"They are different" -Jake Roberts on wrestling in front of a Japanese audience
WWE Hall of Famer Jake Roberts recently gave his opinion on how it felt to wrestle in front of Japanese fans.
Roberts has performed around the world during his illustrious wrestling career. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame Class of 2014. The veteran is currently signed to AEW, where he appears as the manager of Lance Archer.
Speaking on the DDP Snake Pit podcast, Jake Roberts stated how he did not like performing in Japan due to the reserved nature of the crowd.
"Yeah, they are different,” Roberts said. “I don’t enjoy the Japanese audiences at all, man. They’re very reserved. You go out and bust your ass, you want some type of reaction out of these people. But they’re very reserved and very inside. And you might get (clap noise) and that’s it. ‘Now wait a f*****g minute, come on! Is that it?’ I believe I was wrestling Boss Man (when that happened), I think." (H/T Wrestling Inc )
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On this episode, @JakeSnakeDDT & @RealDDP discuss the biggest, best, and favorite crowds of all-time!
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Performers like Jake Roberts thrive on the crowd's involvement and reactions when telling a story in the ring. Unfortunately for the Hall of Famer, it seems he was never able to find that connection with the Japanese crowds.
DDP has a different view about Japanese crowds than Jake Roberts
A Hall of Famer who has a differing view than Jake 'The Snake' is DDP, who sees many similarities between Japanese and Western crowds.
"Know where the cameras are."
@RealDDP made sure to get some extra screentime during the Andre The Giant Battle Royal at Wrestlemania XXXII.
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Continuing their conversation on DDP Snake Pit, Page recapped a story from the 2002 WWE tour of Japan. He noted that the local crowd was just as receptive to his promo as an English-speaking crowd would be.
"We were there in 2002, WWE, and I was on that card. And Shane McMahon, he was the one who was coordinating everything of that trip. And I’d seen all the quiet clapping and ‘oooh’ and no big pops." DDP added: "I said, ‘hey, on the way out there, Shane, let me do my thing. Let me go out there, grab the mic, and let’s see what the people do.’ And he goes, ‘sure, go for it.’ I went out there and they hit all of the catchphrases, ‘it’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing.’ I was like, ‘wow. They know those words." (H/T Wrestling Inc)
Irrespective of the varied opinions, Japan continues to be an integral part of the professional wrestling business.
What are your thoughts on the Japanese wrestling audience being different from Western nations? Sound off in the comments below.