Do any of you Americans know who Bob Sapp is?
I ask because he has become quite famous here in Japan (my kids love him!). I was wondering if he had the same level of popularity in his home country.
He’s a huge guy who played American football (I think) and now he is doing K1 fighting here in Japan.
He acts like a bit of a dag over here, but is apparently really smart.
And would any of you consider yourself a Bob Sapp fan?
I’ve heard of him, but only because I’m a wrestling fan and he apparently salvaged ticket sales for a NJPW Tokyo Dome show. The only other thing I really know about him is that WCW (a now defunct American wrestling organization) had him in one of their wrestling schools and kicked him out because they never thought he’d amount to anything. His football career was likely a short and unremarkable stint in the NFL, so I doubt anyone would know him from that.
I don’t think there are many Americans who even know who Bob Sapp is, mainly because kickboxing and mixed martial arts really don’t have that much of a following here. To my knowledge he hasn’t really made that many appearances in the US, so that doesn’t help matters either.
Thanks, Mister Armageddon. Since you’re the only one who has replied to the thread, I guess he ISN’T well-known at all!
Chotto Matte Tsubaki sama…
I am a huge Bob Sapp fan, and in fact everyone knows he’s my hero (mainly because wo both look alike, only his 370 lbs is all muscle and mine is…well uh, nevermind) My friendjust sent me the Gong issue with him on the cover (when he fought in Inoki Boombaye)
The gym I train at and the gym Bob is from (AMC Pankration Seattle) actullay has a relation by one of the founders (Haru Shimanishi) so my coach has met Bob a few times and tells some funny ass stories about him (like once when he fixed Chanko Nabe, Bob and Josh Barnett ate the whole thing up by themselves)
For people who do sogokakutogi and Kickboxing, he’s quite well known espically after his over Ernesto Hoost. In fact a lot of Mixed Martial Arts sites have a lot to say about him, fans and pro’s alike. Some like me are fans, but others don’t take him seioursly and say he’d be cannon fodder for the liks of Rico Rodriguez or a good UFC Heavyweight (however most of these same people think Pride is just one big “circus”)
As for why Bob is so “ninki” mainly because his image has changed. When he first burst on the scene as a 380 lb black monster, he actullay scarred (and at the same time awed) the Japanese fans. But now, he’s been doing comedy shows and even some of the girls think he is kawaii now.
This is so weird. We so-called ‘real’ wrestling fans are dismissive of large wrestlers (or Hosses, as Jim Ross would call them) like Sapp, yet they are revered in Japan.
Sapp and Joanie Laurer were selected as man and woman wrestler of the year.
BTW, is Bob any relation to Warren?
My martial arts instructor shoed us him getting beat via an arm-bar by a guy about half his size. Sapp is freakishly huge, but in this case he got tired and his opponent survived the initial onslaught.
Unwashed brain,youarerefering to the Sapp X Minotaro Nogueira (the current Pride heavyweight champ) right? It was an intresting match espically when Bob POWERBOMBED the guy with his first move,. Mino was losing the majority of the time, but was gettign good on striking whereas he tired Bob out and put thre armlock on. An excellent match