4 WWE stars who were able to translate their notoriety over to Japan

Just a couple of weeks ag, WWE did a spectacular show in Japan and while hundreds of live events are done all over the world by the wrestling conglomerate throughout the year, this one was not the run-of-the mill can-miss live event, as it was shown live on the WWE Network and had quite possibly the strongest roster putting out a non-PPV show for the WWE in recent memoryWhile WWE for most wrestling fans has been synonymous with pro-wrestling in the States, overseas that wasn’t the case for a long time. The Japanese wrestling organizations such as NJPW & AJPW in the territory days extending into the 90s, was a viable alternative for wrestling aficionados looking for a different type of scene to whet their appetite for pro-wrestling. This alternative extended to the wrestlers as well who were in a position to make a good living by wrestling and becoming stars in Japan if things weren’t working out in the United States.The Japanese promotions and fans, for their part traditionally always had a special place for the foreign imports, termed as ‘Gaijin’ in the local circuit, as they represented the America that could be conquered, all those years later. Not all were villains though, as names such as Stan Hansen and Bruiser Brody were as beloved as the local icons. However, many of the Gaijins were ex-WWE stars who had been big stars when wrestling in front of the American audience, and were able to parlay that to capture the imagination of the Japanese audiences during their time in Japan.Below is a list of the wrestlers who were able to live off their notoriety earned in the States when they wrestled in Japan:

#4 Brock Lesnar

‘The Beast in the East’

Brock Lesnar was a huge star in the WWE during his first run in the WWE, back in the early 2000s and he is a big star now as the “Beast Incarnate”. Nowhere was it more evident than at the live event couple of weeks back when the Japanese fans rode up in droves to see ‘The Beast in the East’.

After leaving the WWE abruptly back in 2004 and unsuccessfully trying out for the NFL, Lesnar competed in Japan for a bit between 2005 to 2007. However, his box-office appeal wasn’t fully utilized by the management due to their inner conflicts at the time and Lesnar moved on to a career in MMA. But some of his matches during his time there were memorable, including one with local legend Akebono and old rival Kurt Angle, and the fans were responsive to him.

#3 Matt Bloom

Matt Bloom as Giant Bernard in Japan

Bloom debuted in the WWE back in 1999 and was part of the T & A team, along with the late Andrew ‘Test’ Martin for a while, before branching out to be a singles wrestler as A-Train. He was a regular intimidating presence on the WWE roster through his first stint there, but never made it past the mid-card status.

Then he left the WWE in 2004 and went to pursue a career in Japan, wrestling in both the AJPW and NJPW promotions. His stint in Japan was very successful, both because of his look, the big imposing foreigner, and because of the name value attached to him as an ex-WWE star. He had one of the longest runs in Japan as he wrestled there till 2012 when he made his return to the WWE, where he tried to live off the Japanese notoriety for a while but soon got rid of that gimmick too.

A retired wrestler now, Bloom has taken over the duties as the Head Trainer at NXT, WWE’s developmental system.

#2 MVP

MVP left WWE to pursue a career in Japan

The real-life Hassan Assad portrayed one of the most memorable gimmicks in WWE, of that of a arrogant, self-indulgent athlete named aptly MVP. While he started off strong the first year, winning the US title from Chris Benoit among others, he was in the WWE, he was soon relegated to the mid-card for the remaining part of his tenure.

A real-life self-professed fan of Japanese wrestling (Puroresu), MVP got his release from the WWE in late 2010 and started off with NJPW in early 2011. He enjoyed a fruitful run with the promotion where he became their inaugural IWGP Intercontinental champion and defeated many of the local legends including Okada among others.

After competing in Japan for over 2 years, MVP returned to wrestling in the States last year when he joined TNA and has been an important character on Impact TV since then.

#1 Hulk Hogan

Hogan to date is beloved in Japan

Hulk Hogan has had many lives during his professional wrestling career. When he debuted in the WWE back in 1980 (then known as the WWWF), he was a blonde gargantuan heel who ran through his lesser sized opponents owing to his sheer size. However, at that time he was also working a few dates for New japan Pro Wrestling starting from 1980. The Hogan that wrestled in Japan was a very different one from the one who wrestled in the States as he adopted a more wrestling-based style in Japan.

Following his fall-out with Vince McMahon Sr. due to his appearing in the movie Rocky 3 in 1981, he began appearing more in Japan, when wrestling for Verne Gagne’s AWA in USA. The Japanese fans were in awe of the gigantic blonde American who was fan friendly and was charismatic unlike the other superstars who graced the roster of the company at that time. He was so popular that he even recorded a music album in Japan, which set the tone for the Rock-n-Wrestling connection in the mid-80s’.