10 best Japanese wrestlers who were wasted in the US

#7 Yuji Nagata

Pictured: Yuji Nagata trying to do his best impression of the Undertaker while his opponent taps furiously.

Yuji Nagata is the NJPW equivalent of Bret Hart: a technical master that carried an entire promotion on his back during said company’s darkest days. Nagata is a former world champion and one of the most versatile wrestlers on the planet, capable of adapting to any style and match stipulation with ease. Yet he was completely mishandled in WCW.

Nagata’s time in WCW lasted about a year and a half, during which he wrestled almost exclusively in preliminary matches and low-card feuds. His best feud was with Ultimo Dragon, but not even that could help him get over with the WCW audience.

After returning to Japan, Nagata would later make a name for himself as the man that carried NJPW on his shoulders throughout the early 2000s, and being one of the most useful and reliable wrestlers in Japan. It’s a shame that neither WCW nor even WWE made any use of him; he could’ve been a reliable hand to work with new wrestlers in need of someone with extensive grappling experience to help them grow as performers.