10 best Japanese wrestlers who were wasted in the US

#3 Tetsuya Naito

Naito is one of the most popular wrestlers in the world right now.

Long before Naito went all ‘tranquilo’ and became the leader of Loss Ignobernables de Japon, he was another rookie sent abroad to hone his skills. During his brief, two-month tenure with TNA, all he did was wrestle in a few tag team matches with Yujiro Takahashi, without really being involved in any major storylines or even any big matches.

While it’s true that this sojourn was more of a learning opportunity than a major push, at least TNA could’ve done something with Naito and Takahashi, which is what the bookers in CMLL did when the Japanese duo went to Mexico.

It was there that Naito was allowed to work real and important storylines, instead of just being another background wrestler like he was in TNA. Furthermore, Naito’s current character was developed during his time in Mexico, which likely stems from him actually learning things there and being booked properly, which is more than what can be said of TNA.