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#2 Character development
New viewers of the NJPW product will probably realise that character development means a lot as far as that particular promotion is concerned. It might be difficult for non-Japanese speaking fans to fully appreciate how the New Japan stars grow themselves as characters, at least on the surface, but by watching the shows over a long period of time, it soon becomes very apparent just how hard the bookers work to make their wrestlers believable, sympathetic and human.
The rise of Kenny Omega, from his early days in the Bullet Club to his conquest of the New Japan main event scene, has probably been one of the best-told stories of Pro Wrestling since the days of the Monday Night Wars.
Once a semi-comedic understudy to names like AJ Styles and Bad Luck Fale, the Omega brand has grown into an off-shoot of wrestling itself with armies of fans buying his merchandise and propelling him to superstardom. This was all perfectly encapsulated in the opening video package before his match with Okada last weekend.
Okada, for his part, has become the greatest IWGP Champion the business has ever known. He was already a well-established leader by the time his first match with Kenny came about at Wrestle Kingdom 11, but after seeing off opponent after opponent it became genuinely unthinkable that The Rainmaker might actually eat a pinfall in a title match at all.
After defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi to break the all-time title defence record, there was really only one man left to conquer. Okada had a 1-1-1 record against the Bullet Club leader and the stage was well and truly set for the ultimate showdown. If Okada could defeat Omega and end the feud, there would literally be nobody left to seriously challenge him.
On the flip side of all this lay Roman Reigns and Brock Lesnar, both quite well-established characters in their own way. We generally know what we are going to get from Lesnar, and in many ways, he is the Kazuchika Okada of the WWE.
Following his defeat of The Undertaker a year before his meeting with Reigns, the Beast had a special aura about him which only grew stronger as the years went on. Despite a mini wobble against Goldberg, Lesnar has been booked as a genuine monster, rarely showing any signs of vulnerability. Say what you will about his commitment to the business, but the way Vince has booked Brock is nothing short of impressive.
The only real weak link in this is Roman Reigns and this is not entirely his fault. Due to resistance from the audience and the WWE's lack of effective forward planning, the Reigns character has gone on quite the rollercoaster over the past 3 years.
At one point he was struggling to see off the challenge of The Miz for the Intercontinental Championship, and the next we were meant to believe him as a serious challenger to the Beast Incarnate.
It is even hard to tell whether Reigns is in a better or worse position now compared with his first meeting with Lesnar at Mania 31. The crowd has certainly not warmed to him and it seems WWE management are still trying to figure out how best to promote him - not great when you are talking about the man earmarked to replace John Cena at the top of the wrestling world!
