Yoshi Tatsu returns to NJPW in a big way...

[Trill Co$by]

Former WWE Superstar Yoshi Tatsu returned home at the 10/13 NJPW Supershow "King of Pro-Wrestling" to aid fellow NJPW Star Hiroshi Tanahashi gain the IWGP Heavyweight title from AJ Styles by fending off the interfering Jeff Jarrett. This set up the AJ Styles vs. Yoshi Tatsu (Known As: Naofumi Yamamoto) for their next event Power Struggle. Any thoughts?

I'm not too familiar with NJPW, nor Tatsu's previous history in the company. I've seen a few matches here and there, and I know they've had deals with pretty much every major American company to date. I also know WWE recently signed Devitt and Kenta, who were a big tag team in this company. And I also know that Bully Ray made a rib at them at Bound For Glory.

Still, I've always thought Tatsu had a lot of talent and was underutilized in WWE ever since I saw his minor persona change on NXT Redemption. It was a really neat persona and fit well in his rivalry against Tyson Kidd. I just hope that his time in NJPW can be better off for him than his time in WWE.

Anyway, your thoughts?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Like a lot of American fans, I'm not hugely familiar with many Japanese stars because, again like most American fans, I don't have the capability of frequently watching Japanese cards. I'll come across a video on YouTube here & there and, for me personally, the language barrier is a big factor as well.

Yoshi helping to cost AJ Styles the IWGP Heavyweight Championship is, quite possibly, the biggest moment in Tatsu's career. Before signing to WWE in 2007, he spent 5 years in New Japan and was never a big star. Generally speaking, he didn't really rise much farther in New Japan than he'd eventually rise in WWE as he was strictly a low to low mid-card singles a tag team wrestler in New Japan. He appeared in the Young Lion Cup Tournament in '04 and '05 to generally unspectacular performances. He won 3 matches in '04 and a single bout in '05. He participated in the G1 Climax Tournament in '06 and lost all the matches he competed in. The same year, he switched to a tag team wrestler but nothing really came of it. In 2007, he formed a tag team with Hiroshi Tanahashi called the New Japan Dragons and they eventually earned a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship that was held at the time by Giant Bernard and Tomko. In the '07 G1 Tag Team League, he teamed with Takashi Iizuka but ultimately came in last place. His last match, a match he lost, came in early November '07 in a tag team bout in which he was paired with Yuji Nagata. From what I understand, that's pretty much all the highlights of Tatsu's 5 years in New Japan.

I think that Yoshi Tatsu MIGHT have been something more in WWE than what he was. He was a victim of WWE's generally lackluster developmental program heralded by John Laurinaitis. It's not to say that Big Johnny was completely clueless in what he was doing, he did sign some great talent during his time there, but he's someone who believed it was more important to have the right look or image than anything else. Vince is someone who always has the final say, that's the same even today, but, from what I understand, Laurinaitis was mostly a yes man to Vince who didn't try all that much to convince Vince otherwise if he thought he was wrong. By the time Trips came along, it was pretty much too late for Tatsu. Tatsu was released on June 12, about 6 weeks or so shy of his 37th birthday. Had Triple H had the sort of power and influence as an executive 5 or 6 years ago that he has now, MAYBE he would've been more than a jobber. The past few years, it's been primarily about building NXT with younger stars. When Triple H took over in his current spot, Tatsu was essentially a nobody in his mid 30s.