Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Kenny Omega: The Essential Battle For NJPW

Informed by the tragedy, consciously or otherwise (Hiroshi Tanahashi has expressly cited his loathing of NJPW’s trademark “strong style” as the launching point of his wrestling ethos), there was a subsequent and definitive shift away from the reckless abandon with which the old gladiators of All Japan laid into one another. A new road was being paved by the soon-to-be-resurgent New Japan Pro Wrestling, and its future ace, Hiroshi Tanahashi.

Trained in the fabled New Japan dojo, Tanahashi was mechanically sound almost immediately, as one would expect from a prodigy. Branded as one of the new ‘Three Musketeers’ ready to lead the charge away from the company’s MMA misadventures in the early 2000s, Tanahashi was a more story-telling, technical counterpoint to the strong style leanings of Shinsuke Nakamura and Katsuyori Shibata. Tanahashi has since spoken at length about the importance of timing and selling, providing insights on his traditional-yet-progressive approach between the ropes. Tellingly, he told Sports Illustrated in 2016 that "the ROH style is too fast; [You need to give the audience time to cheer]."

He sheds further light in his autobiography, ‘Why Hiroshi Tanahashi was Able to Change NJPW’. Bemoaning the grip strong style held on the flailing New Japan and its alienating impact on a future generation of young fans, he also condemned what he has coined "the McDonaldsisation" of pro wrestling. Tanahashi aimed to achieve a level of nuance wrestling had lost in a bewildering haze of "excessive use of moves" and punches thrown so hard they’d make wrestlers "cough up blood". In short, Tanahashi wanted fans to once again appreciate the "space" that one of his idols, Ric Flair, once created in between moves.

He achieved that by selling the effects of moves better than any wrestler had before.

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