10 Biggest Secret GENIUSES In Modern Wrestling
5. Great-O-Khan
New Japan is a consistent source of high classroom uncompromising wrestling, but it’s not always so hot on its characters. When you get lost in the shuffle, you can get lost in a big way. This seemed to be the future for Tomoyuki Oka, a skilled amateur but little to set him apart.
This changed big time when Oka reinvented himself as Great-O-Khan. Exploding back onto the scene with a fearsome new Mongolian-inspired look, the performer went from anonymous young lion in black trunks to one of the most excitingly broad characters on the roster.
Great-O-Khan commits like few others in the company, his warrior spirit and larger than life persona a welcome response to the po-faced action that can personify NJPW’s product. If his in-ring work isn't necessarily the best on the roster, he guarantees you something different, and understands his limitations.
He even managed to bring an act of real-life heroism (saving a teenage girl from drunken harassment) into his character, taking a letter of commendation to the ring with him. As far as character evolution goes, it’s thorough stuff.