The most contemporary name on the list, AJ Styles made his debut in NJPW in April 2014 and within a month found himself holding the most prestigious title in the company. After defeating Kazuchika Okada at Wrestling Dontaku, Styles became the first gaijin holder of the title since Brock Lesnar some nine years earlier. Styles win wasnt greatly received by the Japanese audience however, as he was still something of an unknown to them despite years of success outside of WWE in the States. It was during the 2014 G1 Climax that Styles would gain the respect of the NJPW audience however, putting on great match after great match throughout including arguably the finest wrestling match of 2014 against Minoru Suzuki. If you havent seen that match, do all you can to find it. His first run as champion would end at the hands of Hiroshi Tanahashi in October 2014, but less than six months later Styles would defeat Tanahashi to regain the belt. His second run wouldnt last long though, coming to an end with defeat to Okada last weekend. Despite a relatively cold opening, Styles drawing pedigree was confirmed when he managed to sell out Tokyos Ryogoku Kokugiken with Kota Ibushi at Invasion Attack in April 2015. The leader of New Japans major gaijin stable The Bullet Club (pictured above), Styles is on the road to becoming the most successful gaijin in Japanese wrestling for some time.
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.
