Adorkable: The eternally motivated Keiichi Sasahara had his moments.
Americans Hate Tingle: Not to the extent of hating it, but HUSTLE never really took off abroad, as enjoying its product required a deep understanding of puroresu history, Japanese language and Japanese sociology, three elements that very rarely converged in western pro wrestling fans. Even then, with the example of Lucha Underground coming out as a successful show in 2014, some fans have the perception that, had HUSTLE ever received a dedicated fansub or broadcast, it might have eventually found its niche.
Audience-Alienating Premise: A wrestling promotion with lasers and magic might sound pretty divisive to us, but to Japanese crowds, accustomed to the sport-like puroresu austerity, it was the queen of the audience alienating premises.
Broken Base: Popular as it was, HUSTLE was a deeply divisive product in Japan. The traditional opinion was that it was basically a blasphemy against puroresu, to the point some suspected Takada and DSE were trying to damage the credibility of pro wrestling as a serious sport and eliminate it as a competitor to PRIDE (which was actually a pretty believable hypothesis, given that Takada had already tried the same thing by different means in UWF). However, casual fans very much loved it, as well as more lenient wrestling fans and those who had already tasted sports entertainment through FMW and the Puroresu Love era of AJPW, and many puroresu legends were more than happy to participate in it.
Comedy Ghetto: Those western fans who couldn't see past the gimmicks and theatricality often found it an average comedy promotion, like Chikara or Dramatic Dream Team only with higher production values. The reality was quite the opposite, but it was hard to realize this without understanding all the hours of dialogue per event and the many references to Japanese pop culture.
Critical Dissonance: The quality of the matches varied wildly, going from surprisingly good ringwork to complete freakshows that barely contained any wrestling. Critics often emphasize the latter, but fans tended to love them all.
Ensemble Dark Horse: While Ogawa and Hashimoto were popular enough as leaders of the HUSTLE Army, Hard Gay was a complete hit, even winning the Tokyo Sports award to the rookie of the year in a massive upset.
Fandom Rivalry: With New Japan Pro-Wrestling, not only for being the biggest Japanese pro wrestling tradition, but also for being (at the time) the greatest sanctuary of puroresu traditions.
Also All Japan Pro Wrestling, who shared several wrestlers and Mutoh himself with HUSTLE. The similarity in styles at the time also helped.
Memetic Mutation: The company's salute, "3, 2, 1, HUSTLE, HUSTLE!!", with its obligatory pelvic thrusts. At HUSTLE's peak, the gesture was everywhere in Japan.
More Popular Spin Off: HUSTLE was born from the remains of Fantasy Fight WRESTLE-1, with the same mother companies (only with ZERO-ONE replacing K-1) and even picking off Goldberg's contract from it. However, given that W-1 never had a particular storyline and was very short-lived, it is almost a historical curiosity in comparison.
Narm Charm: This is how western fans viewed HUSTLE, and probably how HUSTLE was meant to be seen in the first place.
Older Than They Think: Contrary to popular belief and some registers, Akira Shoji didn't make his pro wrestling debut in HUSTLE. He actually competed as a masked wrestler for Tokyo Pro Wrestling in 1995.
One-Scene Wonder: PRIDE chairman Nobuyuki Sakakibara in the promotion's opening. Also many others through its story.
Only the Creator Does It Right: WRESTLE LAND, New Japan Pro Wrestling's attempt to imitate Fighting Opera, was a failed project that lasted very little.
Granted, Naoya Ogawa had already been rescued from his impopularity thanks to his improved work and rapport with Hashimoto in ZERO-ONE, but it was HUSTLE which proved that Ogawa could actually be the ace of a promotion as Antonio Inoki had believed years before, even if it was in a completely different style.
Yoji Anjo was an old school shoot-style wrestler and failed MMA figher whose main point of fame was a pathetic defeat to Rickson Gracie. When he joined HUSTLE as the shockingly charismatic Commander An Jo, he managed to make people forget about the previous.
Tadao Yasuda, one of the most hated Japanese wrestlers, gained a lot of points in HUSTLE by starring in some hilarious segments mixed with smart self-parody.
Wrestling-wise, the HUSTLE Kamen Rangers were considered one of the best parts of the show, with many bouts of technically sound fast-paced lucharesu action to open the events. For this reason, many people lamented that they left HUSTLE to never return.
After Takada's departure, HUSTLE started to turn more towards conventional pro wrestling, as they were losing money with their all-star contracts and expensive special effects. Unfortunately, this just propelled their fall even more.
This was a specialty of HUSTLE, but Riki Choshu appearing in a promotion booked by some of his greatest business enemies was probably the biggest.
Few expected Magnum TOKYO to make a return to the rings in HUSTLE, a medium completely different to his former federation Dragon Gate, and despite being supposedly retired for health concerns.
