History GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff / ProfessionalWrestling

* This is actually an invoked or enforced trope. In the 80's, Japanese promotions paid through the nose for American main event talent like Stan Hansen, Wrestling/BruiserBrody, Wrestling/TheRoadWarriors, and Wrestling/JimmySnuka. 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 Wrestling/{{Vader}}. To this day there's a steady trickle of American wrestlers who have more success in Japan than elsewhere.

* TNA's X division turned out to be a surprise hit in the Japanese markets, to the point several Japanese wrestlers would use the tapes for training. Doesn't help that more than a few Japanese promotions up to and including NJPW were in something of an AudienceAlienatingEra at the time[[note]]This really shouldn't be much of a surprise when you consider that X Division/cruiserweight wrestling is just a blend of the Japanese junior heavyweight and Mexican lucha libre (also quite popular in Japan) styles, with some good ol' American theatrics thrown in[[/note]].
* Wrestling/StanHansen is the ultimate example; a moderately well known figure in American wrestling history, but one of the biggest stars in the history of Japanese wrestling. He's a good example of someone who benefited from this being an enforced trope - he went to Japan after working disagreements with both AWA and WCW.

* Wrestling/StampedeWrestling became a smash hit in the Caribbean island of Antigua, thanks to the presence of their fellow Charles "Otis Taylor" Buffong in the roster. During their tours to the island, announcer Ed Whalen would get mobbed like a rock star, and even a reggae song about the promotion was recorded.

* Taya Valkyrie, like Jack Evans, has done fairly well in the USA but is a major star in Mexico. North of the border, she's been lost in the shuffle in Impact Wrestling's womens division, and had a short run in WWE NXT as Franky Monet. In Mexico, she's been consistently one of the top heels of AAA's women's division, and featured in the mixed tag division as well alongside her husband Johnny (of many last names).

* Wrestling/RomanReigns is beloved in India. Morever, he was beloved there at the same time he was receiving X Pac Heat everywhere else. Maybe it's because Indian fans are more likely to still think wrestling is real and accept his push at face value, maybe it's because he looks ethnic enough that they relate. Either way, the tendency of Indian wrestling fans showing up to defend Reigns in any argument on the internet has become a running joke around the pro wrestling fandom.

* [[UsefulNotes/MixedMartialArts [=MMA=]]] is a curious example. In Japan, it's strongly tied to professional wrestling (thanks to the long legacy of Wrestling/AntonioInoki and his apprentices), 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, [[UsefulNotes/UltimateFightingChampionship [=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 Wrestling/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 Wrestling/KenShamrock, who had started out in pro wrestling, moved to MMA, but became popular after his stint in WWE wrestling during the Wrestling/AttitudeEra and later became a household name at that time thanks to 20/20 and the [[Wrestling/{{WWE}} WWF]].

* Yoshihiro Akiyama. In his home country of Japan, he's considered a disgraceful cheat after greasing his legs in a fight with legend Wrestling/KazushiSakuraba. In the UFC, he was at one point an up-and-coming middleweight with an exciting intro who won "Fight of the Night" bonuses in his first three appearances, although in the end he hit his ceiling sooner than expected and ended up released by the UFC after going 1-4.

* Literalized for PN News and Salvatore Bellomo. News, real name Paul Neu, while strictly a midcarder in WCW, moved to Germany in the 2000s and is a major name there. Of course, much like Wrestling/TripleH, he married the promoter. After unsuccessful runs in WWE and ECW, Bellomo moved to Belgium and became a top guy there.

** Wrestling/{{WCW}} had a long running partnership with Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling to send talent back and forth. Somewhat of an aversion in this case as the [=NJPW=] guys rarely drew any sort of money stateside, due to a combination of the Japanese guys not getting enough American TV time to get themselves over (with the exception of [[Wrestling/KeijiMutoh The Great Muta]]) and the smark fanbase that would already know them being so tiny at the time that they couldn't really move the needle. ''Starrcade'' 1995, which featured a best of 7 series between WCW and New Japan (WCW won 4-3, obviously), did a putrid PPV buyrate[[note]]Not having Wrestling/HulkHogan on the card also didn't help[[/note]] despite being by far and away the best ''wrestling'' show (as in having good matches) that year. [=NJPW=] eventually pulled the plug on the partnership after WCW booked their guys in too many goofy finishes, like having the New Japan junior heavyweight champ job on TV in 4 minutes after being hit in the head with a tequila bottle.

** Wrestling/{{WCW}} had a long running partnership with Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling to send talent back and forth. Somewhat of an aversion in this case as the [=NJPW=] guys rarely drew any sort of money stateside, due to a combination of the Japanese guys not getting enough American TV time to get themselves over (with the exception of [[Wrestling/KeijiMutoh The Great Muta]]) and the smark fanbase that would already know them being so tiny at the time that they couldn't really move the needle. ''Starrcade'' 1995, which featured a best of 7 series between WCW and New Japan (WCW won 4-3, obviously), did a putrid PPV buyrate. [=NJPW=] eventually pulled the plug on the partnership after WCW booked their guys in too many goofy finishes, like having the New Japan junior heavyweight champ job on TV in 4 minutes after being hit in the head with a tequila bottle.