NJPW New Japan Cup 2017: Early Favourites To Win
3. Minoru Suzuki
Suzuki has been welcomed back to New Japan with open arms. Attacking the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and stating his claim as No. 1 contender was exactly the strategy to make the unfamiliar audience members take notice, but at the New Beginning, despite laying waste to Okada's lower half, Suzuki came up short.
It didn't exactly kill his momentum, as he is still going out and ruthlessly attacking anyone in his path, but Suzuki needs to remain dominant going forward. The Bullet Club are returning and will put the squeeze on Suzuki-Gun, so to prove they weren't just a placeholder faction their leader could very well storm through the New Japan Cup and take the victory.
Suzuki and Okada built a captivating feud in a relatively small amount of time, and with all of that framework in place, NJPW could continue Suzuki's pursuit of the one major Japanese Championship that has eluded him.