A Look At The New Japan Imports and Why They Might Not Succeed

A Look At The New Japan Imports and Why They Might Not Succeed
February 18. 2016
By Ryan Porzl

It was one month ago when reports came out that WWE would sign four big names from New Japan Pro Wrestling which were AJ Styles, Shinsuke Nakamura, Karl Anderson, and Doc Gallows. To say the least, many fans have been excited that four big names could possibly be heading to the WWE. However, when you look at everything, it's probably not the best idea to get excited cause their runs may not be successful. What do I mean about "everything", let's take a look. Keep in mind that at the time I'm writing this, only Styles has signed while the others are either taking physicals or finishing up other commitments so things can change. However, for this article, I'll write it as if they have already been signed.



First thing to look at is the big one which is age, years in the ring, and health. While Gallows doesn't have a problem given he just turned 32, only has ten years in the business, and doesn't have a history of injuries, the others are a completely different story. Anderson just turned 36 which is getting up for there for someone who has never gone through the WWE schedule before and this year marks his 14th year in the business. Nakamura is where things start to get ugly. Like Anderson, Nakamura turns 36 this year and has now been in the business for 14 years which means like Anderson, he's on the wrong side of the 30s and has nearly a decade & half of wear & tear on his body. Another problem is health as Nakamura has had issues with shoulder injuries in the past as well as other upper body injuries including an injured elbow last year. As a result, Nakamura has reduced his style to mostly knee and kick attacks while using little moves that involve strength. Finally, there's AJ Styles who is the worst of the bunch. Styles is currently 38 years old, has now been wrestling for 18 years, and is coming off a bad back injury. Styles even mentioned back in December that the back injury was a result of his schedule of going around the world and was going to have an easier schedule for 2016. Given the demands of the WWE, it can be extremely difficult for wrestlers well into their 30s and a decade plus of wear and tear on their bodies to adapt to the WWE. There's a great chance that they won't have long shelf lives all things considered especially since they're at that point in their lives where they may not recover from bumps and bruises as they once did. The problem is that the WWE schedule doesn't give them the time to be home and recover as they're always on the road.

Scheduling is another issue. Gallows is the only one who has done WWE's schedule before but the others are not familiar with going through it. The WWE schedule has it's wrestlers on the road for 300 days a year and they also do many international tours with the European tours well known for being brutal and grueling. Styles, Nakamura, and Anderson have never been on the WWE schedule or around the world for 300 days a year and they may not be able to do it. It wouldn't be surprising given their ages and Nakamura & Styles past injuries that their bodies eventually can't keep up and break down. Nakamura may have the hardest time adapting since he's spent his career in his native Japan where Japanese schedules are far smaller, wrestlers travel on buses, and don't have to worry about transportation. Now, he and even Anderson & Styles will be constantly on the road and have to worry about flying, rental cars, driving themselves to the gym, restaurants, and hotels. Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if we hear stories about Styles and Nakamura breaking down at this time next year and it will likely be the schedule.

Vince is a huge problem as well. It's almost universally known in the wrestling business that Vince prefers to push and focus on talent that he "created" (John Cena, Randy Orton, Brock Lesnar, Batista, and Roman Reigns) and/or talent that he gave new gimmicks and names to (Seth Rollins and Alberto Del Rio). We already know that Styles will be himself going forward and there's a good chance Nakamura, Anderson, and Gallows will too. So the question is how much will Vince care or invest in them if they're not using WWE gimmicks that Vince and his creative team created? Will Vince truly get behind people who don't have that "WWE Seal of Approval"? Will he have outside wrestlers with outside gimmicks beat his creations or those with gimmicks the WWE bestowed upon them? Even if they do win matches, will they be allowed to be booked strong? Who is Vince really going to get behind? AJ Styles or Roman Reigns? Shinsuke Nakamura or Alberto Del Rio? Anderson & Gallows or The New Day?

Then there's Vince's attention span or lack thereof. Sadly, Vince for the longest time has been a child with wrestlers being his toys. One month, he puts the new act on RAW, Smackdown, and PPVs but the next month, he loses interest and ends their push. Look at many of the NXT imports in the last year with The Ascension, Bo Dallas, Neville, and Tyler Breeze. Now, they're doing nothing. Rumors are already circulating that Sami Zayn and either Samoa Joe or Finn Balor being called up to the main roster after Wrestlemania while the other will be later in the year. Speaking of Wrestlemania, that's usually the time when a lot of men and women get called up to the main roster so there is a big possibility that they could get lost in the shuffle. Plus, Cena, Orton, and Rollins will return from injury and Vince will obviously be more into them then to four wrestlers without his seal of approval.

Obviously, it's too soon to tell how far they'll go and it's possible that Vince surprisingly does get behind him. However, the odds are definitely against them given health, injuries, age, schedule, and Vince's M.O. being against them. Then again, maybe they succeed despite the odds. Time will tell.