Japanese wrestling is the most exciting alternative to WWE going today. For over four decades, promotions like AJPW, NJPW, NOAH, and AJW, have been providing wrestling enthusiasts with some of the most outstanding ever seen. Wrestling in Japan gets this reputation of excitement for a number of reasons. First, its treated as a legitimate sport, and so the competitive nature of the matches is actually important. Second, almost all Japanese wrestlers have some martial arts background, which makes their physical strikes more devastating. Third, there are fewer storylines and gimmicks than in WWE, which means that wrestlers have to emphasize their actions for storytelling purposes. Because of these attributes, Japanese wrestling promotions are home to some of the greatest and most legendary wrestlers in the entire history of the industry. As with WWE, many great wrestlers have come and gone over the decades. But the ten wrestlers discussed in this article are the ones that you absolutely must see at least once before you die.
Alexander Podgorski is a writer for WhatCulture that has been a fan of professional wrestling since he was 8 years old. He loves all kinds of wrestling, from WWE and sports entertainment, to puroresu in Japan.
He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Queen's University in Political Studies and French, and a Master's Degree in Public Administration. He speaks English, French, Polish, a bit of German, and knows some odd words and phrases in half a dozen other languages.
