#5.) He bought NJPW out of the dark ages
Many newer wrestling fans aren’t aware that during the early to mid-2000s, NJPW was in a major dark age. Thanks to Antonio Inoki‘s vision and idea of trying to tie in MMA and pro wrestling, the company was spiralling downwards. He began pushing MMA fighters in NJPW and made his own wrestlers compete in MMA. It was obvious that neither was good at the other profession but he only realized later that he needed to push a new young star.
NJPW turned to a kid by the name of Shinsuke Nakamura, who was pushed right off the bat and became the youngest IWGP World Heavyweight Champion ever (a record that still stands). Though he was pushed to the moon, it wasn’t the same Nakamura that he would become years later. He was still a fairly generic wrestler and didn’t have much charisma.
When Hiroshi Tanahashi was given the torch, he ran with it and brought the company out of the dark ages and into the period of revival.
Next Page: 5 Reasons Why Hiroshi Tanahashi Is A Once-In-A-Lifetime Superstar
