The main event of this years Wrestle Kingdom with be the IWGP Heavyweight Champion vs. the 2018 G1 Climax winner Hiroshi Tanahashi.
The Wrestling Brain & The Curtain Jerker have got together to shine a spotlight on one of the biggest stars of NJPW and give their thoughts on ‘The Ace’ of New Japan Pro-Wrestling.
“The Wrestling Brain” Callum Owen
Hiroshi Tanahashi At this year’s Wrestle Kingdom, the main event will be headlined by IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega and the winner of G1 Climax Hiroshi Tanahashi. Tanahashi an icon of NJPW and is no stranger to main eventing the biggest show of year after being involved in 8 closing matches.
For none NJPW fans Tanahashi is basically what John Cena is to WWE, he has been a standard bearer for over the last decade, and he is arguably one of the biggest stars that NJPW have ever produced. He has been involved in numerous high-profile matches, but which one is his best.
In my opinion, Tanahashi’ s best match, is from four years ago at Wrestle Kingdom 9, as he defended his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against one of his biggest rivals Kazuchika Okada, unsurprisingly it was awarded 5 stars by Dave Meltzer. Okada was a rising star on the roster, and up against a veteran, I think it could be expected that Tanahashi would lose however he managed to retain in a memorable match, in front of close to 37,0000 which I believe is the second highest attendance at a Wrestle Kingdom show.
Whatever happens this Friday, Hiroshi Tanahashi “The Ace of NJPW” will go down as one of the greatest to step inside a wrestling ring, and one of the most beloved stars ever.
Hiroshi Tanahashi beating Kota Ibushi in the 2018 G1 Climax Finals
“The Curtain Jerker” Colin Hebert
This Friday, possibly the greatest wrestler New Japan has ever produced, Hiroshi Tanahashi, will likely main event his last Wrestle Kingdom show, his record-setting 10th, in a battle for the heart and soul of New Japan against Kenny Omega.
Tanahashi, just in Tokyo Dome shows alone, he has defeated a who’s who of Japanese wrestling and won multiple IWGP Championships. Legends such as The Great Muta, Satoshi Kojima, Minoru Suzuki, Kazuchika Okada, and Shinsuke Nakamura have a fallen in a Tokyo Dome main event. My favourite memory of Tanahashi at the Dome was at Wrestle Kingdom 2014.
He was competing against the then-IWGP Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, in the main event. History and tradition tells us that the winner of the G1 Climax in August gets to main event the next Wrestle Kingdom. However, Tanahashi was so popular that New Japan took a fans vote as to whom they want to see in the main event.
In a landslide, Tanahashi-Nakamura won over Okada-Naito! Can you imagine, someone like a Dean Ambrose going into the main event of WrestleMania over someone like Brock Lesnar??? That just goes to show you how popular Tanahashi has been and how successful he has been at New Japan’s “Show of Shows”
What do you think about Hiroshi Tanahashi? Can he knock off ‘The Cleaner’ Kenny Omega at the biggest NJPW show of the year? Let us know below.
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