In 1997, WCW had overtaken the WWF for a number of reasons, one of which was the fast-paced action provided by their cruiserweight division. With an eclectic mix of talent, including top names from Mexico and Japan, it was the type of wrestling you knew you couldn't see on WWF programming. Unfortunately for the WWF, WCW had agreements with many of the top promotions for smaller wrestlers. This led to the WWF looking elsewhere. Enter The Great Sasuke. A Japanese independent wrestler, he had caught the eye of bigger promotions and even become a champion in New Japan Pro Wrestling, but becoming an international star meant a lot to him, and when the WWF came calling, he jumped at the opportunity to become their star "light heavyweight," as the division was called. He brought Taka Michinoku, one of his favorite opponents, with him to Canada, and they had back to back matches on a pay-per-view event and a live Raw broadcast. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c09FimmhRr4 While both looked impressive, the WWF ended up passing on Sasuke, as Taka, the heel, played to the crowd much more, while Sasuke wrestled in a vacuum. Sasuke never returned to the WWF, while Taka got his spot and stuck around for several years.
Formerly the site manager of Cageside Seats and the WWE Team Leader at Bleacher Report, David Bixenspan has been writing professionally about WWE, UFC, and other pop culture since 2009. He's currently WhatCulture's U.S. Editor and also serves as the lead writer of Figure Four Weekly and a monthly contributor to Fighting Spirit Magazine.
