Welcome to the latest Roundtable discussion here at iFight365.com where this week in a special bonus edition, we’re asking the question: Should WWE okay Johnny Ace’s proposal of sending a couple guys to take part in the Misawa memorial show and if they do who should go?

Dan Short: It’s actually pretty hard to say for sure whether WWE would give John Laurinaitis the okay to send a couple guys to participate in the Mitsuharu Misawa memorial show. It is not so much based on WWE having little to no idea who Misawa is, but rather fan perception of the situation from either side of the Pacific.

To the Japanese fans, this would be looked upon as a goodwill gesture leading into the WWE’s tour in the country days after the show. To the American fans, they’re left wondering why a couple WWE wrestlers are in Japan to wrestle in a show paying tribute to someone more than 90% of the casual American fan knows nothing about. With those thoughts in mind, it may then come down to exactly who would be sent.

It is said that Laurinaitis would like to send CM Punk and Evan Bourne on the trip. If WWE were to give him the okay to send guys, they probably wouldn’t mind Bourne going. Punk would be a different story. For one, he’s the World Heavyweight Champion. For another, he’s advertised for the house shows that take place in-between the memorial show. While Punk would probably be the first guy to jump at the offer to participate in the memorial show, it would ultimately be WWE’s call since he’s one of the top guys and he’s advertised for WWE shows.

Other possibilities for talent to be sent could include Low Ki and Ted DiBiase. Both have taken tours in Pro Wrestling NOAH, thereby have familiarity with Misawa. The problem with Low Ki is that I don’t think he’s entirely healed from the leg injury he’s currently on the shelf for. I could see them sending Ted DiBiase, especially since the Raw roster currently have a free schedule as of writing. If nothing else, they could send their resident Japanese wrestlers Jimmy Wang Yang, Kung Fu Naki, and Naofumi Yamamoto. Those three they probably would have zero problems in sending since they’re not high enough on the card to be missed and Yamamoto is in developmental.

So in the end, I think it all comes down to which talent would ultimately get sent. If Laurinaitis is dead set on sending someone high on the card like CM Punk to participate, he might have a problem getting the okay. If he sends someone who is low on the card, they probably wouldn’t mind all that much. If Laurinaitis really does want WWE involvement, then he’ll probably be open to compromising and getting lower card guys to be sent to Japan. I can picture Evan Bourne and Ted DiBiase going at best.

I actually would like to see Punk go if for the hope that they might set up Punk vs. KENTA. But that’s still a very big long shot.

Michael Campbell: For me, this is a definite yes. Do the WWE have much to gain from doing so? Not really. Will the fans be deprived of anything special, if they were to not do so? Probably not. But it would be a tremendously nice gesture on behalf of the company. Vince McMahon is a guy, that according to many workers, sometimes does things just to be nice. One such example is apparently when he brought back the Big Boss Man, in 2002. Supposedly, he did so, because he liked the guy. So with that in mind, where’s the harm in showing some respect for an industry legend, and Japanese icon, like Misawa?

If nothing else, there would be plenty of grapplers absolutely busting their nards to work such a card- and it would be a great learning experience for them. The WWE suffers from being overly insulated from other forms of grappling outside of their own style, and I would go so far as to say, that every WWE talent should be sent to Japan in their training.

While not everyone in Japan watches the WWE, or attends their shows, the company is enormous worldwide, and doing something small like this, would be seen as a nice gesture. TO not do so, is more likely to garner negative press, and apart from anything else, is rather petty. They sent then-World Champ Bret, alongside others, to Terry Funk’s retirement show in 1997, and plenty of companies have sent people their way, why not return the favour?

I’ve heard the odd grumble that they shouldn’t send any grapplers over, in case they are injured, which is a notion I find ridiculous, especially when it comes to someone like World Champion, CM Punk. Punk could get injured any day of the week, working in the ring, so should he be saved purely for TV and PPV matches? No, he has to work House shows as well. You can’t book under the assumption that guys can get hurt, because guys always get hurt, and attempting to predetermine where that could happen is insane.

As for who I would send? It’s not especially important, but I’d possibly send over Chris Jericho, Finlay, Evan Bourne, and Tyson Kidd. Kidd and Bourne could work on opposite sides of a tag match, fitting in with the Junior Heavyweight style, while both Finlay and Jericho could work against heavyweight opponents, possible as a tag unit themselves. Given the House show schedule though, I don’t say any of this being likely, though they could stretch it to send out just Bourne and Kidd. I’d also have Ace go over himself, as he could possibly scout some talent. God knows NOAH needs all the help it can get right now, and some sort of talent trade with the WWE would be a big boost.

At the end of the day, it would mean more to make this gesture, than to not do so.

James Mustoe: I think they should. Misawa has had a great impact on wrestling – maybe not to a large extent in the American market, but definitely as an influence to many of WWE’s actual wrestlers. Sending a couple of guys like CM Punk and William Regal over to take part in a match that would fit right in to a Japanese show would be a classy move on WWE’s part, and probably do a great deal of positive work publicity-wise for their Japanese public relations.