When New Japan officials decided to turn the popular animé character Tiger Mask into a wrestler in the early 90s in order to attract a younger fanbase, their more adamant fans had a hard time accepting that such a gimmick could ever be taken seriously. Yet all doubts were silenced the moment that they saw the man under the mask - Satoru Sayama - perform. Tiger Mask wrestled and moved at a level that was unprecedented. The easiest way to describe him would be to imagine if 1996 Rey Mysterio were dropped into the world of 1980s professional wrestling. Even that doesn't really convey the way that Sayama danced around the ring and turned seemingly showy moves into devastating attacks. Honestly, one of his biggest shortcomings was that there weren't enough performers in the world that could work at his level. But when Tiger Mask did find a competitor of similar skill, he often gave them their best matches. That's even true of our number one innovator...
