Everything Fans Need To Know About Chris Jericho's New Target Tetsuya Naito

Several weeks ago, after declaring in an interview that his New Japan Pro Wrestling career is over ‘for now’, Chris Jericho appeared at Wrestling Dontaku to attack the man whom he last attacked at New Year's Dash, Tetsuya Naito. So for those uninitiated in the world of New Japan Pro Wrestling, let us introduce you to the leader of Los Ingobernables de Japon.

LIJ

Speaking of LIJ, that’s a group that Naito started many years ago and it now consists of guys like Bushi, Evil, Rush, Sanada and Hiromu Takahashi. But it’s the man that he created the stable with that is most interesting, former NXT Champion and current SmackDown Live superstar Andrade “Cien” Almas, who at the time was known as La Sombra. Strictly speaking, the stable was already existent in Mexico, but after being rejected by the New Japan Pro Wrestling fans, Naito went down to Mexico and CMLL where Los Ingobernables were a huge force. With his friendship with La Sombra growing, he joined the stable, and thus created the offshoot known as LIJ (translated into “The Ungovernables of Japan”).

Rejected Face Push

Fans of pro wrestling are an incredibly hard to predict group, and sometimes a company is so set on pushing someone, the fans will react negatively, and like Roman Reigns, that’s exactly what happened with Naito. Dave Meltzer described Naito as an “in ring genius”, but he always noted that “something just didn’t click”, and after he won their premier tournament the G1 Climax over fan favorite Tanahashi, the fans rejected it. It got so bad that New Japan even had to push the Intercontinental Championship match over his World Title match at Wrestle Kingdom. Unlike WWE and the failed Roman Reigns experiment, New Japan had the brains to send him away and let him develop in Mexico before he returned with his tranquilo attitude that has made him and Almas so successful.

G1 Climax Success

We spoke before about how the G1 was the final nail in the coffin for his baby face push that turned into his cool heel persona, but he’s actually one of the most successful performers in that tournament, becoming one of a select few to win multiple tournaments since it was officially christened the G1 in 1991 (it was around for 17 years prior under different names). Among the others who have won multiple are Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Masahiro Chono and Hiroyoshi Tenzan, putting him in some truly elite company. With his run no doubt looking to continue into the near future, he could even end up winning his 3^rd sometime soon, but for now, he has to be regarded as one of the best that New Japan has ever had.

In ring genius

Earlier we quoted Dave Meltzer, who praised Naito’s in ring-genius, and now that he has the character to back it up. He’s one of the most well-rounded in the world, but there are few better than Chris Jericho, and after his barn-stormer with Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom, these two industry veterans could put together a classic story. Sure, Jericho is way beyond his peak as an in ring performer, but Naito more than has the skills to make up for it, and there are few wrestlers in the world that fans care about more than these two, so it looks to be an epic clash of styles, and one that shouldn’t be missed. If you have any doubts about his in ring talent, you only need to look to anything from the previous two G1 Climax tournaments, especially his loss against Kenny Omega in the 2016 edition. Add in his loss to Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 12, and it will more than get you hyped for this huge bout.

So what do you guys think? Has this list helped with your knowledge of Tetsuya Naito? Were you already a big fan of the LIJ leader previously? Are you looking forward to his bout with Jericho in a few weeks? As always, let us know all your thoughts and ideas in the comments below.