10 Awesome Ways Wrestling Promotions Made Titles Prestigious
6. New Japan's Pre-Match Ceremony
Ahead of every IWGP Heavyweight Title defence, NJPW broadcasts a short but impactful video.
It is a procession of every former holder captured in still images that ultimately rests on the current champion. Backed by an epic, sweeping orchestral arrangement, it creates a sense of ceremony, but also an expectation of greatness for the fans to receive and a standard for the talent to meet. With the spectre of greats literally looming over the occasion, there can be no disguising what this is: a continuation of seminal pro wrestling.
Of course, this is a mere accompaniment, an illustration, of the real work - without which the sense of gravitas would not reverberate around the arena. Imagine WWE doing something similar for its Intercontinental Title. It would last longer than an EVIL main event feels.
After the very rough patch that was Inokism - the echoes of which only serve to put over just how far NJPW has surpassed itself in the years since - the prestige of the title is best put over by those who have not yet won it, and are missing from the roll call. There is no place for Minoru Suzuki, Tomohiro Ishii, Kota Ibushi nor Katsuyori Shibata, phenomenal as they are.
It is a level beyond mere excellence - a title that requires true genius (or a Dick Togo assist) to achieve.