Yoshi Tatsu has finally started to turn heads in ECW, with his ability in the ring. His rise to the top is rather reminiscent to Kofi Kingston, only without the undefeated streak. I would say that about 4 to 6 months from now, he will be seeing greener pastures on Raw or Smackdown. In my opinion, it could go either way as to where he ends up. Whatever the case may be, he can make a serious push for the Intercontinental or U.S. Title and probably walk off with it, but maybe in a few tries. In fact, I'd say that with the right marketing, he could even be very approachable and acceptable to many fans alike. However, it is in this air that Yoshi faces true danger. See, Yoshi Tatsu is from Japan. He doesn't speak English, he's already being portrayed in a comedic light with his incessant need to say "Thank you" (Tajiri did the something like this when he first showed up), and he's got the wrestling chops to outshine the majority of the lower and middle card. Throw in the fact that he's a cruiserweight and you have enough key reasons as to why he'll never see true success. Then again, as mentioned, neither did Steamboat.
Ricky Steamboat's most notable feud in his WWE time included his battle with Randy Savage after getting assaulted to his throat and larynx. The feud culminated at the Wrestlemania, as mentioned with Steamboat winning the IC title. However, no more than a few months later, he dropped the title to the Honky Tonk Man. All that hard work, and only 4 months of success. He never got the IC title back since then. In fact, he disappeared from the WWE shortly after the title loss. He showed up in the NWA to battle Ric Flair on a number of occasions. He returned to the WWE on a short-term basis, then he disappeared to WCW for a possible push there. Why didn't Steamboat go places? Well, he spoke English, his gimmick was very much like the "Karate Kid" or "Bruce Lee", in a sense (which could be seen as a positive or negative, based on your opinion), and he was very over with the crowd. Plus, his ability in the ring was virtually flawless. My guess: he wasn't big enough, size-wise, to make any waves since Vincent K. McMahon liked bigger stars, and also, his gimmick wasn't as flamboyant as the Honky Tonk Man's or others. Tough break, but he made some strides at least to make himself notable.
Yoshi Tatsu, albeit in a similar situation, or could be in a similar situation, will have it much worse for himself. His lack of comprehensive English-speaking skills can put him at a definitive disadvantage, when it comes to giving promos or interviews. He's probably one backstage segment away from embodying a negative stereotype (I can see the anime-references coming a mile away. Shoot, someone had a sign talking about him with the Yoshi character from Nintendo on it). He's a cruiserweight, which means he'll be shuffled towards the lower card, possibly on the losing end of things. Lastly, he's received good training from his former organization, New Japan Pro Wrestling, which may put him at odds with many wrestling politicians backstage that don't want to be shown up by his ability to execute maneuvers better than others. Truth be told, it looks like he's behind the 8-ball on this one. Don't believe me? It's happened before, in fact on 4 occasions.
Taka Michinoku came in as the answer to WCW's rising cruiserweight division, winning the Light Heavyweight title, and embroiling himself in different feuds, including with his fellow stars in Kaientai, Brian Christopher, and the Oddities (which was when he teamed with Kaientai). How did his career pan out? He literally destroyed his shoulder in 2000, watched everyone but himself and Funaki get fired, got relegated to an idiotic tag team gimmick with Funaki in Kaientai as they were voiced-over like a bad martial arts film (in case you were wondering, it was Shane McMahon doing the VOs, I'm sure of it), then was fired. Funaki remained in the WWE, only to become a backstage interviewer speaking in broken English, then later became Cruiserweight champion for a short time, only to linger on as a jobber, and is now called Kung Fu Naki, with a martial arts gi, a red headband, and a crane kick as a finisher. Yea, idiotic, I know. Jimmy Wang Yang was originally a dangerously skilled Japanese wrestler in WCW with Kaz Hayashi and Jamie Noble, before getting signed on to the WWE as a member of the Japanese mafia, supporting Tajiri. When that fell through, he was just another martial artist, teaming with Billy Kidman until he was transformed into Jimmy Wang Yang, your stereotypical Asian person trying to be a Southerner. Where did that take him? It got him a few choice victories in tag team and singles wrestling, but never any titles, and then, out of nowhere, he was suspended for a wellness policy violation and hasn't been on the winning end of any matches since then. It's bad enough he had a gimmick that was already wearing thin since its beginning, despite his tremendous ability. The suspension just made things worse. Lastly, we have Tajiri. After appearing briefly on WWE television, he joined ECW and was embroiled in a long-time feud with Super Crazy. It was enough to get him an ECW Television Title and a few ECW World Title shots. Upon coming to the WWE, he was already a flunky for William Regal. He then became Torrie Wilson's love interest, and then he became a heel, but not before winning the Cruiserweight championship, I believe, along with some other titles, if I'm not mistaken. After many stellar runs as Cruiserweight champion, he departed from the WWE in 2005. This was attributed to his grief of the loss of Eddie Guerrero as well as his travels straining on his marriage. However, as respected and as cheered as Tajiri got, he never received any forward movement, even when Rey Mysterio was getting it, and he was smaller than Tajiri, too.
Some of these examples might not seem very prevalent, but they all share one thing in common: they, like Yoshi Tatsu, all have had the same problems coming into the forefront of their careers. Be it a language barrier, size differentials, bad stereotypes or even just general talent, it wasn't enough for them to go anywhere near a major singles title, let alone a major mid-card title, if not for a long period of time. It could have even been just general backstage politics, but the outcome remains the same. Yoshi Tatsu had better be ready to expect this for his career. It's just a bit depressing and saddening only because the WWE can choose to be progressive and allow for a change by allowing for a foreign star to succeed, let alone one of a different nationality. Like it or not, you won't be seeing many foreign stars as champions in major wrestling organizations in the U.S. We got that chance with Yokozuna (even though he was Samoan, in reality, but he still wasn't American). We even got that with various Canadian stars (but they spoke English, so there was no language barrier). Simply put, the possibilities are too few and far between to consider it progress. That said, Yoshi Tatsu might not see anything more out of his career but a possible IC or U.S. Title run....that could end in a blink of an eye.
Yoshi Tatsu is slowly but surely reaching new horizons as a superstar in ECW and in the WWE, as a whole. It doesn't look like he'll go very far, as based on past examples, but there is always hope. Rey Mysterio could barely speak English, and sadly, he still barely can in some instances, but he was still given the World Title for his merit, his ability, his heart, and his connection with Eddie Guerrero (a connection that would make him a key culprit in the exploitation of Eddie's life...after his death). Kofi Kingston spoke English, despite a forced and labored Jamaican accent, and he has won the U.S., IC, and World Tag titles within the first year and a half of being on Monday Night Raw. He did have his fair share of losses, but now he's embroiled in a feud with a top main eventer in Randy Orton. Does this show promise for Yoshi? You could say so, but with all the things against him for possible forward progression, it's very hard to say. Regardless, you'd be a fool to discredit his amazing ability, which is his biggest selling point in ECW. If it got him a title shot, it can get him a spot on a better or bigger brand.
Yoshi Tatsu has his career right in front of him and has to do his best to make the best of the situation that he's in. In fact, all superstars who find themselves in limbo, jobbing here and there, or not even showing up on t.v. should do the best with the situation they are in. Showing initiative, despite the negatives is always a good sign for upward movement. Although it might be too late for some, it isn't for Yoshi Tatsu. Who knows? He might actually reach those "new horizons" that so many of his brethren from Japan have missed. Or, he could just be relegated to some Japanese Anime-related gimmick/stereotype....which just screams of creativity.....
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