10 NJPW Stars Who NEED A Memorable G1 Climax Run
2. Tetsuya Naito
Tetsuya Naito finds himself in a strange position.
He not only failed, in shocking fashion, to dethrone Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 12: the decision in retrospect was revealed to be ingenious when first thought catastrophic. His fall begat the glorious final third of Okada's record-breaking, legendary reign with the IWGP Heavyweight Title and Kenny Omega's life-affirming capture of it. Naito meanwhile entered a flat performance opposite Minoru Suzuki at Wrestling Hinokuni before, in another shocking loss, bleeding at the mercy of Chris Jericho at Dominion.
Worrying parallels have emerged between El Ingobernable and the Stardust Genius; in a way, Naito is so inextricably linked to failure that he's never too far from it. Last year's clear favourite is not fancied to emerge victorious from Block B this year, given the intertwined history between the Golden Lovers and the box office lustre a title match between them boasts. That said, the aforementioned shortcut to the match may allow Naito, once more, to travel the long road to greatness.
Otherwise, a so-so run may reinforce the growing perception that we should receive the aloof act with a similar detachment, else risk disappointment.