What would peak era Yamada would think of his sasuke record?

[zoran]

Say you time traveled to 2000 and showed post Sasuke 6 Yamada how his time on the show will go including his massive decline after 14, how do you think he would react to this record and how would it impact his performances on the show from then on?

[dakohosu]

He probably low key predicted it.

The guy had basically zero self-esteem to the point that he didn't believe in himself, and I get the feeling that his desperation to achieve Total Victory was partially driven by the fact that he was pushing 40 so he knew his time was running out. Hence he probably expected his athleticism and stamina to take a huge hit at some point.

[zoran]

Sept 19, 2021 8:24:49 GMT -5 dakohosu said:

He probably low key predicted it.

The guy had basically zero self-esteem to the point that he didn't believe in himself, and I get the feeling that his desperation to achieve Total Victory was partially driven by the fact that he was pushing 40 so he knew his time was running out. Hence he probably expected his athleticism and stamina to take a huge hit at some point.

How would it change his results going forward?

[subtleagent]

Considering Takeda and Yuuji were able to rebound in their 40s from particularly bad droughts (28 ~ 31 for Takeda and 31 ~ 33 for Yuuji) maybe Yamada could have found a way. Thing is Takeda and Yuuji put the time and effort into doing so, whilst Yamada barely trained at all and most of the training he did do was for the camera.

[Ninja Relaxer]

Yamada was always susceptible to nerves and self-doubt; many of his failures were mental, not physical. Showing him his future would have only worsened his results. The real question is, would Yamada have retired if he had known how unimpressive his Sasuke record would be? And I think the answer is no; some compulsion would have driven him to keep competing anyway.