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KENTA to WWE?


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Jamie Noble was the agent for the RR match, and they didn't have the guys in the ring putting it together until 6PM last night so he is getting blamed.

 

KENTA is at the performance center right now for a tryout.

 

Prince Devitt contract offer is still on the table and he has to make a decision soon.

 

Still negotiating with Sting, a decision has to be made in the next 2 weeks apparently.

Wow, this is a bit under the radar b/c of the Rumble reaction but isn't this kind of a big deal? Would definitely be interesting to see how they use him.

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Ah, makes more sense.

 

They are a few years too late on KENTA for me, should have got him in 2005-2009 when he was at his peak. Half the appeal was that he was this cool, young, good looking guy who could also go hard in the ring. Not sure how they would use him now, he'd probably end up in some lame tag team wrestling the Real Americans on Main Event every other week.

 

Can't see why they would want Sting after all this time. Him against Undertaker could only be a letdown at this stage, especially since they are both increasingly immobile. They could maybe get a year of 'Dream Matches' out of him. I doubt he would have any effect on the ratings.

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Ah, makes more sense.

 

They are a few years too late on KENTA for me, should have got him in 2005-2009 when he was at his peak. Half the appeal was that he was this cool, young, good looking guy who could also go hard in the ring. Not sure how they would use him now, he'd probably end up in some lame tag team wrestling the Real Americans on Main Event every other week.

He'll probably be the next person to be Sin Cara

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I split this off on its own so it doesn't sidedrain the Rumble thread. Why isn't KENTA in New Japan anyway? His style would fit in very well I would think.

Whenever people ask about KENTA to New Japan on the Observer board the usual response is that he's not well liked at all on a personal level by NJPW, I never actually bothered asking for more info but I think the jist was how rough he is with trainees and the liberties he sometimes takes in matches. Like he just tried to straight up fight Kanemoto (I think) during a match at some stage. Maybe someone here would know more on that.

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It's pretty clear from the Rumble Match that there is no shortage of young talent in WWE right now.

Plus KENTA is not that young to begin with (he will turn 33 this March) and already had some serious injuries.

 

Same can be said of Bryan though.

 

Bryan hasn't had nearly the same amount of big injuries as KENTA.

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KENTA's four signature moves are currently being used by Punk & Bryan. Half of those he invented, yet he wouldn't be able to use any of them. He would have to drop all of his stiff kicks & strikes as well. Basically, everything he does would be out the window, and he would have to completely reinvent himself from the ground up, even more so than the usual veteran guy who comes in. I don't see how it could possibly work out, never mind attitude issues, language barrier, size bias, injury history, and everything else working against him.

 

Personally I think he's an all time great bell to bell, but there is no way he can overcome all of that.

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Guest TheGreatPuma

KENTA's four signature moves are currently being used by Punk & Bryan. Half of those he invented, yet he wouldn't be able to use any of them. He would have to drop all of his stiff kicks & strikes as well. Basically, everything he does would be out the window, and he would have to completely reinvent himself from the ground up, even more so than the usual veteran guy who comes in. I don't see how it could possibly work out, never mind attitude issues, language barrier, size bias, injury history, and everything else working against him.

 

Personally I think he's an all time great bell to bell, but there is no way he can overcome all of that.

Yes, the immediate thing that comes to mind are the signature moves. It'd be cool if they could incorporate those into storyline. KENTA would have a tremendous challenge to make it in the WWE but he has the heart/drive/eye of the tiger for it. On the positive side, you have got to believe that Bryan and Punk would both speak positively of him and probably already have.
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Can't see why they would want Sting after all this time. Him against Undertaker could only be a letdown at this stage, especially since they are both increasingly immobile. They could maybe get a year of 'Dream Matches' out of him. I doubt he would have any effect on the ratings.

Aside from the year of dream matches - a headliner for the Hall of Fame next year, the inevitable Blu-ray/DVD release, the licensing rights on current and 'classic era' action figures and video game appearances, the t-shirts and masks they could market, the Monday Night War Network tie-in, the chance to wheel out somebody different the next time they decide to have a parade of legends, the potential for WWE-branded autobiography on his career, the chance to have him act as a WWE ambassador without fear of Ric Flair-style embarrassments at public promotional functions, the meet and greet opportunities at Fan Axxess and the like, the ego boosting novelty of FINALLY getting the last of the great holdouts...

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To the thread topic, I would have enjoyed Kenta in WWE back in like 05-07. He's pretty beat up at this point, and WWE pushing foreign talent is always dicey. I think of all the guys in Japan Okada has the best chance of getting a legit push in WWE. Ibushi would have a nice undercard spot and most likely last for a long time. Kenta....I don't see it.

 

WWE really has a horrible track record when it comes to Japanese talent. Kaientai got a good push and Taka and Funaki lasted on the roster for years, but in the last decade there's been nothing

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Tajiri got the best run any Asian (not counting Samoans) has had in that company. I think his overall run far outweighed Hakushi's.

I agree that Tajiri had the best sustained run and was treated the best overall, but Hakushi did peak higher because he got to do a serious WWE Title program with Bret Hart, and was pushed harder than Tajiri was prior to that and up to that point. Then he sunk down the card and ended up in the lower mid card with Horowitz & Skip.

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Tajiri got the best run any Asian (not counting Samoans) has had in that company. I think his overall run far outweighed Hakushi's.

I agree that Tajiri had the best sustained run and was treated the best overall, but Hakushi did peak higher because he got to do a serious WWE Title program with Bret Hart, and was pushed harder than Tajiri was prior to that and up to that point. Then he sunk down the card and ended up in the lower mid card with Horowitz & Skip.

 

Hart wasn't the champion when he had the In Your House and RAW matches with Hakushi.

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Guest TheGreatPuma

I agree with W2BTD symbolically. It didn't matter who besides Bret had the belt at the time because it felt like Bret was the champion, supposed to be the champion and would be the champion again. I know others felt the same way I did too. It felt like Hakushi was fighting with the top star and really the true champ hence being elevated even more than anyone would could've been WWE champ. Bret just didn't happen to have the belt.

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