It's been over 2 years and I thought I'd happen by now, but it hasn't and it should – Tsuji needs to be more like Nakamura. No, not rip him off, but bring the same kind of energy. In his prime, Shinsuke was eccentric (not zesty, WWE made that out of him) and a little "off", but once he got in the ring, this guy killed people. It helped he was taller than about 98 percent of the roster but still – this was a guy who personified that larger than life rockstar personality, and somehow perfectly mixed it with a no-nonsense MMA style in ring.
Tsuji doesn't do this. The moves he does are cool and flashy, but they are not interconnected in any way, he just does them to show off and make you know he can do them. His selling also leaves a lot to be desired, as he sells like a smaller guy on top of wrestling like one, yet he wants to portray himself as the big boy of the Reiwa crew. If he made the Stomps (great example, since he does two variants of 'em) as his version of the Shinsuke knees-based offense, we got something. Instead, it's just a lot of moves and a weak Spear.
Charisma and Tsuji's vibe face similar issues. He smiles… and that's about it as far as his physical charisma goes. Oh yeah, sometimes he raises his right fist in the air to hype up the crowd. Shota gets cooked for not knowing who he is, but neither does Tsuji. The Kaiju thing was laughable, and unlike Shinsuke or even Naito, Tsuji doesn't come across cool on the mic. He whines a lot and speaks a bunch of nothing, on top of making lots of empty promises. Tsuji has bits of 17 different characters, instead of being 1 concrete person.
The guy is very talented, but this is why Yuya is a much better choice to be the Ace. He knows who he is, he wrestles in correlation to his character, and he understands that his promos should be cut in an old school yet modernized, fired up way. Simultaneously, Tsuji tries to have the matches of a cruiserweight, the vibe of a 300 pound monster, the style of an outlandish billionaire, and the promos of a cult leader, but these things together don't work, and they won't.
by Chase_Owens_OnlyFan