15 Biggest Differences Between WWE And Japanese Wrestling

8. King's Road And Extreme Risks

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AfaATYmbpQ King€™s Road/Oudou was the wrestling style of Baba€™s All Japan. It was heavily centered on telling deep stories, emphasizing emotion as well as technique. Matches in this style normally had 3 distinct phases: a feeling out period at the beginning, a body working portion in the middle, and a strong, decisive finish. You could say that King€™s Road is the closest equivalent to North American wrestling pre-Hulkamania. Where it gets markedly different from WWE is with the risk factor. The mid-to-late 1990s was sometimes called the Era of Head-drops, referencing all of the moves targeting the person€™s head and neck, which was extremely dangerous. Misawa€™s Tiger Driver €™91, Kawada€™s Ganso Bomb, Kobashi€™s Burning Hammer, and many other high-risk moves were present during this period. While these kinds of moves really drew attention to the stories told in All Japan€™s ring, they eventually desensitized wrestling fans, who became accustomed to seeing bigger and bigger high spots. Ultimately, it was this kind of in-match psychology that took the life of Mitsuharu Misawa, having been dropped on his head way too many times. Though WWE itself wasn€™t without risks; WWE Superstars have long been asked to perform dangerous sequences, and like the Japanese, they have been very costly, considering Owen Hart lost his life in a rather pointless demonstration of theatricality. But again, that€™s the big difference between these two companies and periods: WWE€™s risks were associated with rare moments, while in Japan, head drops were a common practice. Thankfully, the wrestling industry has changed a lot to keep wrestlers safer. Most of All Japan€™s head have been reduced in frequency, and WWE€™s insane high spots are pretty much never replicated.