Ranking Who Was Really The Man In Wrestling Every Year 1990-2020
9. 2012 - Hiroshi Tanahashi
If the goal of an Ace is to elevate through impeccable in-ring craftsmanship those underneath him, Hiroshi Tanahashi earned the nickname - the status - more than any other in 2012.
His phenomenally advanced ring craft accelerated the prodigious in-ring development of his successor, Kazuchika Okada, in the first, great phase of one of pro wrestling's all-time great and all-time successful programmes. This transition - it's the easiest story to tell, but the hardest to pull off, in a testament to Tanahashi's brilliance - wasn't the only beat. This was Tanahashi at the intersection of his physical and psychological peak and red-hot popularity.
Under his expert stewardship, New Japan's commercial fortunes bloomed, and he earned puroresu's first WON ***** rating in years at King Of Pro Wrestling in a minimal masterclass opposite Minoru Suzuki.
He set - and would maintain - the standard of wrestling's greatest ever in-ring generation.