10 More WWE Superstars And Their Japanese Counterparts

4. Dolph Ziggler

Ric Flair The Great Muta
WWE.com

It wouldn’t be far-fetched to say that Dolph Ziggler has the ‘total package’ needed to be a big star. He has the look, the technical skill, incredible charisma, can speak very well, and has a wide-ranging fan base. Yet it’s surprising, and unfortunate, that Ziggler is still in the upper mid-card, despite his obvious skills. He did win the World Heavyweight Championship, but held it for all of 11 minutes.

If there’s anyone that the WWE Universe loves to watch, yet is held down by WWE’s management for one reason or another, it’s Dolph Ziggler. Even though he has suffered multiple concussions and was in trouble for criticizing the WWE on a few occasions, he’s still a main-event-level talent who should be main-eventing more than just the odd episode of RAW.

Japanese Equivalent: Shinsuke Nakamura

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgQuG4daDI8

First of all, this entry has nothing to do with Nakamura’s gimmick. There isn’t a wrestler on this planet who can match Nakamura’s animation and eccentric nature. Rather, this entry is based on both men’s incredible wrestling talents, yet the persistent habit of both men having a glass ceiling preventing either one of them from reaching the world title picture again.

Ziggler has been a ‘show-stealing’ Superstar for the better part of at least four years. His commitment to selling, ring psychology, and the quality of his matches, all should’ve led him to a spot on the main event. This holds true for Nakamura, who is quite possibly the best wrestler in the world, yet seems to only wrestle in secondary matches, and is seemingly beneath Tanahashi, Okada, AJ Styles, and the other wrestlers who pursue the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

What happened to Nakamura throughout his career is strange. He was the youngest IWGP Heavyweight Champion of all time, yet the company invested in Hiroshi Tanahashi instead, and Nakamura has been a secondary character ever since. Even after he reinvented himself into the animated, flamboyant and charismatic wrestler that he is today, the World Title continues to elude him. While the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, which is synonymous with Nakamura, might be perceived as a ‘world-title-level championship’, it still doesn’t measure up to the actual World title of his promotion.

It really is a shame when two wrestlers work so hard, achieve such considerable popularity, and put on such outstanding matches on a regular basis, yet never achieve the main event level like they truly deserve. That’s the situation that both Ziggler and Nakamura have found themselves in on multiple occasions, which is why they are counterparts to one another.

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.