History YMMV / Akebono

* AwardSnub: Inverted. Akebono won the Tokyo Sports magazine's Rookie of the Year award upon his debut, but whether he deserved it or not is heavily debated, especially by Western fans, who never really got quite what the Japanese pundits saw in him.

** His losing record in K-1, which earned him the nickname of "Makebono" ("make" being the Japanese word for loss).

* TheWoobie: He left the world of sumo in bad terms, lost all his money in the wrong business, and got beaten down and humiliated in kickboxing rings. Even if he was made wear a pacifier for a time and is often scoffed by his performance and physique, it seems becoming a pro wrestler was the only good thing in Akebono's post-sumo career. And even then, he suffered an acute heart failure in 2018 and has been rendered amnesiac and unable to walk anymore. Sometimes, life is simply a bitch.

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: A subversion. When Akebono announced he was leaving AJPW to create the Odo promotion, most people thought it was just a move to create interest in AJPW with an invasion angle, as the notoriously bad situation in the Japanese pro wrestling landscape at the time made unrealistic that someone could think of starting a brand new promotion with so few means. Then it turned out that it wasn't an angle whatsoever and that 'bono was starting his own company for real. (However, it got quickly subverted after all, given that the promotion only celebrated three events from 2015 to 2017).

* AwardSnub: Inverted. Akebono won the Tokyo Sports magazine's Rookie of the Year award upon his debut, but whether he deserved it or not is heavily debated, especially by Western fans, who often don't get quite what the Japanese pundits see in him.
* AmericansHateTingle: He is often looked down by Western puroresu fans, especially from the States, as he is basically the kind of wrestler they are accustomed to hate: a slow, huge superheavyweight monster with little charisma by American standards and natural problems to work good matches from a classic technical standpoint. His reception among American Wrestling/DragonGate fans is particularly bad, given that all of this makes Akebono exactly the opposite DG is specialized on.
* CriticalBacklash: People who only know the numbers Akebono's losing record in K-1 might come to believe he was simply an absolute failure on the kickboxing ring. In truth, while Akebono certainly lacked both training and natural skills, he actually did pretty well for someone in his position, considering that most of his opponents were either world-level fighters with an enormous experience advantage (Musashi, Bonjasky, Roufus) or simply horrible matchups for him (Sapp, Choi).
* CriticalDissonance: While many despise him, Akebono has always been a massive draw in Japan.
* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: A subversion. When Akebono announced he was leaving AJPW to create the Odo promotion, most people thought it was just a move to create interest in AJPW with an invasion angle, as the notoriously bad situation in the Japanese pro wrestling landscape at the time made unrealistic that someone could think of starting a brand new promotion with so few means. Then it turned out that it wasn't an angle whatsoever and that 'bono was starting his own company for real. (It might be averted after all, given that the promotion only celebrated three events from 2015 to 2017).
* NeverLiveItDown: Him playing a baby gimmick (not babyface, but a literal baby) in HUSTLE didn't improve his post-retirement reputation in the world of sumo, where Akebono was already looked down for his bad investments, failed fighting career and decision to become a pro wrestler. Persistent rumors that his wife had left him in real life due to the embarrassment of the gimmick didn't help, even although Akebono's handlers denied them all the time and his marriage still stands today.
* TheScrappy: For Western puroresu fans.

** Every time Akebono gets picked up by an opponent and/or takes a hard bump, especially if said opponent didn't look like he was able to lift him until that point.
** Every time he climbs up the top rope.
* TheWoobie: Leaves the world of sumo in bad terms, loses all his money in the wrong business, gets beaten down and humiliated in kickboxing rings... Even if he was made wear a pacifier for a time and is often scoffed by his performance and physique, it seems becoming a pro wrestler was the only good thing in Akebono's post-sumo career.

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: A subversion. When Akebono announced he was leaving AJPW to create the Odo promotion, most people thought it was just a move to create interest in AJPW with an invasion angle, as the notoriously bad situation in the Japanese pro wrestling landscape at the time made unrealistic that someone could think of starting a brand new promotion with so few means. Then it turned out that it wasn't an angle whatsoever and that 'bono was starting his own company for real. (It might be averted after all, given that the promotion only celebrated three events from 2015 to 2017).
* NeverLiveItDown: Him playing a baby gimmick (not babyface, but a literal baby) in HUSTLE didn't improve his post-retirement reputation in the world of sumo, where Akebono was already looked down for his bad investments, failed fighting career and decision to become a pro wrestler. Persistent rumors that his wife had left him in real life due to the embarrassment of the gimmick didn't help, even although Akebono's handlers denied them all the time and his marriage still stands today.
* TheScrappy: For Western puroresu fans.
* ShockingMoments:
** Every time Akebono gets picked up by an opponent and/or takes a hard bump, especially if said opponent didn't look like he was able to lift him until that point.
** Every time he climbs up the top rope.

* HolyShitQuotient:

* CriticalDissonance: While international fans despise him, Akebono has always been a massive draw in Japan.

* NeverLiveItDown: Him playing a baby gimmick (not babyface, but a literal baby) in HUSTLE. It was so bad for him at the time that it was rumored his wife had left him in real life for the embarrassment.

* AmericansHateTingle: He is often looked down by Western puroresu fans, especially from the States, as he is basically the kind of wrestler they are accustomed to hate: a slow, huge superheavyweight monster with little charisma for American standards and natural problems to wrestle good matches from a classic technical standpoint.
* CriticalDissonance: While Western fans despise him, Akebono has always been a massive draw in Japan.

* NeverLiveItDown: Him playing a baby gimmick (not babyface, but a literal baby) in HUSTLE.

* TheWoobie: Leaves the world of sumo in bad terms, loses all his money in the wrong business, gets beaten down and humiliated in kickboxing rings... Even if he was made wear a pacifier for a time and is often scoffed by his performance, it seems becoming a pro wrestler was the only good thing in Akebono's post-sumo career.

* AwardSnub: Inverted. Akebono won the Tokyo Sports magazine's Rookie of the Year award upon his debut, but whether he deserved it or not is heavily debated, specially by Western fans, who often don't get quite what the Japanese pundits see in him.

* AmericansHateTingle: He tends to be looked down by Western puroresu fans, especially from the States, as he is basically the kind of wrestler they are accustomed to hate: a slow, huge superheavyweight monster with little charisma and natural troubles to have good matches from a classic technical standpoint.

** Every time Akebono gets picked up by an opponent and takes a hard bump, especially if said opponent didn't look like he was able to lift him until that point.

* LikeYouWouldReallyDoIt: A subversion. When Akebono announced he was leaving AJPW to create the Odo promotion, most people thought it was just a move to create interest in AJPW with an invasion angle, as the notoriously bad situation in the Japanese pro wrestling landscape at the time made unrealistic that someone could think of starting a brand new promotion with so few means. Then it turned out that it wasn't an angle whatsoever and that 'bono was starting his own company for real.
* NeverLiveItDown: Him playing a baby gimmick in HUSTLE.

* TheWoobie: Leaves the world of sumo in bad terms, loses all his money in the wrong business, gets beaten down and humiliated in kickboxing rings... Even if he was made wear a pacifier for a time, it seems becoming a pro wrestler was the only good thing in Akebono's post-sumo career.

* AwardSnub: Inverted. Akebono won the Tokyo Sports magazine's Rookie of the Year award upon his debut, but whether he deserved it or not is heavily debated, specially by Western fans, who often don't get quite what do the Japanese pundits see in him.
* AmericansHateTingle: He tends to be looked down by Western puroresu fans, especially from the States, as he is basically the kind of wrestler they are accustomed to hate: a slow, huge superheavyweight monster with little charisma and natural troubles to have good matches from a classic technical standpoint.