10 Great Wrestlers Who Totally Reinvented Themselves

Despite still being relatively in his prime in 2013, Hiroshi Tanahashi's replacement as NJPW's top babyface was already waiting in the wings.

Following a long lay-off from a torn ACL, Tetsuya Naito returned for his long-awaited main event push. His G1 Climax performances that year were widely ridiculed for his inconsistent, over-the-top selling of his bad knee. By the final day, it was clear most NJPW fans wanted one of the New Three Musketeers - Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura and Katsuyori Shibata - to win the trophy and march to the Wrestle Kingdom main event.

Instead, Naito pinned Tanahashi, the man he was set to replace, in the finals and cut an oddly depressing victory promo. From there, Japanese crowds turned on Naito and his push, booing him beyond belief and voting his title match out of the Wrestle Kingdom main event slot.

Following a 2015 excursion to Mexico and induction into Los Ingobernables, Naito returned to NJPW with a new, devil may care attitude. After cruelly mistreating underdog favourite Tomoaki Honma in his return bout, the lazy, brash Naito cooked up a storm over the G1 season as the promotion's new scumbag.

Bizarrely, 2016 saw many fans grow to love his rebellious attitude, so much so that he's been a de facto babyface for the past six years. Amazingly, despite voting against him even having a world title main event at one point, many fans are now furious with NJPW for seemingly denying Naito a lengthy signature IWGP World Championship reign.