10 Genius Wrestling Bookers And The Best Decision They Ever Made

Best Decision: the Tanahashi-Okada feud

For many years, NJPW drifted aimlessly, until the late 2000s, when Inoki was ousted as booker and was replaced by Gedo and Jado. These two wrestlers worked to emphasize dramatic storytelling centered on wrestling once again, and by 2008, they proceeded to build the single greatest wrestling feud of the 21st century: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada.

Tanahashi had become NJPW’s ace by 2009, while Okada re-invented himself as ‘the Rainmaker’ after a failed TNA stint. Since then, these men have had such an intense and bitter rivalry that they’ve headlined numerous major PPVs and have had multiple 5-Star matches against one another. This includes their first major encounter, where Okada shocked the world à la Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania XXX by defeating Tanahashi for the title.

The sheer quality of these unbelievable encounters cannot be described in words. Both men have developed enormous fan bases, and have exchanged wins and the World Title several times. Imagine John Cena vs. Randy Orton, only with a very long rivalry that’s far more intense, with numerous 5-Star matches, and the entire story is built around the veteran vs. the up-and-comer, with all of that played out in intense wrestling matches with complex storytelling.

This feud is the most intense and emotional feud in wrestling right now. Gedo and Jado have done masterfully well in their roles as bookers. This feud must be seen to be believed.