8 Struggling WWE Stars Who Would Excel In NJPW

Vince McMahon’s purchase of WCW in 2001 effectively turned America’s professional wrestling market into a monopoly. There are alternatives, sure, but with TNA barely limping forward on the back of their bang average WWE-lite product and Ring of Honor struggling to truly break through, it seems unthinkable that another company will rise up to match WWE’s might any time soon.

Aside from offering less choice for the viewers, diminished competition means fewer options for the wrestlers themselves. Athletes looking to make a full-time living from in the business had dozens of potential places to work a few decades ago, but only a small handful in 2016.

For many, the answer lies across the Pacific Ocean. NJPW are the world’s second-biggest wrestling company, and their western audience has never been greater. Many predicted the company would falter following AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura’s January departures, but NJPW continue producing some of the planet’s most exciting wrestling shows, and they remain the only option for any worker looking to maintain a top-level career outside of WWE.

WWE’s roster is crammed with under-used and under-appreciated wrestlers who’d be better suited working elsewhere, and a number of them fit the NJPW mould. While NJPW do incorporate some western influences, their product largely eschews contrived sports entertainment concepts in favour of epic matches, hard hitting action and patient long-term storytelling: a stark contrast with WWE.

Here are 8 struggling WWE stars who would excel in NJPW.

The former La Sombra hasn’t had an easy time of it in WWE.

Once one of Mexico’s most lauded heels, “Cien” has become “just a guy” in NXT, and is grossly unsuited to playing the awkward babyface role he currently occupies. From debuting against the immensely popular Tye Dillinger to the almost offensively stereotypical hispanic entrance music, his NXT career thus far has been a series of missteps, and if recent rumours are to be believed, he may already be looking for a way out.

Reports suggest there’s a heel turn on Almas’ horizon, but it’s hard to predict whether or not this will capture the imagination of the Full Sail crowd, who’ve already lost interest in him. If his struggles with adapting to the American style are as great as the stories suggest, however, he would be a huge boon to NJPW, and a highlight performer in the heavyweight and junior heavyweight divisions.

The evidence? He’s done it before.

While never a full-timer in Japan, Almas was a hugely successful freelancer while under contract with Mexico’s CMLL. He’s a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion, having defeated Shinsuke Nakamura for the strap, and never looked out of his depth while working with The King of Strong Style.

On his day, Andrade is one of the best luchadors on the planet, and he’d benefit immensely from having the WWE reins taken-off.