As Naofumi Yammamoto, Yoshi Tatsu was not exactly impressive in New Japan Pro Wrestling. However, he was six foot one inches tall, and has wrestled admirably against then ex-WWE talent Giant "Jason Albert" Bernard and then-recently released Tyson Tomko. Tatsu's signing was a case of being in the right place at the right time. Similar to the signing of Jinder Mahal, at a certain point (say, between 2006-2009) there was a clear desire for WWE to sign a coalition of foreign talents. However, in looking for foreign talents who fit a standard of what WWE wanted at the time from all wrestlers (over six feet tall, well over 200 pounds) a number of other grapplers were overlooked. It's intriguing to note that as Tatsu is being released that rumors abound about WWE's interest in signing Pro Wrestling NOAH stalwart KENTA. Imagining WWE between 2006-2009 signing Sheamus, Adrian Neville, Sonjay Dutt and KENTA instead of Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Jinder Mahal and Yoshi Tatsu is an amazing notion to consider. However, Yoshi Tatsu ranks so highly on the list because he had actually started turning the corner somewhat as an underdog babyface in NXT. Becoming a fan favorite, it would have been intriguing to say, see him continue to learn the craft of how to be a pure babyface and evolve into the position that say, Santino presently has on the WWE roster.
Besides having been an independent professional wrestling manager for a decade, Marcus Dowling is a Washington, DC-based writer who has contributed to a plethora of online and print magazines and newspapers writing about music and popular culture over the past 15 years.
