10 Reasons Why New Japan Pro Wrestling Had A Great 2016
5. The Juniors
The WWE wishes they had Cruiserweights like New Japan Pro Wrestling has Junior Heavyweights. While guys like Cedric Alexander, Rich Swann, and TJP are having to tone down their style a little bit in the WWE’s Cruiserweight division, the Junior Heavyweights in New Japan are stealing the show night in and night out. While the division used to be led solely by Jushin Liger, guys like Kushida, Bushi, and Ryusuke Taguchi are leading the way.
New Japan trusts their Juniors so much that they have the Best of Super Juniors tournament, which has been held every year since 1988. This runs as their major programming from May-June and showcases high-flying, acrobatic wrestling like Ricochet and Will Ospreay as well as technical wrestlers such as Kyle O’Reilly and Bobby Fish. This tournament elevates new challengers to the championship and has proven to make a Junior Heavyweight in New Japan. If you didn’t see the highlight reels from this year’s event, you should spend some time on the internet. And if you didn’t hear about Ricochet v. Ospreay in the Super Juniors, you need to come out of that rock you’ve been living under.
Not only do they run the Super Juniors tournament, but New Japan also has the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. Teams like the Young Bucks, Ricochet/Matt Sydal, reDragon, and RPG Vice have spent the sixteen months feuding over the belts and pushing each other to the limit. The four-way at Wrestle Kingdom and the three-way at The New Beginning in Osaka were traditional junior matches that highlighted the style of each team. The title tends to be a rotating door of who is holding it at the time, but the unpredictability is what makes it hard to look away.