10 Next Big Things In Wrestling You Need To Know
5. Ben-K (Dragon Gate)
Though Dragon Gate is best known for its lightning-fast, hyper-athletic fusion of lucha libre and Japanese junior heavyweight wrestling, Ben-K is a hoss. He isn't particularly tall, but at 218lbs he's far bulkier than most of his DG cohorts, who he regularly throws around as if they were weightless in an in-ring role not totally dissimilar to company legend Shingo Takagi (though their characters couldn't be more different).
Ben-K has stood out as an imposing future star since emerging as Futa Nakamura in 2016. A founding member of DG's top face unit, MaxiMuM, he'd eventually leave them to join the heel stable now known as R.E.D., from which he was ejected after this year's Dead or Alive event. In DG's quest to find their new ace, Ben-K surged, winning the King of Gate tournament over R.E.D. leader Eita, earning him a shot at former stablemate PAC and his Open the Dream Gate Title at Kobe World - DG's WrestleMania equivalent.
Triumph followed. Ben-K now sits atop the mountain in Japan's second-biggest promotion, and, at 27 years old, has decades in front of him. The newly-minuted ace is destined to become one of his country's biggest non-NJPW stars.
Key Match: vs. PAC (Dragon Gate Kobe Pro-Wrestling Festival 2019)