Once per generation there comes a point wherein United States-based professional wrestling fans become aware of talents based in Japan whose in-ring gifts create a physical charisma that allows them the ability to succeed in America. With World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) apparently quite close to signing well-respected Pro Wrestling Noah star Kenta, this generation’s most dynamic Japanese superstar is about to finally reach American shores.
In the 1970s, it was The Great Kabuki, Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba who filled the role of Pacific Rim names of note, Japanese grapplers following in the tradition of the legendary Rikidozan who first brought the American spectacle of pro wrestling to the Land of the Rising Sun. The 80s and early 90s featured a plethora of talents like Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki having brief runs in Us-based promotions, though no Japanese (let’s extend that to all non-Americans) wrestler was more iconic than the Great Muta.
In the 1970s, it was The Great Kabuki, Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba who filled the role of Pacific Rim names of note, Japanese grapplers following in the tradition of the legendary Rikidozan who first brought the American spectacle of pro wrestling to the Land of the Rising Sun. The 80s and early 90s featured a plethora of talents like Masahiro Chono and Kensuke Sasaki having brief runs in Us-based promotions, though no Japanese (let’s extend that to all non-Americans) wrestler was more iconic than the Great Muta.
- 5/5/2014
- by Marcus K. Dowling
- Obsessed with Film
WWE.com
On the heels of WrestleMania 30, WWE will be taking it to the extreme at their sixth annual Extreme Rules pay-per-view on May 4 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Given the PG aspirations of WWE in recent years, however, the action won’t nearly be as “extreme” as when the term was coined in the more violent, hard-hitting 1990s.
WWE considers gratuitous chairshots and bloodletting too extreme for TV nowadays, but such excesses were a necessary evil when they first rose to notoriety, insists a man who personified the era.
“Extreme rules, hardcore wrestling — whatever they want to call it — was born out of a necessity to survive,” said the hardcore legend Terry Funk, who revolutionized the business. “In Ecw, hardcore wrestling wasn’t done just for the fun of it. It was done for a purpose, for a reason. And for me, it was done to exist and produce a revenue for my family.
On the heels of WrestleMania 30, WWE will be taking it to the extreme at their sixth annual Extreme Rules pay-per-view on May 4 in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Given the PG aspirations of WWE in recent years, however, the action won’t nearly be as “extreme” as when the term was coined in the more violent, hard-hitting 1990s.
WWE considers gratuitous chairshots and bloodletting too extreme for TV nowadays, but such excesses were a necessary evil when they first rose to notoriety, insists a man who personified the era.
“Extreme rules, hardcore wrestling — whatever they want to call it — was born out of a necessity to survive,” said the hardcore legend Terry Funk, who revolutionized the business. “In Ecw, hardcore wrestling wasn’t done just for the fun of it. It was done for a purpose, for a reason. And for me, it was done to exist and produce a revenue for my family.
- 3/14/2014
- by Marshall Ward
- Obsessed with Film
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