10 NJPW Matches We Most Want To See In 2018
Cat Fight!
There are certain matches we don't wish to see New Japan Pro Wrestling promote in 2018; with the company's growth forged on a brave long-term booking strategy, the time to preserve the promise of certain pairings is now.
Booker Gedo knows precisely what he is doing - many, including the Cleaner himself, questioned Kazuchika Okada Vs. Kenny Omega II, much less Kazuchika Okada Vs. Kenny Omega III - but it's too soon, from this vantage point, to dust off the legendary programmes of the recent past. The potency within Okada Vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, the programme upon which New Japan's growth was planted, lies within Tanahashi's steady physical decline. A pitying Okada dominating a near-broken Tanahashi, fostering support for a sentimental "one last run" with the IWGP Heavyweight Title, is the perfect, subversive re-entry point. This is at least one year removed from now; Tanahashi, even operating without two limbs, remains at the absolute apex of the wrestling game.
The allure of Okada Vs. Omega IV grows in parallel with the prestige of their seminal, game-changing 2017 trilogy. The absolution of Tetsuya Naito must occur at the Tokyo Dome, the stage on which true superstars are projected. A Wrestle Kingdom 13 sequel creates scope also for a Kenny Omega Vs. Kota Ibushi double main event, removing that storied mega-match from consideration here.
Gedo need not - and should not - squander the very best matches at his disposal the very moment the wider world starts watching...
10. Chris Jericho Vs. Tetsuya Naito
All but confirmed following the events of New Years Dash, this pairing also confirm's Jericho's genuine wrestling genius. The Alpha triggered concerns ahead of Wrestle Kingdom 12, having promoted himself as the true Best In The World - an optimistic and potentially embarrassing indulgence.
He then annihilated those concerns by re-contextualising the programme as a classic Memphis-esque blood feud. More shocking than his return in itself was how sensational it was. He crafted a Kenny Omega match even Jim Cornette could not deny - at least, until the Cleaner sprayed his balls with freeze spray.
Jericho knows exactly what he's doing - and a match opposite the hugely charismatic Tetsuya Naito allows him to operate with a different set of cloak and dagger tactics. With the novelty of North American weaponry and mega-heel antics in a New Japan context always going to wear thin, Jericho can now go toe-to-toe - and taunt-for-taunt - with a uniquely aloof character in the opposing corner. Jericho and Naito could extract drama and heat purely through posing for ten minutes on end, obscuring the requirement for the insane strand of stamina usually mandated by a New Japan marquee match.
What's more, Jericho definitively seduced the New Japan audience on January 4 - therefore allowing fans to truly and immediately invest in a match well beyond the realm of a curiosity.