10 Best NJPW Wrestlers Of 2016

Kazuchika Okada hasn't been too far from the top spot of New Japan in recent years, but from the beginning of 2016 until now there has been no doubt as to who is the true face of the company.

Avenging his loss to Tanahashi from a year earlier, the two rivals told the most epic chapter of their story to date at WK10. Then with Shinsuke Nakamura leaving, Okada was able to solidify himself as the leader of the Chaos stable and take it into the future. He started by defeating and gaining the allegiance of the elusive Goto before taking on the upstart LIJ faction. Losing the title proved to be a minor blip as he regained it from Naito soon after.

New Japan use a classy mechanism for building their world champions: they enter the promotion's yearly tournaments as a way of seeking even more glory, rather than resting on their laurels as the champion. Okada put on immense performances in the G1 Climax including a five star bout with Ishii and fittingly ended tied with Tanahashi at the end of the block stage. He then went on to prove his dominant position in Japanese wrestling by defeating the 'NOAH Ace' Naomichi Marufuji in a spectacular end-of-year battle.

Though foreign fans have become extremely enamoured with the stories of Omega and Naito over 2016, Okada is the megastar of the promotion and it will take some doing to knock him from that perch.