How To Solve A Problem Like... Yoshi?

[Daniel]

About a year ago, I made a thread asking how you solve a problem like Chavo. How can he get off of the fringes of WWE and on to the main programming? Well, today, almost a year after, I ask you... how do you solve a problem like Yoshi?

Yoshi Tatsu came joined WWE in 2007, becoming a part of the developmental system. He was called up to ECW in 2009, joined Raw in 2010 and was drafted to SmackDown in 2011. In his two years on WWE, he has won precisely... nothing. The closest he ever came to a championship was a tag team match with Goldust against ShowMiz. So what does Yoshi need to do to become a pivotal part of WWE? And what is holding him back?

Yoshi is quite over, to be honest. He garners nice reactions. So he's not got a problem with fan interactions. I think he's got a problem with his gimmick. Well, it's more of a half-gimmick. I've watched a few clips of the current season of NXT and his gimmick appears to be that of a sweet, occasionally naive foreign man. So I think a gimmick change is in order. And not just a slight change or a development. I'm thinking a full-blown character overhaul to show off his strengths and hide his weaknesses.

I'm thinking of a Gothic badass Yoshi. Weird, right? Hear me out. Dressed in black tights, boots, etc. No colour shall enter his wardrobe. Get rid of the frankly ridiculous hair completely. Just shave his head. That's his look sorted, what about the rest? His in-ring style can be straight up puro - something I believe he is well versed in. The no-nonsense style screams badass. Because of his in-ring talent, it means he can rely on that more than his ability to talk. I've always liked the idea of a voluntarily mute wrestler. If a microphone is put in his face, he just walks away.

Yes, that's right. I have just proposed a gothic, shaved head, voluntarily mute Yoshi Tatsu. So how about you? What do you think is holding Yoshi back? And what would you do to rectify his fortunes?

 

[Constipated Badger Bottom]

I've watched a few clips of the current season of NXT and his gimmick appears to be that of a sweet, occasionally naive foreign man.

If you follow him on twitter than you'll see he is actually a sweet guy and to a point naive foriegn man and everytime he tweets he posts a picture of his Yoshi Tatsu Action figure outside a certain location, his latest being outside a grocery store in florida, but wether or not he's in gimmick while tweeting is unknown to me but most of the wrestlers on twitter or usally out of character

But before I can really come up for a solution for Yoshi I would like to hear some of his mic work, I don't know wether or not he's done much since coming into the WWE but if is English is broken then maybe comedy jobber like Santino but if his English is preety good then maybe a Foriegn Rock Star gimmick could work for him, so he can keep the hair, always has shades on when he's not wrestling, leather jacket, has that rock star smile and maybe pair him up with Rosa Mendes or Melina or maybe even Tamina and have him have sort of like a Axl Rose type ego so for example he get's put in a match with Santino Marella but refuses to wrestle him because he's only a small time wrestler and he will only wrestle big time wrestlers like Miz or Cena or Mysterio

 

[ringjobber1]

If you follow him on twitter than you'll see he is actually a sweet guy and to a point naive foriegn man and everytime he tweets he posts a picture of his Yoshi Tatsu Action figure outside a certain location, his latest being outside a grocery store in florida, but wether or not he's in gimmick while tweeting is unknown to me but most of the wrestlers on twitter or usally out of character

But before I can really come up for a solution for Yoshi I would like to hear some of his mic work, I don't know wether or not he's done much since coming into the WWE but if is English is broken then maybe comedy jobber like Santino but if his English is preety good then maybe a Foriegn Rock Star gimmick could work for him, so he can keep the hair, always has shades on when he's not wrestling, leather jacket, has that rock star smile and maybe pair him up with Rosa Mendes or Melina or maybe even Tamina and have him have sort of like a Axl Rose type ego so for example he get's put in a match with Santino Marella but refuses to wrestle him because he's only a small time wrestler and he will only wrestle big time wrestlers like Miz or Cena or Mysterio

Not a bad idea with the rockstar gimmick but that would just make him a japanese verson of john morrison. I think he should get a tajiri type gimmick with the green mist he has talent and I don't wanna see him become kongfunaki #2 and his theme music is catchy I found myself singing it in the shower lol

 

[Big Nick Dudley]

I have a solution -- fire him.

Kidding. Keep him for house show duty, and the occasional job on Raw/Smackdown. Either way, he isn't moving up. It's not going to happen. He has zero personality, overrated in the ring, and I'm not sure how well he speaks English. That haircut isn't doing him any favors, either.

He's perfect where he is. A small minority of the audience finds him entertaining, and he makes other people, more important people, look good. He's obviously getting paid a decent amount of money as well. Some people aren't meant to do "big things." It's a fact

 

[MrHashasheen]

I'm a fan of Yoshi Tatsu. He's a decent puro worker and his theme song is catchy. The only thing stopping him from connecting more with the crowd is the fact he doesn't have a push. Even Taijri connected with the crowd and his english was horrible.

 

[xoxo French Kiss xoxo]

If he helps open a door to get a larger fan base in Japan, Vince and company are stupid not to push him. I think his major hold up is that his English is very poor and he has been unable to grasp it since coming to the US. He is very talented in the ring. He took out the Gold Standard several times while in ECW.

He's one of the talents that would benefit greatly from a having a manager to speak for him, if he was in a real tag team with another guy from Japan with an English speaking manager they could be MONEY!!

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

...........................Well............I think we can all agree the fact he isn't a bona fide Hall of Famer by now is a bit of a travesty.

No but in all seriousness I believe he should be used a bit more on TV, that's the only quarrell I have. A guy like him, obviously has no mic skill because of the language barrier, but he doesn't have a gargantuan frame like the Great Khali so nobody is there to manage him and help him overcome this. He can't really be anything big no matter how hard he tries.

But as was pointed out he appeals to the Japanese fan base which as well all know is a very big wrestling market. Having him compete and get the occasional win on Raw wouldn't hurt, it would only benefit.

Long term - Never really receives anything of a push. Perhaps a mid-card contender down the line with one or two short reigns. Not even worth considering when in the discussion of "main event material". But he's not a hindrance and he earns good pay, it's a win either way. And I am, as you can tell, a fan of his.

 

[Trance Metaphor]

Yoshi Tatsu has a lot of energy and the connection with the crowd. But, at the same time he's kind of bland in terms of moveset and well, lack of promos or gimmick. He just comes out, performs his routine in the ring (win or lose) and then disappears for the night. That's kind of a halt career. There were plenty of stars in the WWE that did that in the 90's. They'd come to the WWE, get a massive push at first and then after losing once or twice to a big name, they'd spiral into oblivion for a few years before departing. I don't want that to happen to Yoshi 'cause the guy could get things done in the ring and become Champion. I think I've said this before, but it'd be sad for a guy like to him to jump overseas for success in the big league only to accomplish nothing in the end once he packs it home again. He didn't win any titles in Japan. Not even a tournament. I would like to see him win the Intercontinental title (as unlikely as that seems at the moment) or some other kind of honour.

 

[Daniel.Wood]

I'd like to see him become a monk that's taken a vow of silence, he just rocks up, kicks ass and leaves. (like a ninja)

If anyone's seen the Hangover 2 you'll kind of get what i'm going for here.

 

[gbswim972]

You bring back a cruiserweight Championship.... You got Sin Cara, Yoshi, Daniel Bryan, Chavo, the new guy, Gaberial, Primo, JTG...Go with it!!!!

 

[CanYouDigIt98]

Get Him A Chance In A PPV For Intercontinental Title And Take Him On From There Push Him Up In The Next 3 Years For Tag Team Titles , US. Champion And A Shot At WHC But Thats Only If Vince Allows Him A Title In The Next Few Months ....

DANIEL . WOOD THATS AN AWSOME IDEA .... AND MAYBE GIVE HIM A CRACK SELLING MONKEY ?

 

[Daniel.Wood]

DANIEL . WOOD THATS AN AWSOME IDEA .... AND MAYBE GIVE HIM A CRACK SELLING MONKEY ?

The monkey might be too far.

But seriously give him the religion and even give him that stick to walk around with, have him not talk (he can have a mouthpeice) and give him this peaceful monk like gimmick

Then have him go absolutely mental inside the ring (a bit like festus.. but more monk-like) have him absolutely kick people's asses and then bow afterwards as a sign of respect and he's all calm and monk-like again.

 

[DEGENERATE KID]

I'm going to play booking 101 here, so hear me out.
Have Yoshi in a mini feud with Ted DiBiase for a couple of months. Have him go over Ted a few times on Superstars and eventually on Smackdown. By this time Ted would be so frustrated at losing to Tatsu, he challenges him to a match at a ppv. But Tatsu declines saying he already beat Ted 5 or 6 times (depending on how long you want the feud to go on). Ted then says if Tatsu accepts and should win, then he gets to have Ted's trust fund. At the ppv Tatsu goes over Ted once again and gets Ted's trust fund. This is the part where Ted is transforming into a tweener and people are starting to sympathise with him for losing. Yoshi on the other hand becomes a japanese businessman-like character and starts bragging about his newly acquired riches turning him heel. He starts hiring people to help him in the i.c title chase only to lose. He gets frustrated and pays Brodus to become his bodyguard and takes on allcomers. This way Yoshi works his way up to the top as a heel eventually becoming #1 contender.

 

[911 JP]

Well to start off with, and the only real problem he has is his gimmick, change it! He is a bonafied jobber. I would change his gimmick to something like, not cocky, but a head strong, take on all challengers strong man face, use his japanese heritage more, have him the fun face for the people, but make him serious, like Tajiri but with a different gimmick.

Have him back on superstars gaining victorys, but start small, like a victory over Tyson Kidd, then build up and put him over Zack Ryder and then finally Drew Mcintyre. Then put him back on Raw and start him small again, put him over Primo, Curt hawkins, and David Otunga. Then build him up more again and put him over Mason Ryan and Jack Swagger, then to push him up more give him an upset win over CM Punk or R-Truth or The Miz. This should not only get him over but make the push have meaning by having him work his way to the top. then leave him as a top heel, because I do not want to see him as a champion, and clearly WWE doesnt either.

 

[#hamler]

No offense dude, but I think that's a horrible idea. People now don't care a whole hell of a lot about Ted Dibiase, I don't exactly know if it would be best to use him to create a solid heel character in Yoshi Tatsu. If Ted Dibiase were able to get a significant amount of heat from the crowd, then I could see it...somewhat but people just dont give a flying fuck about Ted Dibiase to take interest in anything he does even in something like this.

Also, I'm almost a 98.6 percent sure Yoshi can say like two words in the English language. What might work better is a mouth peice, someone to carry him around and talk for him. That way Yoshi doesn't have to say shit during a feud. Yoshi would obviously have to change his look. Maybe cut his hair, change his flashy tights to something more heelish. I don't think advanced booking would be needed for this type of turn. Just re-introduce him dressed in a fancy suit with a new look and a manager.

Even though I have never cared about Yoshi Tatsu, I think some type of heel character would be an interesting change.

 

[Rayne]

Who's Yoshi Tatsu?

What Yoshi Tatsu is is the token Japanese guy. The only way his career moves up in the WWE is if they decide to import Japanese wrestlers like they're starting to import luchadors, and they want someone Japanese-ey to work with him. Otherwise, what's the point? You've got dozens of other wrestlers that the audience responds to better that you could use instead.

I'm actually amazed that Yoshi Tatsu has held onto his employment as long as he has.

 

[CM Steel]

This is a bad idea. Yoshi Tatsu has no reason to turn heel after what happened to his homeland that is Japan. He has an already hard time being a face in today's WWE era. The WWE cruiserweight championship is now retired. So it's not like Y.T. can pull a Tajuri and succeed in that divison when it doesn't exsist anymore.

I hope that the WWE doesn't give Yoshi the Funaki treatment. But what more can they do with him? And the heel turn is OUT!

 

[Daniel.Wood]

Yoshi Tatsu had a video package promo on smackdown, I think they're lining up some sort of mini-push for him.

 

[Mr. Artistic guy]

As silly it sounds initially it is actually quite a good question. How could you turn him heel. I mean, he doesn't have anything of a fan base per se, but he is an utterly inoffensive and likeable type of guy, it'd be a bit of a task to turn him heel and have the viewers buy it. Naturally this is mostly due to the language barrier.

If he ever turned it'd probably have to be into some sort of comedic heel, or just have him really persistently annoy people until they couldn't stand him any longer. Good thing is is supposing and unlikely to ever happen. Another idea which works classicly in this situation is a manager. Bobby Heenan managed guys like Haku and Andre who weren't masters of the English language and Fuji managed Yokozuna, although these were all very physically imposing characters, this would still be the most workable route.

 

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

There really is no way to help Yoshi. I hate to say it because I've loved the guy since he first debuted on ECW but he can't speak English therefore can't deliver a promo which basically kills any chance of him having a real solid feud until he learns the language. If he wasn't so bubbly and was a little more imposing and serious I'm sure you could squeeze some upper/mid card feuds out of him. But he is bubbly and he isn't imposing nor is he serious.

This basically relegates to him to what Nick B. said: House Shows, NXT, Superstars and occasional job on Raw/Smackdown. The best I can see happening is maybe challenging to challenge for the U.S./I.C Titles.

 

[Xemmy]

I'm afraid to say that Yoshi may not be able to overcome his weaknesses. It can be done for sure, but it won't. The company isn't, and never will be behind him. The most memorable Asian in all of WWE is Tajiri, and he never made it past mid-card. It's safe to say he's future endeavored.

For the sake of argument, he needs to be booked as "crazy". Believing you can get a crowd in America to take him seriously is borderline gullibility. Have him start doing the mist thing. Works for Tajiri, might work for Yoshi.