WWE's 10 Announced Raw Cruiserweights Ranked

8. Akira Tozawa

Akira Tozawa
WWE.com

The Japanese native Tozawa is probably a familiar name with some of the most hardcore independent wrestling fans, as he's shown up in Dragon Gate, Chikara and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla over the past few years. Now he's been picked up for the major leagues, and hopefully continues to experience success.

Tozawa originally made a name for himself stateside in PWG's Battle of Los Angeles, where he put on a brilliant performance against Chris Hero. Even though he didn't win the tournament, he became a popular face on the indy scene and battled standouts like Austin Aries, Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose) and Pac (Neville).

Besides being great in the ring, Tozawa shows a lot of personality in his matches, which helps him connect with any audience. He'll need this skill in WWE as he doesn't speak English, which could hinder his push a bit.

Knowing the way WWE has portrayed Japanese wrestlers in the past on the main roster makes one a bit fearful for Tozawa, but hopefully he will be the one to break that unfortunate trend.

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As Rust Cohle from True Detective said "Life's barely long enough to get good at one thing. So be careful what you're good at." Sadly, I can't solve a murder like Rust...or change a tire, or even tie a tie. But I do know all the lyrics to Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song and can easily name every Natural Born Thriller from the dying days of WCW. I was once ranked 21st in the United States in Tetris...on the Playstation 3 version...for about a week. Follow along @AndrewSoucek and check out my podcast at wrestlingwithfriends.com