10 WWE Wrestlers Whose Patriotism Limited Their Potential
2. Yoshi Tatsu
WWE's ECW was obviously a watered down version of the original, especially at the end, but they might as well have changed the name to FCW because that's basically what it became by 2009. Several top prospects from the developmental system were arriving in the Land of Extreme to make names for themselves, including Yoshi Tatsu.
His first night in ECW, he decisively defeated Shelton Benjamin in a massive upset and from there built up momentum in the months that followed. But even upon his arrival, fans were aware of how he would be handled no differently in WWE than other Japanese competitors who came before him including Tajiri, Kenzo Suzuki and Taka Michinoku.
What did all of those aforementioned athletes have in common? They were tremendously talented, but because they hailed from Japan, WWE felt it was necessary to make their characters as stereotypical as possible with the cartoonish entrance music, constant bowing and not knowing how to speak proper English.
Prior to just recently, WWE never knew to organically treat a Japanese wrestler the right way without coming off as racist. Had Tatsu debuted in the last few years along with Shinsuke Nakamura, Hideo Itami and Asuka, there's a decent chance he would have amounted to much more in WWE.