5 Greatest WWE Superstars from Japan

#2. A WWE Superstar in and out of the ring, Mr. Fuji.

Harry Masayoshi Fujiwara was a long-time superstar in WWE and performed both in the ring and as a manager. Known by his ring name "Mr. Fuji", he was not only a singles star and tag team specialist. He was also a manager to some of the biggest names in WWE. Fuji was a fixture in WWE from the early 1970s to the late 90s and was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2007. The WWE legend died in 2016.

As a WWE Superstar, Fuji had a long and illustrious career with his biggest successes coming as a tag team performer. Fuji won 13 tag team titles in his career, including 5 tag team titles during his time with WWE. Fuji’s most famous tag team partner was Professor Tanuka, with whom he won three WWE tag team titles. As a singles performer, Fuji had a few WWE title opportunities against both Pedro Morales and Bob Backlund. He used to throw salt in his opponents’ eyes and win in evil ways, earning him the reputation as one of the most hated heels in WWE.

Upon his retirement from performing, Fuji moved seamlessly into a manager’s role. One of his first successful pairings was with Don Muraco, the two would perform multiple comedy skits and were a perfect heel pairing. Fuji eventually went on to manage tag team champions Demolition, one of WWE’s best tag teams ever. His last major managerial role was as the manager of WWE Champion Yokozuna. Fuji famously threw salt into Yokozuna’s eyes and cost him the title at WrestleMania against Hulk Hogan. This was after doing the same to Bret Hart, helping Yokozuna win the title that same night.

For one generation, Mr. Fuji was a tuxedo-wearing, dastardly manager willing to cheat to help his client win. For another, he was a dastardly tag team specialist who frequently wore tag team gold. Either way, Mr. Fuji is a WWE legend.

#1. A WWE Champion in waiting: Shinsuke Nakamura

Shinsuke Nakamura makes the #1 spot on this list not only because of what he has done, but also for what he could still do. Nakamura was already a famous Japanese star before WWE signed him. Upon his arrival, he was immediately placed in NXT and proceeded to win the NXT title on two separate occasions. The three-time IGWP champion quickly became one of the most exciting and popular stars in NXT. However, his ascent to the main roster has been a bit of a mixed bag.

Nakamura has won the IC title twice, the US title twice and has been SmackDown tag team champion with Cesaro. His most notable run was in 2018 when he won WWE’s Men’s Royal Rumble, which led to a headline match at WrestleMania for the SmackDown title with AJ Styles. This was Nakamura’s chance to headline WWE as its’ champion. However, Styles was able to retain his title and Nakamura turned heel. While he is currently the IC champion and a face once again, there are many that still hope Nakamura has a world championship run in him before his time in WWE is done.

Shinsuke Nakamura was so close to being WWE’s first ever Japanese world champion. He is already the most decorated male Japanese Superstar in WWE history but has one more hill to climb.