Biggest impact by a Japanese wrestler in the states

[RoaringElbow25]

Other than Mutoh, which Japanese wrestler has made the biggest impact here in the states, in your opnion? I would have to lean towards Ultimo DRagon, but maybe Im forgetting someone

[Hijo de Carlos]

Liger?

[Sofa Kingdom]

I would think that Tiger Mask had an impact in the US.

[Rex Idol]

I think The Great Muta in the NWA/JCP back in '89. His matches with Sting were great, and the tag matches with Terry Funk against Sting and Flair were pretty good, too.



I was going to say Jumbo for his AWA title win, or Baba since he held the NWA title, but neither of those two wrestled here full time. (To my knowledge anyway)




EDIT : uh, yeah... I just noticed he said other than Mutoh.

[OldSchoolFan]

I'd either have to say Lyger or Saito.

[Peru-Yakuza]

Masa Saito, Hiro Matsuda, and to some extent Kabuki. They were the pioneers.

[Hisaharu Tanabe]

I always thought it would be either Hiro Matsuda or Masa Saito, who wrestled in so many territories as main eventer (or often as champion).

However, I gotta go with Giant Baba, who headlined the major cards in big cities including the title matches against Blassie for WWA title in LA, Buddy Rogers for NWA title in Chicago, Sammartino for WWWF title at MSG, etc., etc...

If you are talking about the impact on the wrestling style, that could be Tiger Mask who has a big influence on junior heavyweight wrestlers in Japan and luchadores in Mexico.

[edgehead1984]

I agree with Matsuda and Saito, they had an influence on wrestling here.

Does Mr. Fuji count.

I think Chono had a impact during his NWO days.

[Luds]

Muta in the nwa in the 80's to a certain extent

[Pheonix_Chi25]

I always thought Mutoh and Liger made some waves over here in the states, but you must also add one more name

Ultimo Dragon

[bannabop]

In terms of the "big two" Ultimo.

[Black_Flag_Of_Ulster]

really cant say much about the 'good old days' but in my perception ultimo made the biggest impact in the us in person. tiger mask made the juniors vogue so he made an even bigger impact, including making ultimo possible, but he really do it himself in the us. (from what i know, he only had a handful of matches on us soil)

[Ultimo_Fan]

Ultimo Dragon no doubt.
And yay to everyone who said Ultimo so far.
YAY!YAY!YAY!

I really do think Ultimo is one of the best wrestlers I have ever seen. There's just something about him, I can't really tell you what it is but he just does something for me. It's partly the mask and cape, his moves which were, when I first saw him, incredibly unique and...just a little je ne sais quoi that he has, sort of like an aura.

And he made a big impact in WCW, especially for me. If it wasn't for Ultimo I never would have gotten into Puroresu.

[Pheonix_Chi25]

Ultimo has always been one of the cruiserweights who is more than a diamond in the rough. He is being buried in the WWE, and this is just so sad he could be doing more in another fed than being treated as such in the WWE.

[Ultimo_Fan]

I agree, I think that all the cruiserweights should up and walk from the WWE unless they are used more, I mean gimme a break...Jamie Noble *spits*
I wanna see Ultimo whup noble's candy ***...