10 Things WWE Can Learn From New Japan Pro Wrestling

8. The Importance Of Outside Stars

Maybe this has something to do with WWE€™s restrictive liability policies, but it€™s rare that anyone outside of indy jobbers would ever perform in a WWE ring unless they sign a long-term contract with WWE first. New Japan, on the other hand, believes in partnering with other promotions and sharing talent. Wrestle Kingdom 9, for example, featured talent from Ring of Honor, Global Force Wrestling, and several freelance wrestlers including Minoru Suzuki, who is part of the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance. Not only does this allow talent from other parts of the world to gain international exposure, but it allows fans of those foreign wrestlers to follow them to a different company, thus increasing New Japan€™s fan base without forcing the product on them. But most importantly, when a new star comes to New Japan, they don€™t have to change their wrestling styles as much as they do in WWE. Meanwhile, WWE has signed many outside wrestlers like Prince Devitt (Finn Balor), KENTA (Hideo Itami), and Kevin Steen (Kevin Owens), only for them to be put through NXT and re-shaped into a €˜WWE version€™ of themselves. While this might be done to make them appear to be WWE creations, that simply isn€™t smart marketing. If you€™re trying to increase your fan base and diversify demographic appeal, why would you sign someone who was a big deal somewhere else, only to clip their wings and have them toil in the minor leagues, and eventually lose their original fan followings? Unless, of course, that is WWE€™s secret plan: to lure the top stars from the independent scene and marketable wrestlers from Japan with promises of bigger paychecks and a lighter work schedule; strip them of any unique characteristics or wrestling moves; dumb them down from their comfort zones and make them adapt to WWE€™s style; have them fail at it, shortening the remainder of their careers; and eventually release them, knowing that their star power has diminished? While this might be a farfetched possibility, keep in mind that Luis Ignacio Urive Alvirde was an international sensation as Mistico in Mexico, only to become the walking manifestation of Botchamania as Sin Cara in WWE. That is something that certainly wouldn€™t happen in New Japan.