3. Wrestlers Must Speak English In Order To Get Over
Pictured above is New Japan Pro Wrestling's Shinsuke Nakamura. Everyone from your favorite wrestling journalists to Jim Ross himself believes him to be one of the best wrestlers in the whole entire world. Probably only reason he's not toiling away in NXT or on the main WWE roster is that he speaks English as a second language. We're in an increasingly globalized world these days where the idea that someone doesn't speak English well shouldn't be a hindrance to finding them to be an engaging performer. Is WWE willing enough to be smart enough to trust its fanbase to watch a wrestler wrestle than hear him speak to find him entertaining? Can a wrestler get over on just physical charisma and in-ring aptitude? Though something that didn't happen in WWE, in 1989, the NWA got the Great Muta over by pairing him with a great talker in Gary Hart who also managed Terry Funk who cosigned him, too. Could WWE do the exact same thing with Nakamura by pairing him with Paul Heyman and have Brock Lesnar give him the seal of approval? Probably.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
