Osamu Nishimura

[9.0] "Great in ring performer with a track record spanning over 30 years. Nishimura-san started in 1991 and made his way to the US as a technical young wrestler competing in ECW and SMW for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. Sent to the obscure, very weird promotion of Germany the Catch Wrestling Association and became a standout in their dying days. He has consistently shown through his body of work that he can hold himself in the ring with outstanding psychology. Loved his work in AJPW and he I hope he is enjoying the twilight of his career,"

[9.0] "Nishimura is a interesting case of someone who initially started off as a generic Jr heavyweight (doing moonsaults and other big spots) before eventually going all the way around to one of the most respected and competent mat-workers I've ever seen. Nishimura is also one of the GOAT's when it comes to carrying lesser talent; his list of accomplishments in that regard are so long that I really couldn't cover all of them on here. He's a fantastically capable wrestler who has barely had a bad match in his career, despite never being able to grab a definitive mainline title in AJPW/NJPW/NOAH and beyond. This is mainly due to some bad timing (his testicular cancer hitting just when he was getting massively over in the early 2000's) but Nishimura regardless has insane range in how he can wrestle a match, combining German and British Catch sequences with Dory Funk and Fujinami homages alongside his own unique tweaks to create a uniquely dynamic style that has aided him well in his 20+ years wrestling. From carrying complete nobodies to good matches all the way to giving some of the greats (Kawada, Fujinami) some of their last truly top notch matches, Nishimura is stunningly effective at, well, wrestling. The idea he "lacked" charisma when I've directly seen crowds go apeshit for him or his opponents makes truly no sense; he might have been one of the last truly top notch guys to use Stoicism correctly when wrestling, with the last ever probably being Misawa up until his passing. Incredibly unique in his own right, one of the best to ever do it but sadly underappreciated in the grand scheme of things, mainly due to him spending most of his time now getting younger talent over and the fact he left NJPW before their big boom."

[10.0] "Nothing about this man is bad, nothing! A show and victory stealer capable of putting all wrestlers aside to beat them cleanly later. He was able to train under some of the greatest trainers around the globe, so you can imagine that a tremendous creation would emerge. Nishimura is a beautiful piece of art of a wrestler, working deep in psychology and holds under Tatsumi Fujinami's MUGA philosophy, also able to show his fire to the crowd while working under a tremendous speed. Perfect brainchild wrestler who needs more love!"

[10.0] "Just a beautiful wrestler in all capacities, and it's really true that he's severely underappreciated as a charismatic presence simply because if he didn't have that charisma, he never would have gotten the shots that he did. It takes a lot to make spinning toe holds and backslides resonate so crucially with audiences."

[10.0] "I am appalled at the consensus that has developed around Nishimura, this supposed praise that he is "a great technical wrestler" who simply lacked "charisma". I look at Nishimura and I see a full, dynamic and passionate personality. None of his techniques, none of his quirks would function at all if they weren't backed up by an undeniable charisma. I really cannot believe that you can watch him whip the crowd into a frenzy with but a small gesture at the height of tension, or his anger at Riki Choshu, and think he lacks personality. At that point charisma just means "does promos like da rock" but anyways let me move on from this sickening failure in analysis. Nishimura is one of the best wrestlers ever and the initial period I saw of him, his BANG! TV champion run in 2017, is a time I hold very dearly in my heart. He shows true strength and his continued presence in pro wrestling is to be treasured"

[9.0] "1 of the greatest technical wrestlers of all time with amazing skills in catch and mat wrestling. He was not charismatic but extremely likeable which still makes him popular with fans to this day. Very underappreciated talent by western fans."

[9.0] "Nishimura has always been a favourite of mine since I first watched him. Nothing flashy or entirely impressive but his overall game is so sound that he is great. When he sells, he sells like he can't move and it impacts his movement, his offence and his body language. Very little details go along way."

[9.0] "Osamu Nishimura was a tremendous technical wrestler in his prime, effortlessly combining catch wrestling with the traditional style. The only thing preventing him from stardom was a lack of charisma."