My own category of Competitors

[shunsukenumber98]

So I decided to make my own category of competitors. Bear in mind this is only my opinion, so feel free to let me know what you guys think about my placements for certain competitors. So, here are the categories:

All stars: Takeda, Nagano, Bunpei, Shingo, Akiyama, Yamada

New stars: Shunsuke, Takahashi, Kanno, Okuyama, Yuji, Hashimoto, Ryo, Asa, Yusuke, Kawaguchi, Sato, Tada, Yoshi, Hioki, Keitaro

Secondary players: Iketani, Shane, Nakata, Asaoka, Massaki Kobayashi, Shinji, Koji Yamada, Tajima, Ishikawa Terukazu, Suzuki, Anastase Ragivaru, Araki, Isa, Kajihara, Mutou Tomohiro,

Successful Foreigners: Kane, Jorden, Levi, Lee En Chi, David Campbell, DD, Rene, Brian Orosco,

This is list can be updated. Perhaps as more tournaments happen, ill update it. Do comment on my list and also, inform me of any competitors that I have missed.

[dakohosu]

Feb 23, 2024 7:18:08 GMT -5 shunsukenumber98 said:

So I decided to make my own category of competitors. Bear in mind this is only my opinion, so feel free to let me know what you guys think about my placements for certain competitors. So, here are the categories:

All stars: Takeda, Nagano, Bunpei, Shingo, Akiyama, Yamada

New stars: Shunsuke, Takahashi, Kanno, Okuyama, Yuji, Hashimoto, Ryo, Asa, Yusuke, Kawaguchi, Sato, Tada, Yoshi, Hioki, Keitaro

Secondary players: Iketani, Shane, Nakata, Asaoka, Massaki Kobayashi, Shinji, Koji Yamada, Tajima, Ishikawa Terukazu, Suzuki, Anastase Ragivaru, Araki, Isa, Kajihara, Mutou Tomohiro,

Successful Foreigners: Kane, Jorden, Levi, Lee En Chi, David Campbell, DD, Rene, Brian Orosco,

This is list can be updated. Perhaps as more tournaments happen, ill update it. Do comment on my list and also, inform me of any competitors that I have missed.

Mine would be.

All-Stars, Morimoto Sedai, and Black Tigers as same, as the use of groups is a strong form of marketing for Inui. Especially the All-Stars and their legacy, the Morimoto Sedai being led by the current reigning champion, and the Black Tigers being affiliated with Yamada who's one of the most well known competitors both historically and now.

The Shin Sedai I'd categorise as anyone who rose to prominence during the Shin-Sasuke or RISING era and were relatively young at the time. So Yuuji, Ryo, Hashimoto, Asa, Kanno, Kawaguchi, Hioki, and maybe Tajima though he quit really early. I thought that them not really defining a select few members of the group in the Shin-Sasuke era was quite bad for ratings as there became no mascot competitors to root for when the All-Stars declined, and the rebranding of the Shin Sedai for RISING didn't work well either as it just spoiled the results of 28 and snubbed a lot of other competitors who deserved to be part of the group. In an ideal world the Shin-Sedai would represent the prior group of top competitors who are slowly but surely declining/being replaced by the Morimoto Sedai as they enter their 40s. Yusuke and Sato are kind of grey areas because they could technically have been Shin Sedai at the time because of when they first regularly competed, but are now firmly in the Morimoto Sedai. 

Everyone else I'd say you could classify as secondary players or veterans. Any non-All-Star who did well during the Golden Era, Kongu and Okuyama as they were arguably too old (and in the former's case too experienced) to be classed as the new generation, Shunsuke as well as he was in this middle ground between being too young to be an All-Star (and also a pro athlete which went against the All-Star ethos of ordinary people doing extraordinary things) but also having competed for too long to be a Shin Sedai (as well as his management company being hated by TBS which didn't help), etc. etc. 

You could compartmentalize competitors like the celebrities, foreigners, pro athletes etc. but it's hard to classify competitors into groups if they don't vibe with the group mentality themselves, and these days everyone and anyone trains together. The All-Stars worked really well because they were all evidently close friends and had good banter (Yamada less so but you get my point), as are the Morimoto Sedai on an increasing level. 

[ItalianNinja08]

Which management company own Shunsuke?

[dakohosu]

Feb 23, 2024 12:28:01 GMT -5 ItalianNinja08 said:

Which management company own Shunsuke?

Not sure exactly, but it's been referenced numerous times that TBS and his mgmt company had a bit of a falling out, which probably had something to do with him being snubbed from Sasuke 22. I mean why else would you decline someone with the track record he had lol.

I kind of get him getting digested a lot in RISING onwards because none of his performances have been particularly standout, even 30 as it was fundamentally one of six Cliffhanger fails, and post-35 has been largely disappointment after disappointment. Though digesting his Stage 1 clear on his grand return in 29, as well as his redemption clear in 40, was pretty rough. But yeah, it's a combination of his performances not being particularly notable, and the feud with his mgmt company.

[loboticialtree]

I'm thinking of a category of teritary competitors if you want to stretch it further. Such as Yusuke Goto could fit into this category. They are mainly competitors who aren't featured much, but are still shown (sometimes) and are fodder. Just my thought.