From the previous number one contender to the current one, Hirooki Goto has been a mainstay towards the top of the NJPW card since winning the G-1 Climax tournament in 2008. Even so, he has gained something of a reputation for choking on the biggest stage. He has had a number of title shots over the last eight years, but only a couple of IWGP Intercontinental Championship runs to show for it. Still, Goto is a vital name to know for those entering the world of NJPW. He may not have won the big one but he has been involved in a whole host of classic matches over the last few years, most notably his series with Shinsuke Nakamura over the IC strap last year. At Wrestle Kingdom 10 Goto defeated Tetsuya Naito with his Shouten Kai finisher (a vertical suplex into a sit out slam) and has since made it clear to Okada that he is coming for the IWGP Heavyweight Title. Nobody believes Goto is anything more than a placeholder feud for Okada until bigger things, but his position on the card is vital. Hirooki Goto is New Japan's main event gateholder, so to speak.
Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.
