10 Wrestlers You Didn't Know Were In Non-Wrestling Video Games
1. Okada, Naito, Tanahashi, Etc. (Yakuza 6)
The Yakuza series has, not necessarily very accurately, oft been labelled a spiritual successor to Sega's fantastic-but-flawed financial flop Shenmue. Superficially, the two games are very similar: both feature intricately detailed facsimiles of Japan, both have an emphasis on martial arts, and both let you waste tons of time on pointless diversions.
Where they differ, crucially, is in tone. Yu Suzuki's masterpiece is a slice of real life, intimately inviting the player to parasitise Ryo Hazuki's deeply personal odyssey.
Yazuka lets you beat people up with a shark. The emphasis is very much on irreverence.
That was no more so the case than in the most recent title in the series, Yakuza 6, which includes six stars of New Japan Pro Wrestling appearing as gangland versions of themselves. Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito, Toru Yano, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan all line up as opponents for hero Kazuma Kiryu to overcome, each with their signature moves and poses in tact. And yes: Okada does 'make it rain', as it were.
The only wrestler you'd have seen in Shenmue was Tugboat. Or that sailor from WCW Thunder. Yup: that's the joke we were going for.