History GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff / ProWrestling

* Many American wrestlers become far, far more popular overseas than they ever were in the US -- in some cases it's hard to say that this trope applies, because they often spend enough time in another country to be foreign stars rather than American stars; still, it is astonishing how much more popular some wrestlers can be abroad than they were at their American peak. Stan Hansen is the ultimate example; a relatively obscure figure in American wrestling history, but one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling. Recently, WWE washouts A-Train and Mark Jindrak have revived their careers in this manner; A-Train became NewJapanProWrestling's resident monster Giant Bernard before returning to WWE as Tensei, while Jindrak became Marco Corleone in CMLL.

* With limited skills and a bizarre look, young Ian Richard Hodgkinson was unable make any name for himself in the independent circuit in his native Canada. After several years, he went down to Mexico for work, and soon became a massive star in CMLL as Vampiro. Subsequent attempts to break out in {{WCW}} and Japan would lead to some success but nothing close to his stardom in Mexico.

** This goes also for his longtime professional and personal rival Konnan. Konnan (real name Charles Ashenoff, a Cuban-American) was a longtime midcarder for WCW, but was a main event talent in Mexico (and was able to branch out into non-wrestling Mexican TV and music careers as well).

* With limited skills and a bizarre look, young Ian Richard Hodgkinson was unable make any name for himself in the independent circuit in his native Canada. After several years, he went down to Mexico for work, and soon became a massive star in CMLL as Vampiro. Subsequent attempts to break out in {{WCW}} and Japan would lead to some success but nothing close to his stardom in Mexico.

** Simiarly British wrestling from the World of Sport era is beginning to gain a bit of cult following with American {{SmartMark}}s,but in the UK, due to the WWF eclipsing the entire British wrestling scene the early '90s, many wrestlers from that era are all but forgotten. CHIKARA even brought in 71 year old [[BadassGrandpa Johnny Saint]] as a special guest.

* Many American wrestlers become far, far more popular overseas than they ever were in the US -- in some cases it's hard to say that this trope applies, because they often spend enough time in another country to be foreign stars rather than American stars; still, it is astonishing how much more popular some wrestlers can be abroad than they were at their American peak. Stan Hansen is the ultimate example; a relatively obscure figure in American wrestling history, but one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling. Recently, WWE washouts A-Train and Mark Jindrak have revived their careers in this manner; A-Train became NewJapanProWrestling's resident monster Giant Bernard before returning to WWE as Tensei, while Jindrak became Marco Corleone in CMLL.
** As popular as Mick Foley and Terry Funk are in the US and other countries, they are bigger stars in Japan than anywhere.
** This is actually an invoked or enforced trope. In the 80's, Japanese promotions paid through the nose for American main event talent like Hansen [[hottip:*:Contrary to what is stated above, Hansen was a main eventer in many American territories pre-WWE]], Bruiser Brody, the Road Warriors, and Jimmy Snuka. With wrestling's popularity and money on the wane in Japan while simultaneously going up in the US, Japanese wrestling promoters made a conscious decision to build up American wrestlers who could do the style but had never made it out of the preliminary ranks, like Scott Norton or Vader.

* Ricky Marvin is a luchador. In Mexico, he was... alright, but just a generic midcarder. During some interpromotional work with Ultimo Dragon and Toryumon, he decided to make the jump over to Japan, where he's been a fixture in {{Pro Wrestling Noah}}'s Junior Heavyweight division since 2003.

* MMA is a curious example. In Japan, it's strongly tied to professional wrestling (thanks to the long legacy of Antonio Inoki), promoted as professional wrestling, sometimes features shoot (real) and worked (fake) matches on the same card, and it's no big deal for a "shoot" fighter to "work" a loss to build another star. In the United States, UFC runs like hell from any association with professional wrestling or implications of fixed fights, and former professional wrestlers are often hated by the MMA community, regardless of how good at MMA they are, such as former UFC heavyweight champion and WWE superstar BrockLesnar.
** Ironically, UFC (and mixed martial arts itself) may had never hit mainstream success if it wasn't for UFC 40, which was headlined by Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, who had started out in pro wrestling, moved to MMA, but became popular after his stint in WWE wrestling during the AttitudeEra and later became a household name at that time thanks to 20/20 and the [[{{WWE}} WWF]].

* Many American wrestlers become far, far more popular overseas than they ever were in the US -- in some cases it's hard to say that this trope applies, because they often spend enough time in another country to be foreign stars rather than American stars; still, it is astonishing how much more popular some wrestlers can be abroad than they were at their American peak. Stan Hansen is the ultimate example; a relatively obscure figure in American wrestling history, but one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling. Recently, WWE washouts A-Train and Mark Jindrak have revived their careers in this manner; A-Train became NewJapanProWrestling's resident monster Giant Bernard before returning to WWE as Tensai, while Jindrak became Marco Corleone in CMLL.

* Japanese professional wrestling (particularly in the '90s) had a dedicated fanbase among American {{Smart Mark}}s, due to the general low quality of the American product at the time. Independent group RingOfHonor even brought the top stars of Pro Wrestling NOAH to the States to appeal to this crowd, and before that, ECW (the original) brought in a number of veterans from Japanese garbage promotions like FMW and IWA.

** Ironically, UFC (and mixed martial arts itself) may had never hit mainstream success if it wasn't for UFC 40, which was headlined by Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, who had started out in pro wrestling, moved to MMA, but became popular after his stint in WWE during the AttitudeEra pro wrestler and later became a household name at that time thanks to 20/20 and the [[{{WWE}} WWF]].

* Japanese professional wrestling (particularly in the '90s) had a dedicated fanbase among American {{Smart Mark}}s, due to the general low quality of the American product at the time. Independent group RingOfHonor even brought the top stars of Pro Wrestling NOAH to the States to appeal to this crowd, and before that, ECW (the original) brought in a number of veterans from Japanese garbage promotions like FMW and IWA.
* Wrestlers who are more popular in their native India than in the U.S.:
** TNA wrestler Sonjay Dutt.
** The Great Khali, as a WWE wrestler, is not only extremely popular in India, but is even made a heel in American performances and a face in Indian performances, much like Bret Hart has been treated as a face in Canada.
* The British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith, is infinitely more popular in the UK. The {{WWE}} even held SummerSlam 1992 at Wembley Stadium in London because of this, making it the WWE's only "Big 4" PPV event to be held outside the U.S. and Canada.

** Wrestling/BretHart, Wrestling/{{Christian}}, and Wrestling/LanceStorm, all of which are Canadian born wrestlers, are far more popular in Canada than in the U.S. When Storm makes U.S. appearances, he is booed for telling the audience [[LargeHam "All rise, for the playing of the Canadian national anthem"]] ([[CanadaEh "O Canada"]]).
** Canadian professional wrestler [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_White_%28wrestler%29 Ed White]], known as the "Moondog King", is generally more popular in Canada than stateside. White has won only one title in the WWE – a tag-team championship (and this happened when it was the ''WWWF'') – and was denied re-entry to the U.S. from Canada, but has won many other titles in other promotions across Canada and the world, including some regional promotions in Atlantic Canada, where he was known as "Sailor White" for his gimmick of being dressed as a sailor with tattoos. He even ran for the Canadian House of Commons twice, first in a special election in 2000 as a candidate with the independent [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Extreme_Wrestling_Party Canadian Extreme Wrestling Party]], under the name "[[WordSaladTitle Sailor King Moondog White]]" with the motto "Parliament Needs a Moondog", and second in the 2004 election as a Green Party candidate. White died in 2005 at his hospital bed; he was hospitalized when bones cracked in his body following a cab accident.

** Canadian professional wrestler [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_White_%28wrestler%29 Ed White]], known as the "Moondog King", is generally more popular in Canada than stateside. White has won only one title in the WWE – a tag-team championship (and this happened when it was the ''WWWF'') – and was denied re-entry to the U.S. from Canada, but has won many other titles in other promotions across Canada and the world, including some regional promotions in Atlantic Canada, where he was known as "Sailor White" for his gimmick of being dressed as a sailor with tattoos. He even ran for the Canadian House of Commons twice, first in a special election in 2000 as a candidate with the independent [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Extreme_Wrestling_Party Canadian Extreme Wrestling Party]] on the motto "Parliament Needs a Moondog", and second in the 2004 election as a Green Party candidate. White died in 2005 at his hospital bed; he was hospitalized when bones cracked in his body following a cab accident.

* Many American wrestlers become far, far more popular overseas than they ever were in the US -- in some cases it's hard to say that this trope applies, because they often spend enough time in another country to be foreign stars rather than American stars; still, it is astonishing how much more popular some wrestlers can be abroad than they were at their American peak. Stan Hansen is the ultimate example; a relatively obscure figure in American wrestling history, but one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling. Recently, WWE washouts A-Train and Mark Jindrak have revived their careers in this manner; A-Train became NewJapanProWrestling's resident monster Giant Bernard, while Jindrak became Marco Corleone in CMLL.

* This was responsible for (briefly) resurrecting HulkHogan's career as a face in the WWE. When they set up the match between Hogan and [[DwayneJohnson The Rock]] in shows being filmed in the US, Hogan was clearly playing the heel (coming off his stint in WCW) and Rock the face. The actual match was at an event in Canada, where Hogan was so over with the crowd, mostly due to nostalgic reasons, that the announcers were clearly stunned by the crowd's reaction in treating Hogan as the face and the Rock as, at best, the WorthyOpponent.
** Actually, that match was at Wrestlemania X8 in Toronto.

* Wrestling/BretHart, Wrestling/{{Christian}}, and Wrestling/LanceStorm, all of which are Canadian born wrestlers, are far more popular in Canada than in the U.S. When Storm makes U.S. appearances, he is booed for telling the audience [[LargeHam "All rise, for the playing of the Canadian national anthem"]] ([[CanadaEh "O Canada"]]).

* The British Bulldog, Davey Boy Smith, is infinitely more popular in the UK. The {{WWE}} even managed to hold SummerSlam '92 at Wembley Stadium in London because of this.

* Japanese professional wrestling (particularly in the '90s) had a dedicated fanbase among American {{Smart Mark}}s, due to the general low quality of the American product at the time. Independent group RingOfHonor even brought the top stars of Pro Wrestling NOAH to the States to appeal to this crowd, and before that, ECW (the original) brought in a number of veterans from Japanese garbage promotions like FMW and IWA.

* Bob Sapp, in Japan. Cracked [[http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-top-eight-oh-shit-moments-in-mma/ said it best:]]

** And the lead-in to the first season of ''TheUltimateFighter'' which featured UFC's second beard growing moment? '''''[[WWERaw MONDAY. NIGHT. RAW]].'''''

* This was responsible for (briefly) resurrecting HulkHogan's career as a face in the WWE. When they set up the match between Hogan and [[DwayneJohnson The Rock]] in shows being filmed in the US, Hogan was clearly playing the heel (coming off his stint in WCW) and Rock the face. The actual match was at an event in Canada, where Hogan was so over with the crowd, mostly due to nostalgic reasons, that the announcers were clearly stunned by the effort the crowds reaction in treating Hogan as the face and the Rock, at best, as the WorthyOpponent.

* Many American wrestlers become far, far more popular overseas than they ever were in the US -- in some cases it's hard to say that this trope applies, because they often spend enough time in another country to be foreign stars rather than American stars; still, it is astonishing how much more popular some wrestlers can be abroad than they were at their American peak. Stan Hansen is the ultimate example; a relatively obscure figure in American wrestling history, but one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling. Recently, WWE washouts A-Train and Mark Jindrak have revived their careers in this manner; A-Train became NewJapanProWrestling's resident monster Giant Bernard, while Jindrak became Marco Corleone in {{CMLL}}.

* Many American wrestlers become far, far more popular overseas than they ever were in the US -- in some cases it's hard to say that this trope applies, because they often spend enough time in another country to be foreign stars rather than American stars; still, it is astonishing how much more popular some wrestlers can be abroad than they were at their American peak. Stan Hansen is the ultimate example; a relatively obscure figure in American wrestling history, but one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling. Recently, WWE washouts A-Train and Mark Jindrak have revived their careers in this manner; A-Train became [=NewJapanProWrestling=]'s resident monster Giant Bernard, while Jindrak became Marco Corleone in [=CMLL=].

* In 90s ProfessionalWrestling, BretHart played the EvilForeigner as a proud Canadian. Naturally, whenever touring up north, the dynamic switched and Hart instantly turned from {{heel}} to {{face}}. This tends to occur to ''every'' Canadian wrestler in {{WWE}}.
** Also goes for wrestler from other countries who are heels in the US but Face in their home countries like Regal (Britain) or Nunzio (Italy). The most notable example is probably the Great Khali, who is presented as a face on Indian broadcasts of WWE programming even when he was a heel. This is averted in the wrestler "English Gentleman" William Regal, who is still hated by English fans.
** Many American wrestlers also become far, far more popular overseas than they ever were in the US -- in some cases it's hard to say that this trope applies, because they often spend enough time in another country to be foreign stars rather than American stars; still, it is astonishing how much more popular some wrestlers can be abroad than they were at their American peak. Stan Hansen is the ultimate example; a relatively obscure figure in American wrestling history, but one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling. Recently, WWE washouts A-Train and Mark Jindrak have revived their careers in this manner; A-Train became [=NewJapanProWrestling=]'s resident monster Giant Bernard, while Jindrak became Marco Corleone in [=CMLL=].
** Literally invoked by Al Snow during his European Championship run. While representing Germany ([[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0VHJp8nsNA&feature=related KOPF!]]), Snow appeared in stereotypical Bavarian costume, carrying a picture of none other than the Hoff.
** BretHart falls on the other side of this trope as well. Since he was the top guy when WWF TV started airing in many non-US/Canada markets, he's a much bigger deal in those areas than wrestlers such as ShawnMichaels, SteveAustin, or HulkHogan.
** This was responsible for (briefly) resurrecting HulkHogan's career as a face in the WWE. When they set up the match between Hogan and [[DwayneJohnson The Rock]] in shows being filmed in the US, Hogan was clearly playing the heel (coming off his stint in WCW) and Rock the face. The actual match was at an event in Canada, where Hogan was so over with the crowd, mostly due to nostalgic reasons, that the announcers were clearly stunned by the effort the crowds reaction in treating Hogan as the face and the Rock, at best, as the WorthyOpponent.

* In 90s ProfessionalWrestling, Bret Hart played the EvilForeigner as a proud Canadian. Naturally, whenever touring up north, the dynamic switched and Hart instantly turned from {{heel}} to {{face}}. This tends to occur to ''every'' Canadian wrestler in {{WWE}}.

** Bret Hart falls on the other side of this trope as well. Since he was the top guy when WWF TV started airing in many non-US/Canada markets, he's a much bigger deal in those areas than wrestlers such as Shawn Michaels, Steve Austin, or Hulk Hogan.
** This was responsible for (briefly) resurrecting Hulk Hogan's career as a face in the WWE. When they set up the match between Hogan and [[DwayneJohnson The Rock]] in shows being filmed in the US, Hogan was clearly playing the heel (coming off his stint in WCW) and Rock the face. The actual match was at an event in Canada, where Hogan was so over with the crowd, mostly due to nostalgic reasons, that the announcers were clearly stunned by the effort the crowds reaction in treating Hogan as the face and the Rock, at best, as the WorthyOpponent.
* MMA is a curious example. In Japan, it's strongly tied to professional wrestling (thanks to the long legacy of Antonio Inoki), promoted as professional wrestling, sometimes features shoot (real) and worked (fake) matches on the same card, and it's no big deal for a "shoot" fighter to "work" a loss to build another star. In the United States, UFC runs like hell from any association with professional wrestling or implications of fixed fights, and former professional wrestlers are often hated by the MMA community, regardless of how good at MMA they are, such as former UFC heavyweight champion and WWE superstar Brock Lesnar.

** Ironically, UFC (and mixed martial arts itself) may had never hit mainstream success if it wasn't for UFC 40, which was headlined by Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, who started out as a MMA fighter, but became popular after his stint in WWE during the AttitudeEra pro wrestler and later became a household name at that time thanks to 20/20 and the [[{{WWE}} WWF]].

** Ironically, UFC (and mixed martial arts itself) may had never hit mainstream success if it wasn't for UFC 40, which was headlined by Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock, who started out as a pro wrestler and later became a household name at that time thanks to 20/20 and the [[{{WWE}} WWF]].