10 Japanese Wrestlers Who Were Totally Wasted In America
6. The Great Sasuke
It’s perhaps unfair to put the blame for The Great Sasuke’s failure entirely at the feet of WWE. When he appeared in the tournament to crown their first ever Light Heavyweight Champion in 1997, he was the early favourite. In fact, things seemed to be going pretty well for him when he and Taka Michinoku stole the show at the Canadian Stampede PPV. If anything, things might have been going too well, and Sasuke went and got himself into trouble.
Having appeared on WWE TV due to a talent swap initiative with Michinoku Pro (a company that Sasuke is the owner and founder of), Sasuke wasn’t as tied down to a contract as other wrestlers. Therefore, he took it upon himself to tell Japanese media that he would only defend the Light Heavyweight title in Japan and he would refuse to drop it on WWE TV.
Unsurprisingly, Vince and co weren’t too impressed by this idea. Sasuke was fired, and the relationship with Michinoku came to an end. However, you can only wonder what might have been. With the Light Heavyweight Title having ended up meaning nothing in WWE’s history, would Sasuke have been the one to make a difference?