10 Amazing Wrestlers WWE Fans Will NEVER Love
9. Taka Michinoku
What's the first thing wrestling fans think of when they hear the name Taka Michinoku? Why it's that "Indeeeeeed" overdub he worked alongside fellow Kaientai stablemate Funaki, of course. No-one talks about his speedy in-ring style, or matches that stood apart from anything else on WWF TV in the late-1990s.
In fairness, Taka was the early kingpin of an unloved division. He won the WWF Light-Heavyweight Title in late-1997, but Vince McMahon would never embrace his own WCW Cruiserweight Title rival. In fact, as Bruce Prichard has revealed on his podcast, Vince viewed the Light-Heavyweight belt as "less than".
Why even push it in the first place then?!
As a result, Michinoku's best work is hidden behind "comedic" promos and jobber-iffic tag-team bouts. Hell, even his top performance opposite then-wrestling machine Triple H on Raw in 2000 is overlooked in favour of the Kaientai comedy, and that's just a damn shame considering how much potential he had as the WWF's very own Rey Mysterio Jr.