Masao Inoue

[Grimmas]

Ma Stump Puller said - 

"

Alright, hear me out on this one. Inoue isn't really much of a hand in his AJPW stuff: I've had the unfortunate task of watching most of it in action: but he evolves into probably the best "fish out of water" wrestlers ever, a pure and true underdog that couldn't even be called that, because at least underdogs win big matches sometimes. Inoue wins nothing, but somehow manages to get the crowd to rally endlessly behind him in every endeavour he makes: either teaming up with the old guard to try to get a big win or staring down some of the meanest, nastiest wrestlers on the roster, he's a true master of getting the most out of a considerably limited moveset, using a mix of comedy alongside genuine selling to get a audience to laugh, cheer, or even boo him. He won't amaze you with Terry Funk tier selling or astonish with epic workrate, but he'll rake the eyes really good, and on the (very) rare occasion he gets that Backbreaker off, the roof almost always nearly falls with how much fanfare he gets. The best "I know I'm bad but that's my gimmick anyway" worker I've ever seen. He's more Rocky than Rocky ever was."

Katsuhiko Nakajima vs. Masao Inoue (NOAH 14.06.2020) 

Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue vs. Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima (NOAH 04.08.2019)

Kenta Kobashi & Masao Inoue vs Jun Akiyama & Akitoshi Saito (NOAH 14.2.2014)

Jun Akiyama vs. Masao Inoue (NOAH 23.04.2006)

Akitoshi Saito & Masao Inoue vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH 10.09.2004) 

Masao Inoue vs. Yuji Nagata (NOAH 14.05.2003)

Masao Inoue & Tamon Honda vs. Mitsuharu Misawa & Yoshinari Ogawa (AJPW 27.11.1999)

Kenta Kobashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Masao Inoue & Toshiaki Kawada (AJPW 02.01.1998)

[Jetlag]

Very intelligent psychology in his big matches, but there's a lot of undercard tags where he's just there or being crappy. I recall Ikeda trying his darndest to carry him to a good match and Inoue just not bringing anything. Also, literal one-trick pony.

[Ma Stump Puller]

8 hours ago, Jetlag said:

Very intelligent psychology in his big matches, but there's a lot of undercard tags where he's just there or being crappy. I recall Ikeda trying his darndest to carry him to a good match and Inoue just not bringing anything. Also, literal one-trick pony.

In all fairness, these undercard tags aren't intended to be a spectacular displays, they are 6-man tags where people just get in shit and then leave. You could knock literally anyone for stuff like that given the amount of aimless 90's Misawa and Pillar tags they've been in.

Sure, the "one-trick" stuff is true, but it's like complaining about a baseball player always winning with a fastball: if it always works successfully, can it really be a complaint? I think Inoue's gimmick drags personality and drama into matches where they should be ZERO or very little. No one is buying that him and Saito can beat The Untouchables or AXIZ but he's able to drag the audience into such matches with incredibly strong psychology and genuine talent behind the goofiness. It's a gift that's very much lacking today