10 Things WWE Can Learn From New Japan Pro Wrestling

7. Understanding Past Vs. Future

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLsZHSCgpcc The two biggest names associated with post-Inoki New Japan are Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura and IWGP Heavyweight Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi. Both of them have been with NJPW since the late 1990s/early 2000s, and today both of them are undeniably the two top stars of the company. Though they rival each other in terms of popularity, skill and charisma, it€™s how they were booked that makes the biggest difference. You see, Nakamura€™s early career was part of Inoki€™s failed experiment called Inokism, which blended wrestling with MMA. As such, Nakamura€™s style is centered on stiff strikes and MMA-oriented submission moves, which were core characteristics of NJPW€™s past. While these skills have certainly helped build Nakamura into a world-renowned star, that doesn€™t compare to what Tanahashi did. You could say that Tanahashi is very much like Eddie Guerrero in terms of wrestling style, incorporating mat techniques, chain grappling, suplexes, and lucha libre into his arsenal. Also, like Guerrero, Tanahashi exuded more charisma and had a better ability to connect with the fans. In many ways, Tanahashi represented a new way of building stars, while Nakamura, though still a great performer represented the past. This is a crucial lesson that WWE should pay attention to. Vince McMahon has a weird mentality (it can€™t even be described as €˜old school€™, because, quite frankly, he has destroyed many wrestling traditions anyway), which is rooted in ideas and beliefs rooted in his old mindset. In other words, he€™s stuck in the past and doesn€™t think about the future. Vince still thinks that this is the 1980s, where being a big muscleman is the key to success, despite the opposite being closer to reality. You could say that guys like Cena, Reigns and Sheamus are Vince€™s versions of Nakamura, in that they represent the old mentality that no longer works; while guys like Bryan, Ziggler, and many of the NXT stars are like Tanahashi, in that they represent the future because they know what works now instead of what worked in the past. NJPW looked to the future and made a successful gamble on Tanahashi becoming the company€™s new ace. It has since paid off for them handsomely, while WWE is still following the same formula as they did in the 1980s and 1990s, failing to understand that doing the same thing over and over while expecting the same results will not grant them the same success now that it did decades ago.