Kana Signs With WWE?

[GOTNW]

Enuhito just reported it on his blog and he's usually correct (I don't remember him reporting anything false and he was the first to call Ibushi in the 2012 G1 for instance). And yeah there's the Takeover thing.

[Russellmania]

Kana vs. Eva Marie is now my most wanted match

[artDDP]

Triple H must be lurking forums like this and scouring Dailymotion for leads on new talent.

[donsem43]

Or Sara del Ray has built up a lot of political pull with him. No way this happens without her.

[Matt D]

Someone point me to some Kana matches to watch.

[Jingus]

There's a bunch of her matches on Youtube, take your pick of whoever you wanna see her fight. Here's a quick teaser clip:

 

 

 

I had to fight the urge to post her match against Sakura Hirota; but, the pink-wearing laugh machine is the very definition of Acquired Taste, sadly enough. And the clip I really wanted but couldn't find was of Kana literally picking up Aja Kong and wearing her like a jacket. Apparently, Kana is one of those Cesaro types who have freakish strength that's all out of proportion to their body size/shape.

[S.L.L.]

Someone point me to some Kana matches to watch.

 

https://vimeo.com/51785900

 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hvhwe

 

Wish I could find her 2013 Carlos Amano match, but a quick search isn't turning that up. As donsem43 pointed out elsewhere, Kana is someone I said would be a really cool get for NXT, and while I was kinda being flippant when I said it, I meant it all the same. The main hang-up I imagined would be her BatlleArts-inspired style maybe being too out there for some of the other girls, but I figure she's talented enough that they could figure out how to adjust that to the house style without losing her own before putting her on TV. Beyond that, she's got a hell of a distinct personality and character, she's very creative, she'd have the distinction of being the only Asian female on the roster, and, penchant for clown makeup aside, is quite attractive. I don't know how good her English is, and ideally, you'd hope she'd work on that, but she was pretty clearly the best female hire on the market unless Rousey decided to go into wrestling full-time.

[donsem43]

This has to be the most "outside the box" signing, while still having a good chance of working, that WWE has ever made. Granted, I could see her getting in a fight with the hair/wardrobe people and being fired in a few weeks. The timing works to because if this was a couple of years ago it would have been Kaientai all over again.

 

Matches:

vs. Serena in Smash a little less than a year after Serena got fired - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axz3vYxvdl8

 

vs. Ayumi Kurihara, they beat the hell out of each other - https://youtu.be/AbMu_mfN1NA

 

vs. Arisa Nakajima, JWP title match & debut of the zombie clown look - https://youtu.be/y_gvPHm99rY

 

vs. Carlos Amano, pretty sure this is the one S.L.L. was looking for - http://dai.ly/x16v1w0

 

vs. Syuri, First match they had together. It's off an idol video so be warned - https://youtu.be/VcFVSw68_UE?t=6m36s

 

[Russellmania]

this signing is actually pretty smart because she'd make a great psycho heel challenger for Bayley in NXT.

 

Hopefully that's the plan and they don't drag their feet too much with getting her involved.

[Loss]

I've thought for years that a lot of the best women in Japan should seek work in the U.S. and try to get the style over here. It's down over there and has been for nearly two decades, in part because the basis of comparison is the Crush Girls era and the interpromotional era. Here, they aren't saddled by a previous era hitting a ridiculously high level and everything after that seeming like a disappointment, even when those involved are doing good work. I don't know if WWE is the right company to get something like that over, but on paper it's an intriguing signing. However, it's important to remember that outside-the-box signings mean nothing if the goal is to take those talents and put them inside said box.

[Zenjo]

Kana seems to have a feisty personality. So she'll probably get fired before long. I've been watching a few of her Shimmer matches from 2012 recently. If she wasn't the best women's wrestler in the world at that point then she can't have been far off. Unless she's physically declined then that should still be the case now. She shouldn't have any real problems adapting to the wrestling style. Apart from certain Divas complaining it's too stiff. They'd probably be jealous of her ability as well so would try to undermine her. Then there's all the writers and other assorted morons backstage to put up with. This just ain't working out.

[donsem43]

I'd say she's arguably been the best woman in the world since 2010. Only other candidates are Meiko Satomura and Arisa Nakajima.

 

She has scaled back her matwork lately but I hope she keeps it because the better WWE women's matches are usually fairly matbased. She's also pretty great at working with young, inexperienced workers. Always seems to know how much to give to make her opponent look good while keeping herself look strong. That's what makes her a surprisingly great fit for the WWE wrestling-wise.

[Jingus]

I've thought for years that a lot of the best women in Japan should seek work in the U.S. and try to get the style over here.

There isn't much work to be had. The days of the 1970s and 80s, when the Japanese promoters had contacts with American territories and could send their young lions over here to make their bones, are long dead and gone. Aside from SHIMMER, I offhand can't think of any companies that consistently bring in any joshi workers (some like Chikara might do it on occasion, but not often and usually only for big shows). And even if someone worked every single SHIMMER taping, that's not exactly an exhausting schedule, considering that company basically runs like three or four shows per year. Which is really telling about the sad financial state of the industry, when that's apparently the only way Dave Prazak can keep his company in business.

[BillThompson]

I'd say she's arguably been the best woman in the world since 2010. Only other candidates are Meiko Satomura and Arisa Nakajima.

 

 

I think she got passed this year by Sasha and Hojo. Of course while I do believe those two women are as good as Kana, it doesn't help Kana that she barely ever makes tape anymore.

[donsem43]

So Triple H made this official yesterday. That English interview she did was weird.

 

Nice to see she's already preparing for her arrival at the performance center:

 

[fxnj]

 

 

I'd say she's arguably been the best woman in the world since 2010. Only other candidates are Meiko Satomura and Arisa Nakajima.

 

I think she got passed this year by Sasha and Hojo. Of course while I do believe those two women are as good as Kana, it doesn't help Kana that she barely ever makes tape anymore.

In a way, that was part of her mystique. I would usually have to wait half a year, if not longer, to see her big matches from her own promotion, but it was always worth it to see what new weird look she could come up with and to see her try things out no one else was doing, like wrestling long and stiff matches with men or having live music played to match the action. Between those things and her already unique wrestling style, I imagine it was similar to the feeling people got while trading tapes in the 80's and 90's. I'm happy that she's become the first joshi to work WWE in 20 years and it will definitely be cool to follow her every week, but I'm still going to miss her indy days because, again, there was nothing quite like her on the scene.

[C.S.]

This video proves she can do the whole "Total Divas" bikini thing too.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QHnzx8Z2TA

[El-P]

Ah, Japan… some things just never change apparently.

 

Where is that quote about Vince being outraged about the very fact asian porn would even exist or something ?

[sek69]

Ah, Japan… some things just never change apparently.

 

Where is that quote about Vince being outraged about the very fact asian porn would even exist or something ?

 

That always struck me as odd since he gives all the signs of being the exact type to know any and all porn genres.

 

 

Also I get a bad feeling Kana's going to get the "she can't cut it in WWE" rap trying to work miracles with the Eva Maries and Dana Brookes of the world.

[Coffey]

I get a bad feeling Kana's going to get the "she can't cut it in WWE" rap trying to work miracles with the Eva Maries and Dana Brookes of the world.

 

She's also, apparently, not great at speaking English. Much like KENTA, before injury, I feel like it is going to hold her back too. I'm not entirely sure why WWE seems so hell bent on trying to make people that aren't good speaking talk all the time. Why does KENTA or Kana for that matter, have to ever cut a promo? Just give them a mouth piece. That worked for years in pro-wrestling. Hell, it still works. Look at Paul Heyman with Brock Lesnar. Brock doesn't have to say a word.

 

I'll take a wait-and-see approach, of course, but I wouldn't be shocked to see WWE kill the mystique of Kana by trying to have her cut an English promo in front of the NXT crowd, like they did with Hideo.

[Ready_Willing_Gable]

 

I get a bad feeling Kana's going to get the "she can't cut it in WWE" rap trying to work miracles with the Eva Maries and Dana Brookes of the world.

 

She's also, apparently, not great at speaking English. Much like KENTA, before injury, I feel like it is going to hold her back too. I'm not entirely sure why WWE seems so hell bent on trying to make people that aren't good speaking talk all the time. Why does KENTA or Kana for that matter, have to ever cut a promo? Just give them a mouth piece. That worked for years in pro-wrestling. Hell, it still works. Look at Paul Heyman with Brock Lesnar. Brock doesn't have to say a word.

 

I'll take a wait-and-see approach, of course, but I wouldn't be shocked to see WWE kill the mystique of Kana by trying to have her cut an English promo in front of the NXT crowd, like they did with Hideo.

 

Yeah, agreed. It's a real shame managers are getting more and more sparse atm. The business has evolved but it hasn't evolved that much that the odd worker doesn't need a mouthpiece. One of the things I hope to see in the next few years is a new manager-boom. Paul Heyman is not the only guy who can do that job!

[Coffey]

Sometimes not speaking even HELPS a character. Growing up watching guys like Abdullah the Butcher or The Great Muta, those acts don't work if they talk like a normal dude. Part of the appeal of Goldberg during his initial Streak was he didn't need to talk (much). He did his talking in the ring, just bulldozing through his opponents.

[sek69]

She shouldn't HAVE to cut promos but WWE style demands everyone have to recite overly written promos.

[Jingus]

Remember when they made Sabu cut promos? That was just painful to watch, and they should have realized it on week 1 but they continued to make him talk anyway. He's never been LESS compelling, but you know WWE and their hard-on to remodel everyone into their own image.

[Johnny Sorrow]

Ah, Japan some things just never change apparently.

 

Where is that quote about Vince being outraged about the very fact asian porn would even exist or something ?

He wasn't "outraged". It was that he wasn't aware it existed and was a thing. It was when Gail Kim was coming in and he had concerns about if the audience would accept her as hot. I think it was Jim Ross who either told him about Asian porn or was the guy who told the story.

If anything, I think it speaks well for Vince that he doesn't have his finger on the pulse of what the guys who chant "Cena sucks" watch.😃