YMMV / Satoru Sayama

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Was Sayama an egotistical booker who wanted to see himself on top of the UWF, or was he doing it just because the fans actually wanted to see him on top?
• Americans Hate Tingle: Not to the extent of hate, but the first Tiger Mask is much, much less liked in United States than in almost every other country where he is known. Even though it is widely acknowledged he influenced future stars in American ground like Chris Benoit and Rey Mysterio Jr., you will be hard-pressed to find an American pundit who tells you that Sayama was anything more than an one-time sensation who happened to be very innovative on the ring.
• And You Thought It Would Fail: Before Tiger Mask, how many people in the business would have thought that a wrestler portraying a cartoon character was a good idea?
• Badass Decay: A voluntary example. Now as chairman of Real Japan, despite being able to fall freely on the temptation of booking himself to be an invincible ace like he was carried in NJPW, Sayama has lost several matches to younger stars and guest wrestlers, which contrasts with the acussations of being a self-centered booker back in UWF. Perhaps it is just natural, as Sayama is one of the oldest wrestlers still active and cannot endure anymore the rigors of being the ace of a promotion.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • Despite his status, Western wrestling pundits cannot decide where Sayama places in a technical level. Detractors typically point out that he could be sloppy and spot-festy and that he only got over for being very creative with his style, while supporters retort that his wrestling psychology flaws are acceptable considering that junior heavyweight puroresu was not even a thing back then and that even with his occasional sloppiness he was an outstanding wrestler.
  • Though not for in-ring reasons, Sayama is controversial in Japan due to the damage he did to pro wrestling after helping to make it advance. Many fans became infuriated at seeing the most revolutionary wrestler of his era having the crown of cruiserweight wrestling on his hands only to cast it away, all in order to pursue the developing of a sport which nobody cared for at the time, and not without publishing a book which dismantled pro wrestling itself. It was later when MMA got popular that his efforts were acknowledged, but even so, he remained divisive due to his irregular activities, his on-off allegiance to Antonio Inoki and the remembrance of many of his enemies.
• Critical Backlash: Judging by from what you might read in old school wrestling forums, you could be led to think that Sayama was one of the botchiest wrestlers ever and an embarrassment to watch.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: NJPW bookers didn't expect to Tiger Mask to surpass Tatsumi Fujinami in popularity, but he did it throughly. Even Antonio Inoki himself, arguably the biggest draw ever in puroresu, was forced to share some stardom with Tiger after he got over. The matter goes to the extent that, in a poll done by a Japanese wrestling magazine to find the most popular wrestler ever in Japan, Sayama placed as the second, only behind Inoki himself, and beating fair square names like Giant Baba, Shinya Hashimoto, Akira Maeda or Genichiro Tenryu.
• Fandom Rivalry: With Gran Hamada. Just don't bring up the topic of who was a better wrestler or pioneer.
• Fan Nickname: Tigeryama, a portmanteau of Tiger Mask and Sayama.
  • He has also been called Kyokuu Sayama Kōtei (Far Right Emperor Sayama) due to his far right leaning political views, despite not liking being compared to them.
• Germans Love David Hasselhoff:
  • Sayama used to be incredibly popular in Mexico, to the point he was basically synonymous with Japanese wrestling in their vocabulary. Even today, whenever a Japanese high-flyer shows himself in a Mexican ring, the TV commentators will inevitably compare him to Sayama (or to Gran Hamada, who Sayama used to team up with during their time in Mexico).
  • He is legend in Italy too.
• Just Here for Godzilla: Every card with Tiger Mask sold the arenas full, something difficult even for names like Inoki and Fujinami. If anything, Satoru was the reason for many, many Japanese people to start watching pro wrestling.
  • Probably the only reason why Shooto survived until his departure during the MMA boom.
• Mis-blamed: Some detractors use the Nishi/Sayama "fight" (a MMA exhibition in which Sayama looks relatively ineffectual against Yoshinori Nishi) to profile him as a phony without legit skill, but they conveniently forget that it was a worked fight, with Sayama even throwing pro wrestling kicks, and that Nishi was the promoter of the event in which the fight had place, so he was not going to book himself to look bad.
• Older Than They Think: Despite he touts himself as Original Tiger Mask and the like, Sayama was not the first wrestler ever to use the gimmick. In 1971, Japan Pro Wrestling Association member Samson Kutsuwada wrestled in South Korea as "Ultra Tiger Mask", as the anime was popular there. However, the angle was very brief and never saw the light in Japan.
• Only the Creator Does It Right: Downplayed example. Though Mitsuharu Misawa as Tiger Mask II was moderately well received and Tiger Mask IV is considered to be at the very least a neat worker, Satoru is still the best regarded of all the Tiger Masks. Back at his time, crowds in the arenas used to chant Sayama's name and not Tiger Mask's when he came to the ring.
• Ron the Death Eater: Pro wrestling fanfics and "E Feds" have a tendency to turn "first" Tiger Mask heel. Might have something to do with Tiger Mask being one in the original manga before his face turn and Sayama himself having never had a heel run in his career (he did have an Ambiguously Evil onscreen role during the UFO storyline, but it was short-lived and didn't see much in-ring action). But true to the comic, these also usually have him turn face after finding a Worthy Opponent.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: Well, gimmick, but nonetheless the same and he made it work. Thanks to his enthusiasm, charisma and technical work on the ring, Satoru turned something which would have probably become a future mention in WrestleCrap into an immortal wrestling legend.