10 Wrestlers You Never Knew Had WWE Tryouts

8. Takako Inoue (2004)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooGp8sElqWY Takako Inoue is a name that the large majority of WWE fans will never heard of. However, in her native Japan, she was undoubtedly a huge star, having competed for All Japan Women's Pro Wrestling, an organisation which boasted some of the best in-ring product in the world from either male or female wrestlers. This is something which had not gone unnoticed by new Vice President of Talent Relations, John Laurinaitis, who worked for All Japan in the 90s and would have no doubt seen Inoue's work. The Joshi star was offered a WWE tryout at a Raw taping in May 2004. Inoue wrestled Jazz in a dark match which was overseen by women's trainer/road agent Finlay, Laurinaitis and others. One story that came out of the tryout is that Johnny Ace was astonished when Inoue told him that she was 35, with the exec telling her she looked closer to 23 (what a sweetheart). She was understandably nervous about the tryout, posting her uncertainties on her blog and remaining in frequent contact with Laurinaitis. Her plan was to go to Minnesota and train with Brad Rehnigans (Brock Lesnar's trainer) and familiarise herself with the WWE style. Unfortunately for her, it never got that far. Inoue, who was a fifteen year veteran when she had her tryout, was deemed just OK and not offered a contract. Of course 2004 was the year that WWE held its first Diva Search, which tells you everything you need to know about how seriously they took the women's division.