The One Thing WWE & AEW MUST Learn From NJPW

January 2019 saw Gedo once again tasked with replacing a host of departing stars as All Elite Wrestling's eventual formation saw him lose not only Omega, but The Young Bucks, Hangman Page, and Cody, with former junior heavyweight standout jumping to WWE at roughly the same time.

Again, Gedo had prepared for this. His team's bench had been restocked long ago.

'Switchblade' Jay White stepped up shortly after pinning Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 13, capping a year of rapid improvement by wresting away the IWGP Heavyweight Championship Tanahashi had taken from Omega in the Tokyo Dome. His was a short reign, but it worked. In putting Tana out to pasture, White gained credibility to compliment his outstanding sh*theel act, and now, as the year draws to a close, he stands as Intercontinental Champion.

Finally tied to a full-time New Japan deal after years of freelancer work, Kota Ibushi may leave Wrestle Kingdom 14 as IWGP Champion. His has been a stunning year rife with blow-away matches and an overdue G1 Climax victory. Elsewhere, Will Ospreay has emerged as NJPW's likeliest Omega replacement by gliding between the junior and heavyweight divisions, while former Dragon Gate bruiser Shingo Takagi has begun a crawl through the ranks sure to conclude at the top of the card.

Gedo played a huge part in building these men. In making a concentrated effort to slowly build them up beneath the main event scene, he made NJPW disaster-proof. His blueprintis one that could easily be applied by the AEW and WWE booking teams, too.

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