15 Biggest Differences Between WWE And Japanese Wrestling

1. On Average, Japanese Wrestling Features Better Matches

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiAFqNQC3Ks If you combine all these important differences, one can come to the conclusion that Japanese wrestling features better matches on average. This isn€™t to say that WWE or any other wrestling promotion isn€™t good; far from it. Many people consider some matches from WCW, like Hart-Michaels at WrestleMania 12, the Flair-Steamboat matches in WCW, and many other matches from WWF or WCW to be the greatest matches of all time. However, when you look at the title of this entry, it refers to averages. On the whole, wrestling in North America has taken a downwards turn since the Attitude Era. Before that, and well into the 1980s, wrestling in North America could€™ve very well fit the bill of best wrestling. Then, when €˜sports entertainment€™ took off, there was a greater emphasis on stories with a wrestling element, as opposed to wrestling matches telling stories. As a result, the quality of wrestling matches in North America has fallen. Sure, there are still good matches, but these are few and far between. In Japan, many of the matches are longer, more technical, of higher-quality, and tell much better stories. Over the past four years in particular, the best wrestlers on earth have been Japanese stars, including Hiroshi Tanahashi and €˜Rainmaker€™ Kazuchika Okada. New Japan Pro Wrestling is already the #2 wrestling promotion in the world behind WWE in terms of size and ticket sales, and is likely to actually overtake them in terms of match quality. Part of this decline in quality in WWE matches stems from wrestlers being trained in a different era. Wrestlers like Hart, Flair, Michaels, €˜Taker, Steamboat, Race and others, came from an era where there was competition, and so they had to put much more effort into every single match. Today, with WWE being the juggernaut that it is, if anyone has to put in such effort, it€™s the smaller promotions who try to stay afloat and compete with WWE. Of course, WWE has a lot of good stars, but WWE€™s approach to wrestling has changed to sports entertainment, leading the product to evolve into something else. While it is true that not every single match has to be a clinic in technical wrestling, the lack of such matches in WWE is really hurting their product, leading fans to turn to other promotions for an alternative. Thus, for fans of pro wrestling, the best place to find high-quality wrestling would be in Japan.