10 Ups & 4 Downs From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14

1. Tetsuya Two Belts

Tetsuya Naito failed at Wrestle Kingdom 8. Spectacularly. Booted from the main event spot in favour of the Intercontinental Championship match, his bout with IWGP Heavyweight kingpin Kazuchika Okada ended in defeat for the 'Stardust Genius' and his floundering babyface persona. He wasn't ready. He crashed and burned.

The same thing happened at Wrestle Kingdom 12. In what was supposed to be Naito's redemptive arc, Naito forgot what he had become. In one fatal moment he dropped the 'Ingobernable' tapped back into the 'Stardust Genius,' and left all that brought him back to the dance behind. He wanted to feel the crowd's roar behind him, their energy in his veins, and it cost him. He went for the Stardust Press.

And he lost.

But not this time.

Finally, at Wrestle Kingdom 14, Naito ascended. His arc was capped in as well-crafted a big-time wrestling match as you'll ever see, fighting for his life against a dominant wrestling god. Okada was going to Okada. Naito knew this. He knew his greatest foe was going to destroy his knee, he knew he was going to have to rise to the challenge, he knew he was going to have to fight for his life. And he did.

2020 may not produce another spot as dramatic as WK14's Stardust Press. Time slowed down. Mouths fell agape.

And Naito mailed it.

One last surge of energy coursed through his body. He was fuelled by past failures, by the past seven years, by destiny, by the burning desire to slay the wrestling god and claim his scalp, and he rode all of it to victory. One last Destino took him to immortality.

This was flawless professional wrestling. Words cannot do it justice.

Watch Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito.