Paid Members garynysmon Posted January 20 Paid Members Share Posted January 20 1 hour ago, LaGoosh said: Would Okada bring new viewers to WWE? I realise what you're asking really is would he move the needle, and of course the answer is no. But do I think more American based fans of Japanese wrestling watch AEW than WWE? I'd say probably yes. I'd hazard more would start watching WWE because of Okada, but clearly not in the required numbers to boost viewership to any tangible measure though as Japanese wrestling is already a niche of a niche. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 20 Paid Members Share Posted January 20 (edited) 14 hours ago, garynysmon said: I doubt he’d bring in a single new viewer that’s not already regularly watching AEW anyway. 9 hours ago, LaGoosh said: Would Okada bring new viewers to WWE? The suggestion is clear - that there’s still a divide between people who just “like WWE” and their in house style of matches, booking and production, and only watch WWE and people who “like wrestling” and watch what they can and perceive to be the best of everything outside the WWE bubble. To my understanding, at present that’s likely to be AEW, New Japan and potentially TNA, other men’s Puro and for some, ROH too, to get their fix of the best wrestlers out there not signed to WWE having very different styles of matches. It’s part of the reason 15-17 NXT got over so well at Full Sail, in some of the hardcore markets for TakeOver (as many people turning up to the Barclays as would the next night for SummerSlam) and to a vocal subset of fans that proclaimed to hardly watch main roster WWE but love NXT. I know, I was one of them. Well, apart from when AJ was wrestling. There’s undeniably another breed (with some crossover) that follow their favourite wrestlers without much care to where they work. Again, this was me - while already a huge fan of New Japan, my interest was never higher than when AJ was there, and similarly my interest in WWE was hardly ever lower than before he signed in 2016, and suddenly I was watching their telly every week. Or at least, when AJ was on. Are there significant western fans of Okada or New Japan that don’t also already watch AEW? Hard to say, though seems unlikely given the talent swapping and co-promotion. Seems far more likely that fans of Okada not already watching WWE would start doing so to see what he does/“how he’s getting on.” I’ll certainly be one watching more WWE if he signs, out of curiosity if nothing more. Edited January 20 by air_raid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loki Posted January 20 Share Posted January 20 It's also worth noting that Japan is a not insignificant market for WWE, and one of the reasons they have periodically hired Japanese names is to help sell tickets over there. Â Nakamura I think has been a big star for them in that market, Okada would be likewise. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no user name Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 So how do you think okada would do in wwe? I want him to go to aew but I do think he could be successful in wwe. Not the main guy but I would imagine he could win a couple of world titles. If he did would he have to go through nxt and if so why? To learn the wwe way of wrestling and to work on his mike skills? Like I said I hope he goes to aew. The fans already love him and I think he would fit kn better but I could understand him going to wwe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TildeGuy~! Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 They could just throw him in with a manager, it worked well for a long time with Gedo as his mouthpiece as he stood there in his expensive robe looking smug as fuck because he knew he was the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 22 Paid Members Share Posted January 22 10 minutes ago, no user name said: If he did would he have to go through nxt and if so why? Nah. On 1/19/2024 at 8:10 PM, air_raid said: You don’t sign Okada for the kind of money he’d want, for him to slum it with Andy No Name and Nonn Steiner for six months first. Shoot for your ROI as soon as possible, he’s not getting any younger.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Devon Malcolm Posted January 22 Paid Members Share Posted January 22 6 minutes ago, TildeGuy~! said: They could just throw him in with a manager, it worked well for a long time with Gedo as his mouthpiece as he stood there in his expensive robe looking smug as fuck because he knew he was the best. But hasn't most of his best work been as a babyface? Again, I don't know much of him but hasn't he been a babyface for the last few years at least? I'd assume WWE would want to ride that wave. Relating to him working in NXT, it's a shame he's being perceived as being 'too big' for NXT, even though that's almost certainly the case. I think the current day NXT, whether you like it or not, is a better preparation for stepping up to the main roster than it was in its black and gold days. It would be good preparation for him but maybe he's so good and adaptable that he'd slot in Raw / Smackdown instantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CavemanLynn Posted January 22 Share Posted January 22 Okada in WWE is way more interesting than AEW or TNA, because in either of those he'll be wrestling the way he has for years, but the WWE style is so distinctive and more restrictive that it'll be fascinating seeing how well he adapts and how well he is presented. Take their last few Japanese men's purchases - KENTA/Itami, Nakamura, Tozawa and Kushida, and it's telling which one adapted the fastest, and how the rest ended up going. You can argue that KENTA got hamstrung by one of their subtle-as-a-brick namechange angles, but he looked badass sitting on a chair in the middle of the ring, egging on the Ascension to have a go. Injury curtailed what could've been. Tozawa has seemingly hung around long enough to fall into the Tajiri-esque "quirky foreigner" slot, while Kushida just couldn't translate his talent and look into something substantial for US storylines. You'd think Okada would come in, pissing stoic, arrogant charisma, with a ripoff to his established Rainmaker entrance, but whether he can adapt to working 5-15 minutes (typically half the time he takes to even get going, like a Japanese Greg Valentine) AND offer the character and promo skills to afford him a real top-line successful run in WWE is where the intrigue is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted January 22 Paid Members Share Posted January 22 5 minutes ago, Devon Malcolm said: But hasn't most of his best work been as a babyface? To be honest, I’ve absolutely loved him as both a smug git against someone fighting from underneath who the crowd/I want to see beat him, and as a guy knackered, overwhelmed, beaten down, fighting back and pulling it out like a hero. But I’m talking purely about bell to bell in the context of the story of the match or the particular rivalry, and I’m talking about New Japan, where it’s not always a paint-by-numbers “Who’s the heel” situation. Oh, great. Now I’ve got Alex Wright and Hardbody Harrison’s voices stuck in my head arguing about who’s the heel in front of Pee Wee Anderson. Piss Jericho!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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