12 Ups & 5 Downs From NJPW The New Beginning In Osaka 2019

2. Risk & Reward?

On 4 January 2012, former Young Lion Kazuchika Okada walked back into New Japan Pro Wrestling, felling the lowly YOSHI-HASHI in a sloppy, botchy undercard match before inexplicably challenging company ace Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at the night's conclusion. He'd defeat Tanahashi for the belt five weeks later at The New Beginning, and nobody - nobody - was convinced that it'd be anything other than a grand disaster.

It worked out.

A similar fate met AJ Styles in 2014. Fresh off his TNA release, 'The Phenomenal One' returned to NJPW at Invasion Attack, assaulting Okada to cricket chirps after revealing himself as Bullet Club's new member. He'd then defeat Okada for the IWGP gold at Wrestling Dontaku a few weeks later, thanks to interference from Yujiro Takahashi.

Again, nobody was convinced.

Again, it worked out.

That's why Gedo deserves your trust when it comes to strapping Jay White out of the blue. It feels shocking right now, but there's a precedent for this, and while there's no way of credibly guaranteeing 'Switchblade' will succeed as a top guy, NJPW's master booker knows what the f*ck he's doing with these things. He wouldn't have given White the most prestigious belt in wrestling if he wasn't utterly convinced he'd prosper. We should probably trust creative at this stage...