Not that great in the ring, but you like 'em a lot anyway? :)

[NineSpiral]

because puroresu seems to place emphasis on the ringwork over the characters or personalities, when a lot of people out there list their favorite wrestlers, they tend to be fantastic ring performers as well...but i'm just wondering which wrestlers people like for reasons other than that, or reasons they can't even explain? For some reason I'm a huge mark for Yoshinari Ogawa, for example, yet by no stretch of the imagination is the guy that impressive in the ring at least as far as workrate is concerned...I guess I like his character and his moveset (yes, his moveset, which everyone else seems to hate) it's kinda blah to some, but i mark out for the cheesy eyerakes and jawbreakers and the 800 different small packages he does for some silly reason

anyone else out there have a similar, bizarre fascination w/ a particular wrestler?

Jason

PS i'm also curious if there are any other Yoshinari Ogawa fans out there (everyone seems to hate him!) i got inspired to ask this after changing my avatar and discovering that I could use Ogawa

[Lariat]

For some strange reason, I find Kendo Ka Shin to be awfully entertaining. I know alot of people hate Ka Shin's technical style and his matches but I like most of everything he does (that includes him teaming up with Abby).

[The Great Gouki]

I've only seen himwhen he was in WCW so he might have gotten better but....I GOT 2 WORDS FOR YA!!!!


MAGNUM TOKYO!!!!! He's a stripper that kinda looks like Jacky Chan...how could you NOT like that lol!!

[Peru-Yakuza]

Bill Goldberg, Kazuyuki Fujita: Obvious tough guy aura.
Kendo Ka Shin: see above.

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

Gokudo Combi: Great Kojika & Motoshi Ohkuma - an All Japan midcard tag team from 70s & 80s. It was unusual for full-time Japanese employees (unlike the "guests" such as Umanosuke Ueda, Masa Saito, or Hiro Matsuda) to be heels.

[TRZZXQ]

Shiro Koshinaka springs to mind. Anyone who can base their moveset around smacking people with his rear end and not look like a fool(see: Rikishi), is A-OK with me. Plus he's just an entertaining guy.

Also guys who are just darn wacky like Delfin and Naniwa. I even *shudder* like the Delfin Clutch and Crab Walk Elbow, just because they're so ridiculous.

[emlyn]

Mitsuya Nagai, Sabu, Mike Awesome, Takashi Iizuka (where is he?!), Shane Douglas, Gedo.

[hokutorules]

Kaori Nakayama is one of my favorite wrestlers. And that's only because of the way she looks.

[Sean Kassai]

Even though he's never ever jobbed once in his entire life and at times has terrible fitness methods, I really enjoy watching Naoya Ogawa. Especially in the Hashimoto series. The fans gave such huge pops when he would do an STO. It just felt like there was so much heat. I think I also just like his "passive cockiness"...

I also enjoy watching Murakami, and I like seeing him even more when he's teamed with Ogawa (Ogawa/Murakami vs Hashimoto/Iizuka). Not only is he intense in the ring, but he sometimes seems like an absolute psycho when he's yelling on the microphone. I've always thought that he could make a good main event heel if he was to learn some more pro wrestling techniques.

Also, I love Fuchi. He's one of my favorite All Japan wrestlers.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

I probably haven't seen as much puroresu as the other members here, but there are a couple of wrestlers who appear to me to be average (or above-average), but are entertaining to watch: Super Delfin and Gran Naniwa. I just like the way Delfin interacts with the audience, and I'm a huge fan of the Crab Walk Elbow (which I've only seen connect once...).

Now, a question about Hisaharu Tanabe's post: is that the same Great Kojika who runs Big Japan Pro Wrestling?

[ElGringo]

That is indeed the same great Great Kojika. I'm a complete mark for Satoru Asako, even though there is nothing special about him at all (plain look, ordinary moveset for a big junior); I just really enjoyed his work ethic and ethos. I find Hiro Saito entertaining as well, even these days; I just like the way he can still use a centon in the days of the Burning hammer etc. and make it look good and credible, and I also think its hilarious when he throws his shirt off and all the female fans scream for his beergut.

[Peru-Yakuza]

Kojika had actually retired in 1988, I believe, from All-Japan, but resurfaced in 1995 as the promoter of Big Japan, which he still does today.

Okuma died in 1992.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

I've seen a couple of Big Japan death matches with Kojika/Masked GK, including that ultra-insane tag team tornado 4 man team death match with Pogo, Matsunaga, Shadow WX, Jason, the match with every death match stipulation in it (y'know, barbed wire, weapons, scorpions, glass, scaffold, dry ice, the barbed wire trampoline, etc)...

I haven't seen Kojika's wrestling in All Japan, but his matches in Big Japan are horrible. Is it just because he's slowed with age/injuries, or did he always wrestle like that?

[Yoshimitsu]

THis is an odd choice but I always liked Sid. He had that charisma and psychotic mannerisms AND it was possible to have a good match with him.

[KanadianKrusty]

I always liked Chosyu... he was never really good in the ring but I just like everything about him, the big lariat, the sharpshooter the way the crowd reacts towards him and the KICKASS MUSIC~!