Full Career Retrospective and Greatest Moments for Tajiri

Debuting in World Wrestling Entertainment in 2001, Tajiri immediately stood out as a performer capable of meshing considerable in-ring ability with entertainment value. His work with William Regal in backstage segments helped him get over with the audience, while his early work against members of the Alliance helped keep him over.

Over time, he became a key piece in WWE's attempt to rejuvenate the cruiserweight division. Whether a heel or babyface, the Japanese star earned the respect of fans thanks to his ability to have a quality match with any and all opponents. 

Unfortunately, any upward momentum Tajiri ever managed to build for himself was regularly halted by disjointed booking and an unwillingness by WWE Creative and management to push the smaller performer over some of the bigger (in physical size) stars on the roster.

Still, Tajiri managed to enjoy a great deal of success on the international stage that WWE presented him. Whether he was working with the likes of Billy Kidman and Jamie Noble on SmackDown or headlining Raw in Eight-Man Tag Team matches against Evolution, he was one of the most valuable players the company had from an in-ring perspective.

Recently, Tajiri returned to the United States for a round of TNA Impact Wrestling tapings.

Now, relive the career of the Japanese Buzzsaw with some of his greatest matches and moments from both ECW and WWE.

Tajiri Gets Extreme

Tajiri rose to prominence in the United States as a member of the ECW roster. Paul Heyman, looking to replicate the success that his promotion had with other international stars (such as Rey Mysterio and Juventud Guerrera), put Tajiri and Mexican wrestler Super Crazy together for a series of matches that helped elevate their status in America.

The competitors battled it out in what felt like a never-ending series of matches.

In fact, if you watched any ECW television in 1999 or early 2000, odds are you saw the two compete against each other at least three or four times.

It became a match that Heyman could throw onto any card to improve the workrate; at the same time, Heyman overexposed the match to the point that it became stale. Where matches between Tommy Dreamer and Raven could be booked for every show because of the strong story behind it, Crazy and Tajiri had no such story.

It became more and more difficult to sell fans on the same match over and over again without any reason to care.

Still, the contests were incredibly important to the growth of Tajiri's star in the United States.

Teaming with Mikey Whipwreck

There were not many bright spots in the dying days of ECW. The company had become a shell of its former self despite the hard work of the young men and women who made up the roster. One such bright spot, however, was the tag team wars between the Full Blooded Italians and the tandem of Tajiri and Mikey Whipwreck.

Together, the two teams created magic on a nightly basis.

While Edge and Christian, the Hardy Boyz and the Dudley Boyz were stealing shows in WWE, Tajiri, Whipwreck and the FBI were introducing fans to quality tag team wrestling that did not involve tables, ladders or chairs.

They would trade the ECW Tag Team Championships back and forth, all the while becoming the talk of the extreme promotion.

Tajiri and Whipwreck wrestled outstanding matches with other teams, too. Super Crazy and Kid Kash made for quality competition.

Unfortunately, the end of ECW cut off any opportunity the team had to continue building momentum.

WWE Debut and Friendship with William Regal

Tajiri debuted with WWE in 2001 as the assistant to William Regal.

The backstage segments involving them, which featured the comedic chemistry the two had, helped Tajiri connect with the audience faster than many of his former ECW peers. It was clear that he could be incredibly entertaining when given the opportunity, something that endeared him to management as well.

For months, Tajiri became readily associated with William Regal and an asset to WWE in the company's war with the WCW/ECW Alliance.

Unfortunately, a heel turn by Regal in October led to their split and a match at the Survivor Series.

Regal would win the match.

Three years later, they reunited to become world tag team champions on Raw.

They would hold the titles for three months.

Cruiserweight Champion

Arguably the most success Tajiri experienced in WWE came as a central figure in the company's cruiserweight division.

A three-time champion, Tajiri battled the likes of Billy Kidman, The Hurricane, Rey Mysterio and Jamie Noble in what should have been the height of WWE's attempts to bring the style back.

The matches were outstanding when given time and really established the Japanese competitor as one of the best workers on the roster.

He was at his best during this period as a heel, a role he slid into when he began to control and mistreat girlfriend Torrie Wilson. He would go as far as to make her wear a geisha to keep her body covered up, something that drew instant heat from fans.

Later, he would recruit Akio and Sakoda as his backup, and together, they would regularly cost Mysterio the title he helped popularize dating back to his days in WCW.

As would become a pattern throughout Tajiri's career, WWE Creative lost interest in the cruiserweights. Soon, they became another criminally mismanaged portion of the roster.

Legacy

Tajiri's legacy is, like that of so many others, hampered by WWE's inability to recognize the wealth of talent it had on its roster in the early to mid-2000s and push the Superstars accordingly.

Despite some lackluster booking, Tajiri remained over for the majority of his stint with the company but never really enjoyed that one major push that would have rewarded his hard work and outstanding performances.

His departure from WWE in 2005, brought about by his unwillingness to re-sign with the company, allowed him to return to his native Japan and wrestle for promotions there. Hustle, All-Japan Pro Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling and SMASH are all companies that benefited from having him on the roster.

Long one of the better and more enjoyable performers to watch, his sporadic returns to the U.S. are reminders to fans of the hidden gem the wrestling industry had in its possession for so long and some of the extraordinary matches he provided fans with.