14 Things We Learned From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11

3. The Baton Has Truly Been Passed

Wrestle Kingdom Hiroshi Tanahashi Tetsuya Naito
njpwworld.com

Going into the IWGP Intercontinental Championship match between Tetsuya Naito and Hiroshi Tanahashi, there was a lot more than just the title on the line. For Naito this was about redemption, or at least it would be about redemption if he still cared about such things. Naito had never won a singles match at the Dome, and three years prior had seen his dreams of headlining the show dashed by Tanahashi and the fans (among other things).

For Tanahashi, this was his chance to prove that he wasn't finished yet. Tana had headlined the previous five Wrestle Kingdoms, but 2016 had been something of a rough year for the former Ace. Of course, this is 'rough' in the 'John Cena rough' mould, but for a man of Tanahashi's impeccably high standards it was indeed a rough year. This was Tana's chance to prove that he is still the standard bearer in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

These two put on a fantastic pro wrestling show, a back and forth battle that was as good as you're going to get with regards to in-ring psychology and storytelling. Both men worked on the knee of the other, putting on an almost perfect Hero vs. Anti-Hero battle. The anti-hero came out on top here, and Naito can now look forward to a 2017 that could possible top his incredible 2016.

What does 2017 hold for Hiroshi Tanahashi? A well earned rest one would assume, before a run at the G1 Climax in the summer.

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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.