Once upon a time, Nature Boy Ric Flair was considered the greatest wrestler alive, capable of making a silk purse out of a sows ear with any opponent put before him. A multi-time World Champion, Flair had an impressive career that spanned almost four decades before his retirement in 2008 (his run in TNA does not count for the sake of this article). However, in his later years, age and injuries caught up with him, and so he had to change his move-set and psychology to that of the dirtiest player in the game. Under this moniker, Flair would poke and rake eyes, use the referee to his advantage, hit his opponents in the groin, and otherwise use any under-handed trick to win his matches. Is there really anyone in Japan similar to Flair in this regard? Yes, there is. Japanese Equivalent: Yoshinari Ogawa https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhN4dssx9_c Though not as accomplished or revered as Flair, Yoshinari Rat Boy Ogawa has been a fixture of All Japan Pro Wrestling and Pro Wrestling NOAH for years, due mainly to his close friendship with wrestling legend Mitsuharu Misawa. Standing at 511 and weighting 200 lbs, Ogawa was considered too big to be a real player in NOAHs Junior Heavyweight division, and too small to really stand out among the Heavyweights. He got his nickname Rat Boy from his under-handed tactics; despite being a quite technically-sound wrestler, Ogawa preferred to use eye gouges, low blows, and generally taking every possible shortcut to winning a match. As with Flair, this made him a perfect heel against top faces, especially when he faced Kenta Kobashi for the GHC Title on November 1, 2003. Ogawa, being the clever and devious wrestler that he was, went after Kobashis damaged knees (which would be akin to a mid-carder attacking the Undertaker as he removes his hat), and received one of the most one-sided thrashings in NOAH history. So while Ogawa may not be as decorated or venerated as the Nature Boy, at least it is good to know that the dirtiest player in the game has a wannabe imitator in Japan.
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.
