10 Japanese Wrestlers Who Were Totally Wasted In America
9. Taka Michinoku
Being crowned the then WWF’s first ever Light Heavyweight Champion should be an achievement, but honestly, it’s not worth the effort of even saying it all out loud. Taka Michinoku may have come into the company hot, but by the end of his time there he was probably happy to leave.
Because if there’s one thing Vince McMahon loves, it's putting a group of foreigners together and making them evil. Although how he got from there to the now infamous moment involving Val Venis, a sword and Kaientai - the group Taka was a member of - is anyone's guess.
That story has been covered so many times that we don't need to do it here, but, it was to be the start of the end for Michinoku who saw out his days in WWE in a variety of bad comedy gimmicks. Including one which saw his voice dubbed in English while he badly lip-synced in the background. He did get one moment of glory, as he challenged Triple H for the WWF Championship, but even with help from Funaki and the APA, he came up short. It probably wasn't worth the embarrassment.