10 Wrestlers Who Learned Important Lessons The Hard Way
5. Tetsuya Naito Learns That Having the Belt Doesn't Mean You're Over
We like to imagine the above photo of Tetsuya Naito was taken shortly after he smashed his head against a mirror in frustration upon hearing that the NJPW fanbase had booted him out of his main event spot at the company's biggest PPV.
To clarify, Naito was scheduled to main event Wrestle Kingdom 8 alongside IWGP Heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada. However, the office had realised Naito was not clicking with the audience, leading to a fan vote for the main event of the PPV - Naito vs. Okada for the Heavyweight belt, or Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the less prestigious Intercontinental title. The fans voted in favour of the latter bout, effectively sounding the death knell on Naito's time at the top.
Truthfully, this was the best thing that could have happened to Naito. His bland babyface character simply wasn't main event material, and Tetsuya used the fan's rejection to fuel a hotter-than-hell heel turn that inspired some of the best acts of this generation. As leader of Los Ingobernables, Naito's laid-back swagger and "Tranquilo" attitude presaged the rise of Orange Cassidy, and the fans embrace of him as a heel after an unpopular face run foreshadowed Roman Reigns' current trajectory.
Six years after the fans turned on him, Naito wrestled Okada again for the IWGP Heavyweight belt at this year's WK 14. Needless to say, this time they were in the main event, and the audience blew the roof off for Naito's win.