Yoshitatsu: ECW's newest import from Japan since Tajiri

Yoshi Tatsu was the first of many new stars to grace ECW's presence after the big trade. He comes from an interesting athletic background, has a lot of energy, and is a bit of a change of pace for ECW as he is, well, the first Japanese person to fly the ECW colors in recent memory since Tajiri. He has a lot to task, to say the least, so, let's see who he is and analyze this fresh young talent.

Thanks to the world of Wikipedia, we now know that his real name is Naofumi Yamamoto. His athletic career spans into the world of boxing as well as professional wrestling. His wrestling career started in 2002 as a member of the most illustrious Japanese wrestling organization, New Japan Pro Wrestling, home of greats like The Great Muta, The Great Sasuke, Jushin Liger, Tiger Mask, and more. On December 27, 2003, he lost to Ryusuke Taguchi for a spot on New Japan's annual show in the Tokyo Dome. Pretty big loss, eh? On July 26, 2004, he beat a well-known Japanese amateur wrestler named Yujiro Takahashi, to complete a successful debut at Korakuen Hall, another famous wrestling hot spot. He would later team up with Osamu Nishimura to defeat Toru Yano and returning wrestler, Togi Makabe on January 8, 2006.

In February of 2008, Yamamoto decided to sign up with the WWE instead of renewing his New Japan contract. He was assigned to the WWE farm system of FCW, underwent many name changes, and then finally came to be known as Yoshi Tatsu.

He was then called up to ECW in a year and 5 months to help flesh out their starved roster due to the trade. His first match pitted him against accomplished yet overlooked superstar, Shelton Benjamin. Shelton mocked him and his heritage for the most part of the match, failing to take Yoshi seriously. Then, from out of nowhere, Yoshi Tatsu tagged Shelton with a roundhouse kick to the head, pinned him, and got his first victory. Shelton, not one to be embarrassed so easily, challenged Yoshi Tatsu to a rematch the following week. This time, Yoshi barely got any offense in, as Shelton dominated. The only thing we saw were a few well-placed kicks from Yoshi as well as a rolling snapmare into a kick to the chest. It wasn't enough as all Shelton did was dodge Yoshi's roundhouse and hit his finisher, "Paydirt", to get the win. The following week, we got to see Yoshi Tatsu fight Paul Burchill, accompanied by Katie Lea, his sister. Once again, it was a one-sided affair, placing Burchill as the dominant one. How did it end? As Burchill argued with the referee, he was hit by Yoshi's patented roundhouse kick. 3 or so seconds later, Yoshi Tatsu wins his second match.

Now, far be it from me to nitpick, and I like to nitpick, trust me, but I'm looking at Yoshi's matches, his background, and his person and I came up with this assessment. Yoshi Tatsu might very well be one of the most talented stars in ECW mostly due to the fact that he was trained by the illustrious NJPW. However, he is being made to look like a complete weakling, wimp, or even a fluke artist on ECW. Some will say that I'm not being fair since, well, Yoshi is a new guy and has to earn his cuts. Others will say that he has to look weak against heels since he's a face. But, let me tell you this: I've seen faces that have come up with way more offense than this guy, be it new or old. I've seen Evan Bourne come up with more offense, I've seen Kofi Kingston literally embarrass his opponents with his offense, and I always see Rey Mysterio and Jeff Hardy walk away dominant over people, despite the size difference. So, objectively, I think I might be on to something. Am I to believe that there's nothing to Yoshi Tatsu's style except a few kicks, maybe a springboard maneuver, which he did botch against Burchill but pulled off well against Benjamin, and a rolling snapmare? How about instead of having him get his clock cleaned by established guys, you put him against no-name jobbers and have him win, as you did for Kofi Kingston on ECW? Instead, you give him the Evan Bourne route of fighting established stars first and seeing where that goes. Well, so far, it's going somewhat south as Yoshi Tatsu looks like a weakling of sorts. But then again, is it really any surprise that this is happening? No, not really. Why is that? It's because the WWE and other major organizations are guilty of one thing: undermining talent from Japan.

We have all heard Russo's diatribes in 2000 during the end of WCW's run. He stated that no one wants to see the foreign guys (specifically Japanese and Mexican) be a top star. This is America, so they want to see the American stars succeed. When he said this, unfortunately, not only was he far from the truth in some aspects, but he caused quite a stir saying it as many stars were planning to get out of WCW with as much money or credibility left as possible. I say some aspects, because, well, he's right, but he was generalizing the point. See, the fans would have no problem seeing a star from another country succeed, as this has been proven time and again with many stars (Rey Mysterio, Eddie Guerrero, KENTA, Takeshi Morishima, and the greatest example of this: Bret Hart). However, Russo was more than likely alluding to the promoters, bookers, and pundits backstage. They want the guy who can speak english, the guy that looks like an average American, or at least average enough to connect with the fans on the lowest of levels. Oh, and before you say it, I'll point it out. Yes, there are people from other countries that do speak English, and rather well, but they still aren't pushed because, well, they aren't American, or, well, because they are far better than Americans athletically.

And, it's on that point that I attempt to try and make sense of this whole analysis. Like it or not, believe it or not as you will, the best wrestlers in the world have been trained in or come from Japan. No one executes better, no one is more athletic. After Japan, it's Mexico and then Canada, and then parts of Europe, and then America. Yet, whenever these stars come up, you hear about how they have toured Japan and have had some great matches there. This can be a bit of a sore spot for the major organizations since they have a lot of great and top stars in their midst, but if you put them against an accomplished Japanese star or even an accomplished star from another country, in that country or another country where wrestling is still wrestling and not cheap entertainment, you see the difference in quality. Do you honestly think that the Japanese stars that have passed through the WWE were or are terrible? If you do, you probably need to take the rose-tinted glasses off, put down the beverage, and get off the armchair, because, mr., ms., or mrs. armchair quarterback, you have a lot to learn about wrestling.

Hakushi, Taka Michinoku, the Kaientai group, Ultimo Dragon, Jimmy Wang Yang, Sakoda, Tajiri, The Great Sasuke, and yes, even Kenzo Suzuki are or were all accomplished wrestlers, or at least talented enough to prove that they belong, and then some. They were allowed into the WWE and brought a different flavor to wrestling with their styles from Japan. What did they get in return for their troubles?

-Hakushi went from having a great feud with Bret Hart to barely showing up on t.v., only to worry about either Barry Horowitz and Chris Candido (when he was Skip, the Body Donna). After which, he returned to Japan, and then back to America in ECW for a few tag matches with Hayabusa vs. RVD and Sabu. The matches were great.

-Taka Michinoku held the Light Heavyweight title, feuded with some top cruiserweights, feuded with Kaientai, joined Kaientai, lead Kaientai, was reduced to doing stupid voiceovers on t.v. by some unknown announcer (it was Shane McMahon, trust me), literally destroyed his shoulder in a stupid angle where he kept entering the Royal Rumble because he wasn't chosen, and disappeared in the early 2000s to take care of his family as well as dedicate his time to Japan.

-Kaientai went from a well-versed team of fast-paced wrestlers to a running joke after being annihilated by the Oddities, who were 3 times their size, as well as the Hardy Boyz to give them their first major tag team win. Then, Men's Teioh and Dick Togo were fired and Funaki was kept to join Taka in the continued antics of Kaientai mentioned earlier. Since then, Funaki went from Smackdown's #1 announcer (yea, it was funny for maybe a little while), to short-lived cruiserweight champion, to a karate gi-wearing martial artist who wins with the "Crane Technique". This, of course, was coupled with the fact that his real name was "Kung Fu Naki". It's a ridiculous play on words that reeks of poor taste and bad creativity.

-Ultimo Dragon only had one great match in the WWE, which was his first against Shannon Moore. Despite his talents, his accolades, and his top matches with Rey Mysterio in WCW, he was overlooked for Rey and even Chavo as he completed his short lived WWE stint by wrestling in MSG at WM 20. It was his dream to wrestle there, and how did he spend it? He spent it tripping down the aisle and being eliminated from a Cruiserweight title match, never giving him the chance to hold the title in WWE.

-Tajiri first wrestled under his name as a regular wrestler the night after In Your House: Canadian Stampede in July of 1997 against the Great Sasuke. After which, he took his career to ECW as a regular wrestler and was embroiled in a long-running feud with Super Crazy (originally Super Loco in the WWE). There, he transformed himself into a "Great Muta"-esque wrestler who spit mist, wore long pants, and was even more lethal with his kicks. He then was taken in by the WWE in 2001 during the "Invasion" angle, only to start off and sort of continue as comic relief in certain ways, at least when he was a face. While doing so, he managed to capture the Cruiserweight title, as well as tag team gold. As we marveled at his brutal kicks, he decided to leave the WWE and America in 2005 due to increasing troubles in getting his wife to leave Japan. It was a successful run, but we never got to see Tajiri's full athletic abilities due to his diminuitive stature.

-During Tajiri's run, he formed a small group called Kyodai with Ryan Sakoda and Akio. The group went virtually nowhere, as these two new guys lost virtually all the time, in tag team or regular matches. Sakoda was shown the door and Akio stuck around, changing his gimmick a few times, and even teaming up with Billy Kidman. He would then return to be known as Jimmy Wang Yang, a stereotypical Japanese person trying to be a cowboy of sorts. Yes, this stereotype exists, folks. His finished was the ever-so-bland Moonsault Press that hasn't won matches since 1993 (1-2-3 Kid used it to beat Razor Ramon) if not 1996 (Shawn Michaels used it to beat Vader). He would win a lot of matches on his way to title shots for the Cruiserweight strap, only to fall short. This also occurred with the WWE tag belts. After being suspended for not adhering to the WWE drug policy, he hasn't been seen actively on t.v. since.

-The Great Sasuke only had two matches in the WWE with Tajiri and Taka Michinoku before leaving the WWE altogether. That's about it.

-Kenzo Suzuki was to be a premiere heavyweight wrestler on the midcard and then higher with power, speed, and agility. What did they do with him? They put him against Cena and well..yea, you know what happened next. If not, then you should look up a past blog of mine on Cena's damaging career and why he would not work in ECW.

So, it seems that Japanese wrestlers haven't really had a fair shake in the WWE without being embarrassed, annihilated in matches, or just undermined. No, it's not just limited to there, as the WCW is guilty of this as well. We saw just cruiserweight action with these guys, albeit sparingly. However, no real forward movement. TNA is also trying their hand at it but, as some have seen, it has had its ups and downs. Could it be that major organizations are somewhat jealous or afraid of Japanese wrestlers because they will outperform them? They come from the one country where wrestling is still wrestling. They are trained rigorously to execute with perfection. The best stars in the world go to Japan to train. So, yea, I think I'm on to something. If your foreign competitiors can put together better products that you have to import and you can't do that on your own, what does that say about you? It's been like this with all forms of business, to be honest. It's hitting the auto industry pretty hard as Japanese cars are the best in the country, let alone the world. So far, the WWE and major wrestling organizations like them have done their part to make sure this doesn't happen to them. I know, I'm leaving out ROH and even the NWA, but they aren't major just yet. Once they become major, they can say that they put over all talents, despite what country they are from, and it's a plus if they do come from Japan since they have a firm respect for the craft.

This sounds more like an ideological diatribe than an analysis, but that's only because I don't have much on Yoshi Tatsu as a wrestler, since he hasn't done much in America, let alone Japan. This is also because what Yoshi is going through is no different than what the others have gone through in the WWE. How long will it be before he starts losing matches left and right? How long before he's forgotten? How long before a stupid stereotype surfaces and he's caught in the middle of it? I can just see the WWE looping some stupid anime-related joke to him. It just burns me up because I know he's got the goods to be a top wrestler as he has been trained to do so. Ok, so, maybe NJPW today is not as effective as it was about 10 years ago, but they still have a plethora of talents that make their way to the U.S. to give us some great matches. They still have better training methods than most of the American schools. So, you have to give them credit for that.

I just hope that Yoshi Tatsu doesn't end up on the "future endeavors" list, or worse, on the WWE's growing Job Squad of talent that should be showcased for their abilities but downplayed for one reason or another. Would it be too much for the WWE to overlook his being Japanese and push him based on his talents? I'm afraid so, if you have talents in the WWE that are protective of their spots, and above all, are from this country. I guess I just have to wait and see what Yoshi Tatsu does next. Maybe he'll be a great deal, and maybe he won't. However, if he's on the receiving end of something as embarrassing as, say, losing to Hornswoggle, I think it would be safe to say that his career has sunken to the depths of the Pacific, waiting for Godzilla to eat it up. Then, he'll definitely have regretted passing up a chance with NJPW. Indeed!