10 Best NJPW Matches Of The Year

Okada. Tanahashi. Naito. New Japan already had three bonafide mega-stars to top off their roster, main event Wrestle Kingdoms and take the company forward. But on August 13, 2016 their fourth one emerged.

Going into the final stretch of the G1 Climax most fans saw the writing on the wall, especially when Goto qualified for the finals over Okada and Tanahashi: this was Naito's year. He had already won over the audience with his brash new heel gimmick, and Los Ingobernables de Japon were ousting the Bullet Club as the hottest faction in wrestling. The BC themselves had seen a downturn with critical pieces leaving for the WWE and Kenny Omega was faced with a seemingly impossible task: replace AJ Styles.

The odds could not have been more stacked against the gaijin but he still had a chance for an upset. The match that followed was a masterpiece with both top heels showing huge disrespect for each other and disregard for their bodies. Kenny's dive, his selling of the knee, and a closing sequence to rival that of any match in the history of the business: It all came together to form the greatest match in an incredible year of wrestling.

You'll almost certainly know the outcome by now, but if you get a chance to watch even just one New Japan match from the past year, let it be this one.