Now. Is. The. Time. Next world champion.

28 comments

1. sometimes the prestige of a title comes from not just who has held it, but who never got to as well.

2. Better choice than Ishii but he needs a lot of work to regain the credibility he lost.

3. No

4. Listen I like him too but he’s never winning it. That’s it.

5. That’s not EVIL lol

6. Letting him get all painted up and then getting beaten was a kick in the nuts 😵‍💫

7. #ITS NOT GOTOVER

8. It’s never gonna happen, much like Ishii, he’s not over enough in Japan. Except Ishii is way better than him.

9. # No.1 Aramusha Style, mfs

10. I could see him getting that “thank you” title victory like Manabu Nakanishi did, before dropping it to one of the younger talents.

11. PULL. THAT. TRIGGER

12. And Ishii as Global Champion. CHAOS Resurgence!

13. This right here is the exact match where he got buried for good as a potential world champion. Could/should have been champ during the 2008-2012 era, still had the potential in 2013, 2014 and 2015. But that New Beginning match, losing to Okada and then joining CHAOS killed him as a potential world champion.

14. No

15. Wrong Bishamon member

16. Meh….his time has come and gone.

    NJPW needs to get the young guys in.

    He can get beat by whoever takes the belt of Naito.

17. Boys that ship sailed a LONG time ago, get over it

18. GO BACK UNDER THE WATERFALL, IT IS YOUR TIME

19. Thought that was Neymar for a minute

20. It’d be cool if he got even a brief run with 1 or 2 successful defenses.

21. That was a badass look.

22. A Ishii or Goto miracle G1 run could be so much fun

23. As a big Goto fan, I wish he could hold the title once, if he did any time soon, he could use it to build one of the Reiwa Musketeers to main event status. The likelihood of that happening is slim to none though unfortunately.

    And as others have pointed out, part of the prestige of the IWGP Heavyweight Title is the fact that there are some extremely talented individuals whom never got to hold it.

24. I’d love it, he’s been my dude since I started watching full-time back around 2015-2016. I keep saying it, but I think there’s a ready-made story now that can resemble late 80s AJPW, where the new young guns basically end up at war with the old guard, and Goto filling the role as a vet who catches a young champion off guard or something (kind of what Nakanishi did to a younger, cockier Tanahashi), snags the gold, but then drops it relatively quickly to one of the up and comers could work if built up well.

    Or, hell, for years now I’ve wanted to see him and Ishii turn heel and be just a couple disgruntled veteran bruisers who take it to everyone who hasn’t taken them seriously as top guys and basically go on a rampage for awhile. Do it with that as the angle, why not? Maybe they turn post-Okada CHAOS into a more brutal group, again.

    That all said, I’ve been beaten down enough to know it isn’t happening so, please…don’t give me hope…

25. Lol no

26. Fuck it, Sanada got a run, give Goto his god damn flowers.

27. I’m so flabbergasted at how many people want this. I love Goto but this is not the move. If he wins his story goes from could never win the big one to, became champion once the top guys left.

    SOMETHING NEW PLEASE!

28. Please Ghost of Inoki, let it happen