1. Kazuchika Okada
With his successful defence of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 10, Kazuchika Okada concluded a multi-year story with Tana and cemented himself as the new Ace of New Japan. In the previous five years Okada and Tanahashi had put on a total of eight genuine MOTY bouts, and (presumably) their final battle was arguably the best of the lot. Thus, Okada is arguably the biggest star in Japanese wrestling today. It could have all been so different though, as he was sent to TNA by NJPW in 2010 in a usual young wrestler overseas excursion. TNA proceeded to do absolutely nothing with Okada, most notably booking him as Samoa Joe's comedy lackey. This terrible use of a future star led to New Japan cutting ties with TNA, and on his return to NJPW Okada shocked the world by defeating then-champion Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. In the four years that have passed since, Okada has well and truly flawed those who felt it was booking suicide to put the strap on him. His 'Rainmaker' persona is absolutely magnetic, his finisher of the same name (a wrist-lock into a short arm lariat) is one of the most protected in the entire business, and he is now ready to carry the company into the future. Scarily, Okada is only 28 years old. It is no exaggeration to say that in Kazuchika Okada, NJPW has a genuine all-timer on their hands. There are a whole host of other superstars to get to know in the wonderful world of New Japan, and as more and more people outside of Japan start getting into the product the visibility will only continue to grow. I'm off to watch Ishii vs. Shibata one more time.