I've got a serious question.

[Guest bps "The Truth" 21]

When a guy leaves Japan to wrestle in the US (Taka, Funaki, Masato Tanaka, Hakushi...etc) do the Japanese fans look down on them.  

 

Since the competition where they go is guys dressed like clowns and stuff...

 

And the fact that they are never pushed anywhere near the top...

 

I don't know how those guys compare to the rest of the guys in Japanese Wrestling...but what about someone like Muta?  There was a time that he spent ALOT of time with the NWA.  Did the fans get pissed at him when he came back?  Or were they just happy he was back?  What did they think of him when he was gone?

 

I know that when a guy comes from the US...they are respected by the Japanese fans...but how does it work in reverse?

[Guest RickyChosyu]

Well, I think it depends. I really have no idea how Muta was treated when he left for the NWA, but seeing as Muta was a total heel character to begin with, any animosity towards him from the fans because of his run in the U.S. was probably seen as a good thing anyway. I do know that Taka is especially hated for going to the WWF and staying there, to the point that he's gotten death threats.

 

However, Teioh and Togo were warmly recieved, from what I heard, as was Jinsei Shinzaki, who seemed to return as a superstar, so much so that New Japan had him main eventing at times after his return.

 

Generally, I think going to the U.S. is seen as a good thing if it's done as a way for the wrestle to "legitamize" himself as a megastar by making it big in America, but if that person totally flops and is used as a slap in the face to the Japanese people (ie: Taka) then they hate him. It'll be internesting to see how the fans react to Tajiri, who actually got some pretty good exposure in BJPW thanks to the New Japan fued.

[Guest MRFTW]

Taka and Funaki might be since they've gotten such a crappy push in the WWF, i'm not sure.

 

Masato Tanaka got a big push and was treated better by ECW so I doubt he was looked down on by the fans or atleast not until they did that ECW/ECW Japan vs FMW angle and Tanaka sided with team ECW.

 

I used to think Hakushi might have been but he got a pretty big push to around upper mid card status when he first arrived and fueded with Bret. And even if the WWF did have "guys dressed like clowns and stuff" M-pro had wrestling Dolphins, Crabs, Monkeys and all kinds of other weird gimmicks so he(a wrestling monk) probably fit right in in the WWF.

 

The NWA/WCW is/was a respected company in Japan and both Muta and Chono are former NWA/WCW world champs so I doubt they were looked down on either. Japanese and American feds most notably NJPW and the NWA/WCW have done talent exchanges for years.

 

And the Japanese feds would often just send guys like Muta to the U.S. and other countries so they could gain experiance. Read an article about it earlier today at

http://www.geocities.com/smokyrobmoore/jp091100.htm

 

More recent examples I can think of this would be Yuji Nagata's time in WCW and when Ultiom Dragon got guys like Cima and Dragon Kid a few WCW matches.

[Guest Stuart]

The Japanese media (I don't know about people in general) look UP to them when they first go to WWF, since it's such a big company. However, after they are mistreated (which is usually the case), it's not quite so good for them. Basically, TAKA would be one of the biggest juniors in Japan now, probably Liger's top rival in the NJ Jr. division, but if he went back now, his chances of ever reaching such status would be severely damaged. Tajiri is in the media graces right now, but very recently, coverage at Nikkan Sports et. al. has been down, because he's been jobbing left and right.