15 Biggest Differences Between WWE And Japanese Wrestling

By Alexander Podgorski /

9. Strong Style

This arguably the defining feature of the actual wrestling in Japan. Strong style is a combination of judo and mixed martial arts, have a heavy focus on submission wrestling, and most importantly, the wrestlers hit each other with legitimate strike attacks. Punches are often replaced with chops, elbows, knees and kicks; in other words, any kind of strike that hurts way more. To this end, most Japanese wrestlers have a wide variety of signature and finishing moves, instead of only a handful. Most have at least one devastating strike attack that counts as their normal finisher, as well as one or two defining grapple moves. In some cases, wrestlers will also use a variety of diving maneuvers. There are also what are called 'Big-Match Finishers', moves that are only used in extreme circumstances, when the wrestler's normal finishers aren't doing enough. The big distinction here is that Japanese wrestling is more athletic and less theatrical than WWE€™s product. This isn€™t to say that WWE Superstars aren€™t athletes; merely that Japanese wrestlers hit much harder. It€™s why Japanese wrestlers are often lauded as some of the toughest men in the entire wrestling industry.