10 More WWE Superstars And Their Japanese Counterparts

7. Daniel Bryan

Ric Flair The Great Muta
WWE.com

Bryan is a prime example of taking stereotypes and throwing them out the window. Throughout his career, he was a short man trying to make a name for himself in the land of giants, which prevented him from ever being taken seriously the big promoters. So, he had to let his unmatched technical skill speak for him, which helped build his reputation as the best pure wrestler in the world.

When he signed with WWE (which was literally unbelievable at first), he had to go through so many prejudices and stereotypes as a short ‘indy’ wrestler. There were so many negative perceptions around him, but he kept his head up high, and through his innovative offense, unbreakable spirit, and amazing connection with the fans, Bryan reached the top of the WWE, something no one ever thought would ever happen.

Japanese Equivalent: Naomichi Marufuji

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwPVzDdzZ_Q

Most people think of Marufuji as ‘the other junior heavyweight from NOAH’ who was both KENTA’s biggest partner and rival. However, there is much more to the incredibly innovative Marufuji then one initially suspects. He too has had to overcome many prejudices as a junior heavyweight, especially since he’s a career junior heavyweight.

There is this ‘graduation system’ in Japanese wrestling, where rookies start off in the lighter weight classes to show off more agility and get the fans attention, before ‘graduating’ to the heavyweight class, which is where the big boys play. Simply put, just like in North America and especially in WWE, there is a glass ceiling for light heavyweights that prevents them from being seen as major draws. After all, the biggest stars in recent Japanese wrestling history, including Misawa, Kobashi, Mutoh, Tanahashi, and Okada, all started as junior heavyweights, before growing into heavyweights and becoming top stars.

Yet Marufuji has eschewed this whole system, and has managed to get over despite of his size. NOAH fans fell in love with his innovative style and his charisma, which has allowed him to break that ages-old stigma of being a smaller wrestler in a heavyweight’s world.

Maybe he and Bryan can swap stories about how they’ve had to climb mountains while having stereotypes throw rocks at them from the top, before eventually reaching the summit, in spite of those setbacks.

Contributor

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.