think Taka Michinoku should have been doing in late 90s WWF that he wasn't already doing? His upside in the promotion wasn't that high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragonzombie Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RRR Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 8 hours ago, Curt McGirt said: Taka, KENTA, Sasuke, Kaientai and these guys could have warned Nakamura and KUSHIDA, but no. In particular I think Yoshi would have some things to say to Tozawa Warned them of what? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 (edited) That their careers would flatline in WWE. I guess KUSHIDA still has some time but Nak's been in midcard hell for awhile now. He does have a belt at least. Out of that whole list of guys I think Taka might've had the most positive experience, getting to head his own weight class and (supposedly) getting to fuck Sunny (at least I think that was the rumor). Shinzaki had the Bret feud but he was pretty well DOA. Tajiri didn't have too bad of an experience either I guess, or Funaki. Probably the most successful Japanese worker in the fed wasn't even really Japanese: Yoko. EDIT: Forgot about Asuka, and she's right up there on my TV screen. Edited March 24, 2020 by Curt McGirt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Curt McGirt said: That their careers would flatline in WWE. I guess KUSHIDA still has some time but Nak's been in midcard hell for awhile now. He does have a belt at least. Out of that whole list of guys I think Taka might've had the most positive experience, getting to head his own weight class and (supposedly) getting to fuck Sunny (at least I think that was the rumor). Shinzaki had the Bret feud but he was pretty well DOA. Tajiri didn't have too bad of an experience either I guess, or Funaki. Probably the most successful Japanese worker in the fed wasn't even really Japanese: Yoko. EDIT: Forgot about Asuka, and she's right up there on my TV screen. I Bret's book, He was the only one that wanted to make him look strong. Outside of Bret and Kid no one else really wanted to give him anything to work with. If he came along a year or two later he may have had a better chance. He was alot bigger than the other Michinoku guys and Tajiri even later. Tajiri had more personality and charisma , similar to Asuka even when they aren't even doing any significant they are over to a degree 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HumanChessgame Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 All of the Shinzaki stuff from FMW I've seen has been a pretty mixed bag. When he was motivated he had some really entertaining material but I've seen just as many matches where he was sluggish and kinda mailing it in. What's the general consensus on his body of work overall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eivion Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 7 hours ago, Curt McGirt said: That their careers would flatline in WWE. I guess KUSHIDA still has some time but Nak's been in midcard hell for awhile now. He does have a belt at least. Out of that whole list of guys I think Taka might've had the most positive experience, getting to head his own weight class and (supposedly) getting to fuck Sunny (at least I think that was the rumor). Shinzaki had the Bret feud but he was pretty well DOA. Tajiri didn't have too bad of an experience either I guess, or Funaki. Probably the most successful Japanese worker in the fed wasn't even really Japanese: Yoko. EDIT: Forgot about Asuka, and she's right up there on my TV screen. Taka made enough money to make his own promotion. Tajiri was super over, won multiple titles, earned similar money to Taka, and probably will get a HoF nod in the future. Women's wrestling in Japan has been on a downturn for years. Asuka not only is making more money than she ever did before, but she managed to get 2+ year title reign seen by many more people than anyone who was watching joshi pro wrestling during her time at top. She also got a major Wrestlemania match and is still treated somewhat importantly even if WWE's booking is shit. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MORELOCK Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 The "WWE ruined _______" narrative is so heavily reinforced here that it's easy to slip what amounts to 100% bullshit under the radar...fucking Sasuke? Really? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StretchMediatedHypertrophy Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 Nakamura is a featured guy. They still do the full intro with the musicians plugging in - he's a heel and he doesn't always win by any means but he's hardly a jobber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoeCristyV.1.6 Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 17 hours ago, Curt McGirt said: Taka, KENTA, Sasuke, Kaientai and these guys could have warned Nakamura and KUSHIDA, but no. In particular I think Yoshi would have some things to say to Tozawa “Don't tuck in your head on a Styles Clash!“ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curt McGirt Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 2 hours ago, HumanChessgame said: All of the Shinzaki stuff from FMW I've seen has been a pretty mixed bag. When he was motivated he had some really entertaining material but I've seen just as many matches where he was sluggish and kinda mailing it in. What's the general consensus on his body of work overall? Pretty much the same as you said. He had a cool moveset but was really methodical and, well, boring. I think he's best in there with a guy like Gannosuke who is a heat magnet, or working tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nice Guy Eddie Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 20 hours ago, Zimbra said: He has weirdly boyish old-guy face and I hate it. That's a man who needs a beard. Clean shaven Tajiri is another one that just looks wrong, like Rick Rude without the Tom Selleck 'stache. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AxB Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elsalvajeloco Posted March 24, 2020 Share Posted March 24, 2020 1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said: Clean shaven Tajiri is another one that just looks wrong, like Rick Rude without the Tom Selleck 'stache. Rick Rude without the stache looks weird, but he looked out of place with it in ECW. He looked like an out of work PE coach during that whole time or a sitcom dad during a very special episode about doing illegal steroids you got from some strange person at the gym. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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