10 Wrestling Facts We Didn't Know Last Week (Jan 3)

6. Tetsuya Naito's Crisis Of Confidence

Tetsuya Naito
NJPW

Nobody would look at former IWGP Heavyweight Champion, four-time IWGP Intercontinental Champ, two-time G1 Climax winner and all-round wrestling machine Tetsuya Naito and think, 'Yeah, that dude lacks a bit of confidence'. According to the Japanese star's comments to New Japan's website, it's true.

2019 was a rough year at times for Naito.

In a move that took a bit of balls, he set the scene for his upcoming 'Double Gold Dash' at Wrestle Kingdom 14 by revealing he suffered a crisis of self-belief last year. It all started in May, and things got so bad that Naito wasn't sure he could perform at a top-tier level any longer. He constantly wrestled "in a state of unease" over the summer.

Whilst it is a bit difficult to determine how much of this is real and how much of it is clever pay-per-view build, Tetsuya did also say that most of the issues are behind him and that he was struggling to live up to his reputation in-ring.

Advertisement
Contributor

Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.