Takeshi Morishima

[8.0] "I think like a lot of North American fans, I first saw him in ROH during his feud with Bryan Danielson. From there I sought after his matches and it's clear the guy had it."

[9.0] "A beast with so much potential that for whatever reason never really achieved it fully but his ROH run was fantastic and at his peak was probably a top 5-10 wrestler in the world"

[9.0] "Extremely underrated worker. His time as ROH Champion was obviously the highlight of his career, but he served as a solid threat too. Maybe the only thing wrong was winning the title off of Homicide, which means his reign was ended quickly, but Morishima had classic after classic against whoever he was put up with. Even after he lost the title, his feud with American Dragon Bryan Danielson was easily some of the best work of his entire career."

[8.0] "In his prime, Morishima was a beast of a heavyweight. A brutal destroyer who ran through ROH and NOAH as this stiff badass with power moves and blows, while being surprisingly fast, like a heel version of Shinya Hashimoto. However, he also never reached his full potential in his native land, partly due to bad booking, but also because he never stepped up his game to the point where he could lead a match. And while a three times champion, he never had that signature title defense a great champion needs in Japan."

[6.0] "Morishima was a good worker in his time, possibly even great around 2006-2007, but he's been way too shitty in his last few years of wrestling. I think overall he is a problematic performer that was hurt by being too giving to junior contemporaries. His ROH run holds up as well as anyone. His work really fell off a cliff as his body betrayed him when he probably should have been reaching his peak, which probably colors our perception of him. He was special for the first 6 years of his career, but his, and the companies around him's flaws pretty much derailed him completely. I will always have a soft spot for Wild II & his ROH run."

[10.0] "One of my favorite ROH champions. Big, fast, brutal, and incredibly fun to watch. His matches with people such as Bryan Danielson and Samoa Joe solidified him as one of my favorite performers to watch during the peak of ROH and Pro Wrestling NOAH"

[8.0] "An excellent wrestler with alot of promise and potential , however he could never fully realized it due to the puroresu business being in the toilet which was out of his control not to mention had personal issues that where never fully resolved , he could of been a monster hoss legend up there with the likes of Stan Hansen and Big Van Vader , what a waste of talent."

[9.0] "Morishima was the exceptional bully leader of Cho-Kibou Gun, and at times could be the perfect "Terry Gordy but japanese" partner in your book. A destructive in-ring beast that made mince meat out of all opposition existent, Morishima carried all his learnings from the All Japan dojo to evolve in NOAH and became the man that ended Misawa's last GHC reign. Sadly, his run suffered a sad ending due to his monstruous physical condition carrying high cholesterol levels and he tried to adjust his wrestling career at a time he needed to adjust his life first, causing him to have a star struck and think of himself as a celebrity again. I hope he redeems with himself and do something else for the industry as long as he's healthy again."

[10.0] "Perhaps the greatest monster heel of all time. Not exactly a perfect career, but the high points are undeniable and his match with Danielson could easily be cited as the best ROH match in history. Deserves more love."

[8.0] "I think it's fair enough to judge Morishima as "wasted potential" especially when considering his NOAH stint. In ROH, he was booked to perfection, a beast of a man who by himself was able to go through the whole roster, being a convincing and brutal heel champion who wouldn't hesitate to murder someone with hammer blows or drop them on their head with a backdrop driver. Had plenty of great matches there, but his booking in NOAH left him in the backburner for wayy too long without making him apart of the main event scene, to the point that, by the time he beat (a massively injured and beyond prime) Misawa, he really couldn't recover properly. That isn't to say he wasn't over: the crowd clearly appreciated his work in the ring: but his reigns as champion were marred by not particularly amazing title defences and he never really seemed to catch that lightning in a bottle that his ROH title run had. It sucks that he basically retired before hitting his wrestling prime (late 30's to early 40's) because Morishima in NJPW would have been money. At present, he's a good "what could have been? " because he never got to a real main level beyond some long runs with the GHC outside of NOAH's sensational prime. Morishima was a great monster that could move fast as hell for his size, but he always seemed like more of a dance partner that needed someone really good to get him to the best he could be in ring, as he got quite complacent sometimes."

[8.0] "I am mostly grading him on his work in Ring of Honor. Morishima is the ideal final boss. A big guy who had the skills and was a monster, hell he practically destroyed the ROH roster in a great title run. He was built up to when someone actually did beat him it was a big deal."

[10.0] "The fact he could have been so much better should say how talented he is. His roh title run, though not treated as such by the booking, is one of the most celebrated on history. The work he did in his home promotion of NOAH was also really good. His stiff style along with him just being a badass in his prime made him a fan favorite of many. Can't wait for his comeback"

[9.0] "Kinda sad to rate Morishima, when we know how his career ended... In the ring, he was a beast, the perfect monster who can move, hit a dive and then plant you on your head with the most vicious power moves you'll see. He had his fair share of great matches, but sadly he didn't have much time to have more. A very good japanese monster, and not the kind that you'll see everyday"

[9.0] "I'll just write about his time in ROH. A vicious ROH World Champion. Takeshi Morishima was the first non-American to hold the title, beating the Notorious 187, Homicide for the championship and going on to defend it against the likes of Nigel McGuinness, KENTA, Roderick Strong, Austin Aries, so on and so forth. Looking dominant with every passing match until finally losing the championship to Nigel McGuinness, setting off a great run for Nigel as well. Then Morishima entered quite possibly one of the greatest feuds in Ring of Honor history with "American Dragon" Bryan Danielson..... Unfortunately in 2015, Morishima had to retire after spending the last bit of his career in Pro Wrestling NOAH after winning the GHC World Heavyweight Championship on three occasions. Morishima was great for ROH in that time frame. They needed a monster and Morishima played up as a great heel."

[9.0] "Morishima is a man who excels at brawls, telling a story and his ROH world title is amazing. Has left a great mark in ROH."

[7.0] "His run in NOAH wasn't really good, and he didn't have many great matches there, but his ROH run was absolutely amazing. The rivalry against Bryan Danielson is pro wrestling done to perfection, and it's without a doubt one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history. He also had some damn good matches vs. McGuinness & Castagnoli there."

[7.0] "Takeshi Morishima was a very good wrestler. His run in ROH was GREAT! , he had some of the best matches of his career there against the likes of Bryan Danielson, Nigel McGuinness, Samoa Joe, Claudio Castagnoli etc. His run in NOAH was very good too as he's a 3 time GHC Heavyweight Champion, and had some great matches against KENTA, Misawa, Kobashi, Marufuji etc."

[7.0] "A guy with a lot unfulfilled potential as a wrestler. Had a lot of great matches and flashed greatness occasionally, but overall he also was too often average between the ropes."

[10.0] "Tremendous big man ! His reign of terror in ROH was incredible and an indication of things to come in the future as he defeated the legend Misawa for the GHC title. Unbelievable strenght and agility !"

[5.0] "Apart from an intimidating physique, Takeshi Morishima is a very average wrestler with a couple of decent power maneuvers, but a very repetitive arsenal, slow movements and little in the way of charisma. Nothing really special, even with the backing of companies such as NOAH and ROH."