Tadao Yasuda

[7.0] "A fun wrestler with some good peaks, I do get how he got his reputation, EVIL and Jon Moxley were arguably worse champs, he knew how to work really well against smaller opponents too, and had some interesting gimmicka too."

[8.0] "In my opinion, having been overpushed for 50 days shouldn't be the main thing remembered in Yasuda's career (and I was able to watch two of the three matches from his reign, and think they were good). Starting out with his sumo background in NJPW after Kitao's failure, Yasuda was positioned very low on the totem pole. He embodied the underdog and constantly served as the "face in peril" during the first part of his career. It was hilarious to see a guy in his thirties, towering over three-quarters of the roster, being the punching bag in all his matches. He really started to shine in his match against Kojima at the 1998 G1 Climax and followed that up with a string of strong performances in the 1999 G1, the highlight being another great match against Kojima. His shift in style to become a sort of "shooter" in the 2000s was a success workwise, culminating in the 2001 G1, which is probably the most accomplished of all his appearances and followed by his first two (great) matches against Nagata for igwp heavy, is his peak. After losing the iwgp heavy, he is wisely depuhsed as a midcarder gatekeeper in a heel faction and developp the original and effective "coward shooter" gimmick, having his las great match has a full-fledgeg heel against Nagata in 2003. Overall, Yasuda is a utility player who has had two very different phases in his career: oversized sumo underdog and cowardly shooter. He was effective in both roles largely thanks to his selling and bumping skills (guy was totally selfless) and his character work. He always had a bit of awkwardness in the way he carried himself but I always thought it made his charl and he was underrated as a mat worker in his shooter stint. His greatest quality as a wrestler is his talent for being pathetic, and I think that's what explains his popularity and the consistently strong reactions he gets from the audience. Cause it's heartbreaking to see a lumpy middle age sumo being mauled but it's also cathartic to see a coward shooter evil cult leader get his comeuppance. [7.5] rounded up to [8]"

[8.0] "I feel like Yasuda's reputation of being the "Worst IWGP Heavyweight Champion" has led to an extremely exaggerated evaluation on his level as a performer. He has numerous G1 Climax performances that are well worth going out of your way to check out. A big mean hard-hitting bastard who's legitimate combat success launched his career further than it was meant to go but by no means does that make him as bad as people would have you believe."

[7.0] "I've seen a few of his matches, but from what I've saw so far; he's really good at what he does (his role I mean), the way makes the crowd moves in just little things is truly magic and not anyone can do that, he's not like physically talented but he knows hot to make something out of a little, even in different circumstances you can see that clearly, I've seen so little and I noticed that, his run in the 2001 G1 Climax is solid hands down, As an initial assessment; his kinda underrated/ under appreciated."

[10.0] "A truly underrated gem of the Inokiism era that gets such a bad rep online and on here, Just a really big beast who could lay down realistic beatings on almost anyone in the world, His matches against Tenzan and Nishimura go to show that he's very proficient in wrestling and can pace a match well and play with the structure to match his strengths. The King of Debt will almost never be properly respected but he's found a place in my heart."

[8.0] "What really hurts me about Yasuda is that all people know about him is that he was the so-called "worst IWGP Champion" despite having two great Nagata matches....also Bob Sapp and Nakanishi's singular run exist and were worse. For some reason there's a pretty bad sumo bias on the site where people tend to rank him and other big lads outrageously low (Jun Izumida, Akebono, etc) regardless of talent and merely because of the fact they couldn't do 450 splashes or big workrate classics. The facts are that yes, Yasuda should've never been champion, and he was only as such because based Yasuda managed to defeat one of the most dangerous kickboxers in history in a MMA fight. With that said, the post Inoki-Ism revisionism that he was NEVER good and never did anything decent in-ring is 100% false given he was consistently one of the bigger underdogs in NJPW during the 90's, a solid tag specialist, and a especially great heel either with his amazing G1 2001 run or his later Makai Club outing, which made him one of the biggest heels in the company and someone who could draw with the big babyfaces (Nagata, Chono, etc) or put over hot younger talent (Tanahashi, Yoshie, Nakamura). The idea that he just sucked is flat-out insulting given the kind of huge heel reactions he got for doing obstinately the bare minimum is something many more varied talents wished they could replicate. Yasuda wasn't a great wrestler physically, even if he was a talented mat-worker and could move super well for his large size; his gifts came in his big-man bumping, the ability to always have the crowd in the palm of his hand either as a dirty heel or underdog babyface, and his nuances in the ring in how he was able to get over those things with not a lot of big moves but simple crowd-popping momentum shifts. As a talent, was he overpushed once over someone more deserving? Sure, even if it wasn't his fault that Inoki wanted to see him win anyway. With that said, his rating is ludicrously inaccurate, and I would absolutely implore anyone who just thinks he was a big lump to actually search out his more acclaimed matches, because he was actually pretty great for someone who didn't have the physical gifts of a Kojima or whatnot."

[4.0] "Yasuda was a so-so mid-card wrestler who ended up enjoying an improbable IWGP Heavyweight Title reign thanks to his ability to win some MMA bouts. Antonio Inoki had a lot of say in the running of New Japan at the time and was obsessed with pushing wrestlers who could win real fights, so Yasuda's success in the shooting realm led to him wearing the top belt in the company, a position that he wasn't remotely qualified for. As a worker Yasuda wasn't terrible, and when in there with a good worker like Yuji Nagata he could have a watchable outing, but he absolutely did not have Main Event level wrestling ability and in a company like New Japan he really had nowhere to hide when promoted to the Main Event scene. Yasuda did have an undeniable charisma to him, and as a bumbling mid-card act he certainly had his place, but any attempts to push him any higher than that were always doomed to failure"

[4.0] "Poor Tadao. The King of Debt is probably one of the worst IWGP Champions during 'Inokiism' in the 2000s. He took a lot of the oomph away from Yuji from being the top guy, with poorly drawn houses during his reign. Despite that, I don't think he's particularly awful, just nothing special in any regard."

[7.0] "I love Yasuda, he will be nowhere near my favorites but he's not as bad as the rating suggests. His trilogy of IWGP title matches with Yuji Nagata are must watch and his coward shooter gimmick is great."

[8.0] "A broken down former sumo who entered pro wrestling way past his prime, but you? ve got to love the Borrowing Money King - he worked hard, he travelled overseas to learn new techniques and dedicated himself completely to trying to improve as a wrestler. I have a good deal of respect for him getting into MMA when most fighters are retiring and beating Jerome Le Banner all in the name of raising his stock in New Japan. Decent wrestler, beloved character, I? ll always have a soft spot for Yasuda."

[3.0] "The fact that a wrestler as bad as Tadao Yasuda is a former IWGP Heavyweight Champion tells you how low New Japan sunk in the 00s."

[6.0] "Such a poor character, but i always had a soft spot for Mr. Yasuda."