10 Loudest Wrestling Pops You Didn't Know About

9. Hiroshi Tanahashi Graces New Orleans With His Presence

Dean Malenko Ciclope
ゾーヒョー, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

New Japan Pro Wrestling was held to such a monumental standard at its peak that the promotion, upon venturing west in the first stages of its expansion project, drew something of an underwhelming response.

The first shows were great - NJPW was incapable of anything less throughout its golden resurgence - but they were, understandably, Americanised. They were built around the introduction of the IWGP United States Title, and perhaps it was felt that a bridge was required to establish the promotion stateside. This wasn't the case. The west coast fans longed for the seminal undiluted experience.

The fans at the 2018 'Mania Weekend Wrestlecon Supershow received it without knowing: in front of the most hardcore of hardcores, Hiroshi Tanahashi made a surprise appearance to cameo in a six-man tag. The Ace embodied that desire: the rock star super-worker was one of the most charismatic pro wrestlers to ever also be a genius practitioner of the art. He spanned every ideal of what it is to be a professional wrestler, and he was greeted as an idol: the fans regressed to the headspace of children in his presence.

Tana reminded them what all of this should feel like, and they felt it with no abandon.

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Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!