A Joke In WWE, A Legend In Japan
The late 1990s were an absolutely wild time for the world of professional wrestling, all around the world. In the United States, the ferocious rivalry between WCW and the WWF in the Monday Night Wars caused both companies to shake things up, looking for new ways to capture audiences and get the upper hand. One of the most fondly remembered aspects of Monday Nitro was the inclusion of the cruiserweight division, bringing in smaller competitors to put on technical classics on a weekly basis. In a bid to replicate that success, the WWF looked into forming their own division of light heavyweights. As well as existing roster members, the company looked further afield for talent to bolster the division, with one of the first signings being TAKA Michinoku.
TAKA Michinoku's career follows the trend of many other foreign wrestlers that ventured to the United States in the 1990s and into the early 2000s. Whilst he is lauded as an all-time great in his native Japan, his WWF run flies in the face of that distinction, thanks to the company's quick shift from focusing on him as a stellar grappler and pigeonholing him into a gimmick rife with stereotypes and racist angles. Though he had his shining moments there, the insensitive handling of the character tars over his WWF run as a whole.
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Taka Michinoku Was A Junior Heavyweight Prospect in Japan
TAKA Michinoku debuted in 1992, and quickly gained recognition around Japan as one of the most exciting prospects in the country. The 1990s saw an explosion in junior heavyweight wrestling in Japan, with the likes of Jushin "Thunder" Liger, El Samurai, Ultimo Dragon, and Super Delfin leading the charge across New Japan Pro Wrestling, FMW, and Wrestle Association R. Another fledgling promotion to build its name in the 1990s was Michinoku Pro Wrestling, run by The Great Sasuke. Sasuke became a mentor TAKA, such that using 'Michinoku' in his ring name was given to him by Sasuke.
In his first few years, Michinoku found himself wrestling all over, finding himself in NJPW Best of the Super Juniors and the Super-J Cup in 1994. In FMW, he held their junior heavyweight title for well over a year, an impressive accomplishment considering it was the first belt he had ever won. Michinoku also traveled to Mexico for bookings in CMLL, the oldest lucha libre promotion in existence, as well as even competing in ECW before joining the WWF. Establishing himself so widely in such a short span of time, it's no wonder that TAKA caught the attention of the WWF.
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Michinoku's WWF Run Starts Brightly But Soon Breaks Down
TAKA Michinoku made his WWF debut at an In Your House pay-per-view, Canadian Stampede, up against his mentor, The Great Sasuke. The two had an excellent match, and a rematch on RAW that also impressed, leading to Michinoku being placed in the tournament to crown the first officially recognized WWF Light Heavyweight Champion. The finals took place at IYH: D-Generation-X, with TAKA Michinoku defeating Brian Christopher to win the title. He went on to hold the title for nearly a year, regularly defending it on Shotgun Saturday Night and a few pay-per-views, including a successful defense at WrestleMania XIV.
The reign ended in October at IYH: Judgement Day when Michinoku lost the belt to Christian, who would in turn soon lose it Gillberg, with the title losing almost all relevance thereafter. For TAKA, he would soon join with some of his fellow countrymen in the stable Kai En Tai, confirming his allegiance in the infamous segment that saw Val Venis castrated with a katana. The stable later downsized to just the tag team of TAKA and Funaki, but things only got worse. Kai En Tai personified offensive Japanese stereotypes that overshadowed much of the good of Michinoku's WWF run, including a WWF Championship Match with Triple H that saw Michinoku presented like a very capable challenger for The Game.
The pair were a bottom rung tag team, used to eat pins from the other teams in the division, and not taken very seriously whatsoever. They would appear in backstage segments where their speech was dubbed over with bad lip sync in quite a horribly racist Japanese impression by Bruce Prichard, imitating the old dubbed martial arts movies. Other than that, Kai En Tai did very little else of note, with TAKA leaving the WWF in late 2001.
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Taka Cemented A Legacy In Japan
It in the past couple of decades that Taka Michinoku has particularly solidified his legacy as one of the best junior heavyweights in history. Shortly after returning to Japan, he established the Kaientai Dojo, a company that still operates today and has been one of Japan's biggest independent promotions since its inception. On top of that, Michinoku has done plenty of traveling around the world and worked for Japan's premier companies.
He has spent several years in both All Japan Pro Wrestling as well as New Japan Pro Wrestling, winning both singles and tag team championships in their junior divisions, as well as becoming a regular entrant in prestigious tournaments like the Best of the Super Juniors. Perhaps the most notable thing in Michinoku's post-WWF career has been his time as part of Suzuki-gun, the destructive stable led by the nefarious Minoru Suzuki. He became a core member of the group, traveling with them in their invasion of Pro Wrestling NOAH in 2015, winning tag gold there as well, before becoming the manager for the stable's newest addition, Zack Sabre Jr.
Despite the appalling booking in the latter half of Taka Michinoku's WWF stint, he has done plenty to build a legendary career in the years since. He may not be entering the WWE Hall of Fame any time soon, but his work in his homeland will make sure that future generations know the name Taka Michinoku.
