With WrestleMania 32, the biggest WrestleMania of all time is behind us and with WWE Payback more than a month away, why not widen your wrestling horizons this weekend with a bit of New Japan Pro Wrestling?
Over the last few years, ever since the advent of the Bullet Club, NJPW has making inroads into the attention of mainstream wrestling fans and not just the hardcore internet fans.
New Japan is known for its more hard-hitting style in comparison to PG era WWE. The recent influx of ex-NJPW talent such as Shinsuke Nakamura, AJ Styles, Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows in WWE has also helped to firmly put the spotlight on New Japan Pro Wrestling.
This weekend, New Japan are putting on their second biggest show of the year, Invasion Attack 2016. In this article, I focus on 5 top NJPW stars that are likely to catch your eye in case you watch Invasion Attack.
5: Katsayuri Shibata
The first full New Japan show I saw was earlier this year was at Wrestle Kingdom 10. I was almost instantly a fan. One of the matches on the card was the inconspicuous bout between Shibata and Tomohiro Ishii.
I’ll just begin with saying that this match had a completely different feel to any matches I had seen in a while. Shibata and Ishii didn’t bother about rest holds and suplexes and beat the living daylights out of each other.
At first glance, Shibata may come off as a bit generic because of his look, but once the bell rings he’s a legit badass. He’s the guy who’ll kick your face off, no questions asked, when pissed. His strikes and kicks looks brutal and he’s a very good worker otherwise. He defends his NEVER Openweight Championship this Sunday against Hiroyoshi Tenzan.
Match: Katsayuri Shibata vs Hiroyoshi Tenzan for the NEVER Openweight Championship
4: Ricochet
I can’t believe Ricochet is just 4th on this list. This shows how deep the New Japan roster is even with the recent exodus of talent to WWE.
What can I say about Ricochet to fans who are not acquainted? He’s one of the hottest non-WWE wrestlers in the world right now and wrestles all across the independent scene from Ring of Honor and NJPW to his alter-ego Prince Puma on Lucha Underground.
Ricochet has a reputation as one of the most agile, acrobatic and high-flying wrestlers in the world today along with Will Ospreay (more on him later). His offence ranges from aerial mastery to balls-out insane.
He teams up with Matt Sydal (formerly WWE Superstar Evan Bourne) this Sunday to defend their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Roppongi Vice. Watch out for Ricochet’s 630 splash, it’s a thing of beauty.
Stories about WWE’s interest in Ricochet have been flying around for a while and it looks likely that he’ll sign with WWE as soon as his Lucha Underground obligations end after season 3.
Match: Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs Roppongi Vice (Baretta & Rocky Romero)
3: Kenny Omega
In layman’s terms, Kenny Omega is sort of the Dean Ambrose of NJPW. So far, his 2016 has been the most successful of his career. He currently holds the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and is also one-third of the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship along with the Young Bucks as part of the Bullet Club Elite. He destroyed his Bullet Club mentor AJ Styles earlier this year and became the defacto leader of the Bullet Club. That’s a lot of accomplishments in the first 4 months of the year.
Kenny Omega is the epitome of the modern professional wrestler. He’s technically sound, powerful, charismatic as hell and can fly through the air when he needs to. His finisher, the One Winged Angel, is one of the most devastating finishers in pro wrestling today. He defends the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship with the Young Bucks this Sunday.
Kenny Omega is not only a very good wrestler, he’s a star.
Match: The Bullet Club Elite (Kenny Omega, Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin and Yoshitatsu
2: Kazuchka Okada
Kazuchka Okada is the biggest stars in Japanese Pro Wrestling today and legitimately one of the best in the world. He became a 3-time IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in 2015, a title that he currently holds.
Okada’s only 27 and has already been a mainstay in Japanese wrestling for 8 years. Okada’s one of those wrestlers who is seamless in the ring and makes everything look easy. His offence ranges from graceful to brutal and many including Jim Ross have said that Okada has the best dropkick in wrestling today.
Match: Kazuchka Okada vs Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
1: Will Ospreay
‘The Aerial Assassin’ Will Ospreay is one of the most exciting British wrestlers out there today. He’s wrestled everywhere from dingy gyms back in his native England to Pro Wrestling Guerilla and Ring of Honor.
Earlier this year, New Japan announced they’d signed Ospreay to an exclusive. Such is Ospreay’s reputation and ability, rumours have been circulating that WWE is interested in his services in the future. All this even before he makes his New Japan debut this Sunday against Kushida.
He’s living proof of the transcendent shift in modern wrestling where ability matters, not size. He talks about his love for Eddie Guerrero and X-Pac over Stone Cold and The Rock. With his high-flying and unorthodox in-ring style, he's a special talent who will eventually end up in WWE.
Match: Will Ospreay (Debut) vs Kushida for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
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