WWE Hall of Famer Jim Ross recently discussed WWE’s interest in Japanese pro wrestling legend Kenta Kobashi during an episode of his podcast, “Grilling JR.”
Ross said, “Oh, yeah, absolutely. You can’t overlook great talent when they become available. If they’re healthy and the table’s somewhat level for this crazy business, you gotta look at them. So, heck, yeah, we looked at him.”
On Kobashi’s availability issues:
“But some of these established Japanese stars have such deep obligations and deep roots in Japan, it’s just hard to get many dates on them. And if you can’t follow up on the television that you invest in, it’s somewhat of a failed prophecy.”
On whether Kobashi would have been a success in WWE:
“Well, it would depend on who Kobashi was going to work with in WWE. If they had plans for him, it was going to use him in a main event-level scenario, then he’d be booked one way. If we [were] just going to bring him in, and we’re going to see if we get him over or whatever, and so it’s a half-assed effort, then it wouldn’t matter. Because he didn’t speak English that I’m aware of, at least much English. I might be wrong about that too. But yeah, he would have done good there.”
You can check out the complete podcast in the video below.
(H/T to 411Mania.com for transcribing the above quotes)
