WWE: Top 8 Japanese Wrestlers From The Past 30 Years

2. Kaientai €“ Funaki And Taka Michinoku

Whether you consider them individually or together, there€™s no doubting the impact that Taka Michinoku and Funaki had on WWE in the late 90s and early 2000s. Taka was the first WWF Light Heavyweight Champion (the first one recognized, at least), holding the strap for more than 10 months. He feuded with and later joined the Japanese stable Kaientai, which would dwindle to a tag team with Funaki. The duo became mainly a comedy team who famously would mouth promos that would be €œoverdubbed€ in English backstage. Funaki would close out each promo with an €œIndeed.€ Taka would share the spotlight with Triple H a little during this time, battling for the world championship and teaming with Funaki and the Brooklyn Brawler to beat The Game. He left WWE in 2001. Funaki, on the other hand, would stay with WWE until 2010, finding various ways to stay relevant and on television. He served as Smackdown€™s backstage interviewer and would go on to win the Cruiserweight Championship in late 2004. After floating in and out for several years, mainly as a contender for the Cruiserweight title and cannon fodder for larger wrestlers, Funaki was reborn Kung Fu Naki in 2008. The gimmick change turned out to be his death knell in WWE, as he vanished for a year before resurfacing for the WrestleMania XXVI battle royal won by fellow countryman Yoshi Tatsu. He was released days later. While both men had fair success in the light heavyweight/cruiserweight division, they spent a great deal of their time with WWE as comic relief and roster filler. Still, if you watch Taka€™s title match against Triple H, you can see the crowd rallying behind him. And Funaki was well-liked by fans and had something nearly everyone on this list lacked: longevity.