10 Things WWE Doesn't Want You To Know About NJPW
2. Big Match John, Meet Legendary Match Kazuchika
The sheer ability level of Kazuchika Okada ensures that this new next-contender, no-rematch strategy never feels contrived.
Okada is a plate-spinning magician in the ring; somehow, at the climax of his every title defence, you're left with the impression that, no matter how much "ass" he shows to his opponents - who benefit from the match in terms of status - he still emerges with his Ace aura firmly intact.
The matches with Kenny Omega are well-documented. A three-act tale of pure grit and exhaustion, he was cast as a legend purely through surviving those wars without suffering a broken neck. Omega, meanwhile, emerged as the only man to take this kayfabe G.O.A.T to his absolute limit. Almost as impressive are the rest of his defences, for various reasons. He restored the pure art of limb selling in his New Beginning In Sapporo classic with Minoru Suzuki. Though sadly never realised, his performance against Katsuyori Shibata represented the would-be penultimate hurdle en route to lasting main event stardom. Okada sold for Shibata, the black sheep, as if he was lucky just to make it out of the Ryogoku Kokugikan alive. The argument against Cody as a true star was the lack of a killer singles match in his CV. He, with an assist from Okada's might, killed it in Long Beach earlier this year.
A major Big Match John Cena bout is something JBL shouts from the rooftops in order to convince the WWE audience that they are the best at what they do. It's all subjective, obviously - but the claim to critical acclaim is as unconvincing as John's STF.