Hey everyone. I took a look at the five best active NJPW wrestlers who have never been IWGP Heavyweight or World Heavyweight Champion. Would love your thoughts on the subject and article!

12 comments

1. Suzuki never doing it is the one that feels the craziest, he was in and out of New Japan a lot so that somewhat explains why he never did it but still.

   Makes it feel more prestigious for someone like Suzuki to never win the title or win G1.

2. I never understand why goto didnt get even one reing

3. For my money, you could have made Ishii the champion.

4. Yeah this is a pretty good list. Can’t really argue with any of them.

   Heads up tho, the “next slide” button in the article isn’t working. The individual page links below worked fine tho.

5. Suzuki is the one that, while devastating as a massive fan, really makes the titles so prestigious. A NJPW dojo trained legend of the company who held the Triple Crown and Global Honoured Crown couldn’t win it even with Suzuki Gun by his side.

   It really adds to the gravity of someone winning it for the first time. So even by not winning it, he makes it more prestigious.

   Suzuki-Gun ICHIBAN

6. Really cool article!

   * Hirooki Goto: Goto should’ve won it at Wrestle Kingdom IV and beat Nakamura for it. Would’ve been a great moment for him and even if he never won the title back, he’d have a far more satisfying run and come across more credible than he ever has.

   * Katsuyori Shibata: It sucks the injury happened because Shibata seemed destined to get that big title win. I wonder what the plan would’ve been and if he would have been the one to take the title from Omega at WK13.

   * Minoru Suzuki: I both love and hate that Suzuki never winning the IWGP title. Like someone else mentioned, it makes the title feel like the real, but he also deserves the run. There are plenty of times he could’ve won it but ever time Suzuki was there, someone else was the focus. Okada and Tanahashi took priority over him between 2010-2017. They could’ve snuck him a reign in 2013 between Dominion, G1 Climax 23, and Destruction. Okada wins the NJ Cup and takes the title from Tanahashi at Invasion Attack. He gets a single defense in at Dontaku against Makabe (instead of Suzuki) before dropping it to Suzuki at Dominion. Suzuki has a successful defense at Kizuna Road, gets the 10 points he did in the G1, but drops the title back to Okada at Destruction.

   * Tomohiro Ishii: I’ve accepted this will never happen but still want it. If Ishii was a Dojo guy, I wonder if he would’ve gotten that substantial push. He’s almost 50 and is still one of the best wrestlers in the world. I at least hope they give him an IWGP US title run.

   * Zack Sabre Jr: My body and soul are ready for future IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, Zack Sabre Jr.! I think there’s still a good chance we see this happen within five years.

7. Can we book a realistic program to get Ishii the belt just for a hot second? How does that story go ?

8. Yujiro got robbed

9. I’ve been holding out that Goto is gonna get his Nakanishi run for years now. I remember watching him beat Muta in dome in 2008(?) and thinking “Wow, this guy is gonna be the ace one day.”

   I’ve since decided to never gamble.

10. Of this list

    Sabre he never winning would be shocking

11. Literally named these five as a guess before I clicked! I hope to see ZSJ hold the title. He’s been my favorite wrestler for the last 7 years.

12. Yeah, this article is spot on. I think Ishii and Goto are just examples of kayfabe selling a wrestler’s ability beyond his inclinations to connect with fans. Like we can all pretty much agree Ishii is the shit, but he’s not gonna sign off with heart-warming promos after the main event.