10 Best NJPW Matches Of 2020 (So Far)
The best matches of a transcendent, turbulent six months of New Japan Pro Wrestling.
NJPW has come back. It’s been a long four months for the die hard fans of the promotion, being without our favourite wrestlers and stables for so long as we’re all stuck inside.
While there’s hectic things all over the world right now, in both positive and negative ways, New Japan Pro Wrestling is a source of joy and consolation for millions of fans around the world as they run their New Japan Cup and Dominion events over the next month. It’s already like receiving a warm hug.
Though the shutdown of events has meant that NJPW hasn’t ran many shows in 2020, their absolutely staggering amount of quality has meant that there are already 10 matches from two months alone that are essential to check out, especially if you’re a new fan looking for an entry point into the promotion. While this list will alter and change as the New Japan Cup provides more all time great matches, for now, this collection of contests will be a perfect way to transition back into the wonderful world of puroresu. We are extremely lucky to have the best pro wrestling back with us.
10. Jon Moxley Vs. Minoru Suzuki - New Beginning In Osaka
Moxley and Suzuki are two madmen who wanted to beat each other up so badly that neither could stand up the next day, and they more than delivered on that desire. It was a dream match that had been clamoured for ever since Moxley joined NJPW. His harder, intense style of wrestling seemed made for exchanges with Minoru Suzuki. Both men’s raw intensity clashed perfectly as they chopped, fore-armed and battered the daylights out of each other in pursuit to cementing Moxley as the newest rabid dog in town.
While Jon Moxley is well established and praised as a worker, thanks to his current run as AEW champion and his many years as Dean Ambrose in WWE, a lot of Western audiences still underestimate the complexities of Minoru Suzuki. It's easy to see him as just a vicious arbiter of punishment, but the man's one of the most versatile and gifted wrestling minds in the business today. He's a master technician and grappler on top of his sadistic striking game, and he used all his abilities and knowledge to further get Mox over as the IWGP US champion.
Moxley's incendiary passion and natural chemistry with Suzuki made the most of every second of this encounter, easily standing out as one of the best matches of his post WWE career and making NJPW fans all over the world desperate for a follow up.