Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

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Mr. Mojo Risin
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Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by Mr. Mojo Risin »

I was thinking back to when Gabe had NOAH import Morishima become ROH World Champion and thought about which NJPW guy would I want as champ? But let's make things a little more interesting. You cannot use the obvious 2 guys in NJPW: Okada or Tanahashi. Let's be a little more creative than that.

My choice? KUSHIDA. Great babyface. Cross cultural nod with the Back To The Future ring attire. Really good wrestler. Yeah, promos might be a problem with the language barrier thing, but there are ways around that. Most importantly?
Always delivers in the ring.

What are your guys thoughts?
SweetDaddy
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by SweetDaddy »

Naito.
King of Indy Style
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by King of Indy Style »

Katsuyori Shibata. He doesn't need to talk. He just needs to walk to the ring, beat the ever living piss out of people, PK their face off, and head to the back. Have him win it and go on an absolute tear. Have him go undefeated for his entire reign. No Tag Losses, no Rollups, nothing. Then you have the next big babyface you want to push beat him at Final Battle.
Mr. Mojo Risin
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by Mr. Mojo Risin »

SweetDaddy wrote:Naito.
I love Naito. But would his Los Ingobernables character be watered down for American audiences? More specifically Sinclair standards?
Mr. Mojo Risin
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by Mr. Mojo Risin »

King of Indy Style wrote:Katsuyori Shibata. He doesn't need to talk. He just needs to walk to the ring, beat the ever living piss out of people, PK their face off, and head to the back. Have him win it and go on an absolute tear. Have him go undefeated for his entire reign. No Tag Losses, no Rollups, nothing. Then you have the next big babyface you want to push beat him at Final Battle.
I was torn between KUSHIDA and this choice. Shibata would be a throwback to early ROH Champions no doubt. But is this enough to satisfy the demographic that ROH is looking for by today's standards?
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by King of Indy Style »

I think so, yeah. With Shibata, you get the MMA-Style champion that O'Reilly was supposed to be/Fish was that higher ups seem to like, you get the New Japan star that the New Japan fans would want to see, and you get basically an early 2000's Samoa Joe feel, but harder hitting and more violent that old-school ROH fans like. And I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I will NEVER, EVER tire of Shibata kicking the shit out of people as hard as he can.
Mr. Mojo Risin
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by Mr. Mojo Risin »

King of Indy Style wrote:I think so, yeah. With Shibata, you get the MMA-Style champion that O'Reilly was supposed to be/Fish was that higher ups seem to like, you get the New Japan star that the New Japan fans would want to see, and you get basically an early 2000's Samoa Joe feel, but harder hitting and more violent that old-school ROH fans like. And I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I will NEVER, EVER tire of Shibata kicking the shit out of people as hard as he can.
I totally agree. Shibata is fucking awesome. Great counter-point. Like I said, I had it down to these two guys. Huge fan of both. Not an easy choice to make. Shibata is violent poetry at its finest.
famicommander
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by famicommander »

Either Hiroshi Tanahashi or Hirooki Goto.

Tanahashi if he'd be willing to lose the belt to Dalton Castle cleanly on a big show.

If not, Goto.
monster mafia
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by monster mafia »

Tana or Shibata.
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iceman311
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by iceman311 »

First guy to come to mind is Shibata. Even without eliminating Okada and Tanahashi. It's Shibata for me.
ICHIFUJI
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by ICHIFUJI »

I hope age under 30
(Morishima was so)
Even he is rookie, Oka is good.
Mr. Mojo Risin
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by Mr. Mojo Risin »

Mr. Mojo Risin wrote:You cannot use the obvious 2 guys in NJPW: Okada or Tanahashi. Let's be a little more creative than that.
I think a couple of you missed this part.
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Brada
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by Brada »

I think it would be a HUGE mistake to put the belt on a NJPW guy that's not going to be around a lot.real bad decision. But to take part in your hypothetical question, my vote would be for either Naito or KUSHIDA
ROHfan2002
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by ROHfan2002 »

King of Indy Style wrote:Katsuyori Shibata. He doesn't need to talk. He just needs to walk to the ring, beat the ever living piss out of people, PK their face off, and head to the back. Have him win it and go on an absolute tear. Have him go undefeated for his entire reign. No Tag Losses, no Rollups, nothing. Then you have the next big babyface you want to push beat him at Final Battle.
This. Totally this. I was so impressed at his few ROH appearances this summer, and thought it was so stupid to have him lose to Bobby Fish via pinfall. Dude exudes badassery.
SweetDaddy
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by SweetDaddy »

I don't like Shibata.

He makes Chris Benoit look like he had charisma.
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by Mr. Mojo Risin »

SweetDaddy wrote:I don't like Shibata.

He makes Chris Benoit look like he had charisma.
(Gasp) BLASPHEMER!!!
ROHfan2002
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by ROHfan2002 »

SweetDaddy wrote:I don't like Shibata.

He makes Chris Benoit look like he had charisma.

I think that is his charisma though. He's not flashy. He's not showy. He comes out, in all black, walks to the ring. Rarely changes facials, and kicks ass. I like that persona on him. In that way he is like Miroshima. Miroshima just came out, whupped ass quickly (in ROH title matches for that time), and left.

If just one guy does that style every now and then, it can be very effective.

I like Thatcher for many of the same reasons. No hype, no screaming, no charisma at all. But it works for his character. He just comes out, out-wrestles you, and wins. Then back to the back.

I don't feel that every wrestler, or champion, must have charisma, as long as that works for that talent.

Xavier would be a nice example of no-charisma not working.
Big Red Machine
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by Big Red Machine »

ROHfan2002 wrote:
SweetDaddy wrote:I don't like Shibata.

He makes Chris Benoit look like he had charisma.

I think that is his charisma though. He's not flashy. He's not showy. He comes out, in all black, walks to the ring. Rarely changes facials, and kicks ass. I like that persona on him. In that way he is like Miroshima. Miroshima just came out, whupped ass quickly (in ROH title matches for that time), and left.

If just one guy does that style every now and then, it can be very effective.

I like Thatcher for many of the same reasons. No hype, no screaming, no charisma at all. But it works for his character. He just comes out, out-wrestles you, and wins. Then back to the back.

I don't feel that every wrestler, or champion, must have charisma, as long as that works for that talent.

Xavier would be a nice example of no-charisma not working.
The difference between Thatcher and Shibata (aside from that fact that Shibata's psychology sucks) is that Thatcher does little things to show you that "no hype. I'm all about the competition" is his character (and Stokely does a fantastic job of accentuating that). Shibata is just a dude who no one would pay any attention to if he hadn't done MMA.
Big Red Machine
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Re: Which NJPW star would you want as ROH World Champion?

Post by Big Red Machine »

I'd want none of them as champion unless they can commit to a regular ROH schedule. Morishima was in for more than half of the shows, and Gabe did things to hide it when he wasn't like building up various #1 contendership matches. I don't trust the Delirious regime to be able to do that. If I had to pick one, it'd be Okada (with Tanahashi being second) but neither of those is going to happen.
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