10 Most Shocking NJPW Upsets
1. Kazuchika Okada Vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - The New Beginning 2012
The most successfully audacious booking decision of all time, NJPW will reap its rewards for years to come.
Just look at the match graphic. Kazuchika Okada wears an expression noticeable for its try-hard grimace. He is obviously just playing the role of an IWGP Heavyweight Title challenger, a sentiment shared by every single observer with, of course, the exception of Gedo. Look at the physical make-up of his face, even. Aged 24, he still looked something like a gawky teenager ahead of a title challenge that bemused everybody; Hiroshi Tanahashi's otherwise excellent, epic reign had drawn minor complaints for its predictability, and in TNA reject/Tokyo Dome failure Okada, he faced the most predictable challenge yet.
Okada's reinvention was near-absurd in its optimism, too; overnight, he looked like the most ostentatious pro wrestler on the planet. This all teetered so closely to Super Liger territory, but, through an incredible performance, the Rainmaker literally matured from ungainly adolescent to international megastar over the course of 24 spellbinding, shocking minutes. Vicious, devious, and equipped with an awesome finish that rattled the Ace's brain and our sense of everything, Okada lived up to the most aspirational gimmick ever conceived.
A cataclysmic result, every last IWGP Heavyweight Title match, seven years on, is loaded with a certain dramatic layer eternal in its heft: if Okada could beat Tanahashi in 2012, then...