5 Most Insane Things Happening In Wrestling Right Now (March 23)
2. NEVER Write Off Hiroshi Tanahashi, Nor Gedo
New Japan Pro Wrestling's Hiroshi Tanahashi carried the company across his beautiful broad shoulders before it entered its modern Golden Era, which he, as the best wrestler on the planet either side of this decade, helped define.
On January 4, 2018, a day to forget followed a decade of excellence. He sold brilliantly, but failed to put Jay White over as a main event-calibre performer. That was the murmuring in some circles, anyway. Many doubted the Ace. You do not doubt the Ace. Throughout the excellent New Japan Cup, 'Tana', still operating with just the two limbs, solidified the (also doubted) Taichi heavyweight character and, in a sumptuous story match, played a subtle heel role to elevate Juice Robinson as a legitimate house afire babyface.
In parallel, an overwhelming majority doubted the wisdom of genius booker Gedo for failing to put the white-hot Tetsuya Naito over as IWGP Heavyweight Champion at Wrestle Kingdom 12. You do not doubt Gedo. F*ck you: he is Gedo.
The booker pulled off yet another magician's trick by creating a new heavyweight headliner in Zack Sabre, Jr., booking him to tap out a murderer's row of Kazuchika Okada's victims - or "hunks", as he called them - in Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Kota Ibushi and Hiroshi Tanahashi. It was typical brilliance from Gedo: Everything the Champion can do, the challenger did quicker. Moreover, Tanahashi's finals defeat, not that he needed it necessarily, positions him as a readied opponent for Okada down the line. Sabre, Jr. reflected the brilliance of the booking with a storied submission-based onslaught, deftly putting his unique style over to the New Japan audience as the very essence on which New Japan was built.
New Japan Pro Wrestling just promoted a solid gold tournament. And, since the Best Of The Super Juniors and G1 Climax tournaments are still to come, it's likely to only grab bronze on the podium.
How does this seminal product keep getting better and better and better? All this, and the brilliant Bullet Club storyline wasn't even factored into it.