EPIC:
NJPW’S GREATEST RIVALRIES
BY Jasmine Olan
It is no secret that rivalries are an essential part of professional wrestling. A well crafted put together feud can produce incredible matches and make major stars out of the performers involved. Throughout its forty-six year history, New Japan Pro Wrestling has truly excelled at this, leading to some of the greatest rivalries of the industry’s modern era. This has earned NJPW years worth of critical and commercial success. When the right two wrestlers are paired together with the right story, magic is sure to be made. With the crowd in the palms of their hands, New Japan’s finest give their all as they bring these feuds with every match. From its earliest days to its current renaissance, few other promotions have been able to do it better than New Japan Pro Wrestling.
For the most part, these rivalries are developed over long periods of time. This can be seen in the Iconic feud between Keiji Mutoh and Masahiro Chono winch dated all the way back to their time as young lions in the New Japan dojo. Through this rivalry, New Japan Pro Wrestling was able set the precedent for the prestige and excitement surrounding the G1 Climax tournament at its very first finals match in the summer of 1991. At the heart of that match was the story of Chono had never beaten Mutoh in a one on one match. A change would come that night when Chono finally pinned Mutoh. Both men would make up two thirds of the legendary ‘Three Musketeers’ along with the late great Shinya Hashimoto, and rule atop NJPW’s heavyweight division during the 1990s.
Years later, that tradition would continue through one of the ‘New Three Musketeers’, Hiroshi Tanahashi. Over the course of nearly two decades, the Ace Of The Universe has been history making feuds with the likes of Shinsuke Nakamura and Kazuchika Okada. These feuds each breathed new life in the promotion and made the Once In A Century Talent a living legend. They also helped make the King Of Strong Style a major icon of the international wrestling scene and helped make the Rainmaker, Kazuchika Okada a future legend. Tanahashi’s match against Okada at WRESTLE KINGDOM 10, the torch was passed from the Ace to the Rainmaker. It was a crowning moment for Okada who would later go on to be part of another legendary rivalry.
WRESTLE KINGDOM 11 would mark the beginning a series of matches between Okada and Kenny Omega that would truly set the wrestling world on fire. DOMINION 6.9 would see the Best Bout Machine dethrone the Rainmaker after a historic nearly two year reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Their feud established Kenny Omega as a main event star and set a new industry standard in terms of match quality and story telling. Together they were able to help continue taking New Japan Pro Wrestling to new heights of success. The Okada / Omega feud remains one of the most critically acclaimed rivalries of it’s time. Kenny Omega’s current feud with Hiroshi Tanahashi is also set to be one for the ages, telling the story of a battle of ideologies as the two are set to go head to head in the main event at WRESTLE KINGDOM 13.
Each of these historic rivalries has helped redefine the modern era of professional wrestling. Fans wait excitedly to see where many of them will go next. Whatever that next great rivalry be remains to be seen. New Japan is sure to continue its tradition of excellent story telling as time passes. Passion is at the heart of any great wrestling feud, and NJPW’s approach to them continues to make the promotion a true standard bearer. New Japan’s rivalries can be best summed up by one word, epic.
