Wrestlers who challenged for New Japan Championships

Wrestlers who challenged for New Japan Championships

April 21, 2022

By Ryan Porzl

After having done two articles regarding New Japan's champions, I decided to conclude my 50th Anniversary celebration of New Japan by going another route. In the first article, we looked at wrestlers most fans knew but either forgot or didn't know won a championship. In the second, we looked at forgotten champions that most don't remember. Now, we'll look at names you should know of that competed for New Japan championships but came up short. You be surprised at the names that have come close but couldn't close the deal as far as winning New Japan gold.

Note: I don't own the pictures. I found them on Google.

The Most Obscure and Forgotten Champions In New Japan History

The Most Obscure and Forgotten Champions In New Japan History

March 24, 2022

By Ryan Porzl

This month, New Japan Pro Wrestling celebrates an awesome milestone of 50 years. Since 1972, the King of Sports has been one of the premier wrestling promotions in the world and in the month of March, we will look back at New Japan. I already wrote an article talking about wrestlers fans knew but probably didn't know they held a championship in New Japan so I'll move on to part 2. With a promotion that's been around for half a century, you will always have your share of legends as well as obscure names that have been champion. Not every champion can be an Antonio Inoki, Tatsumi Fujinami, Riki Choshu, The Three Musketeers, Jushin Thunder Liger, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Kazuchika Okada. Every now and then, you're going to get someone who fades into obscurity and when you hear their name, you go "who?". Here, we'll take a look at New Japan's most forgotten and obscure champions in their history.

Note: The pictures are not mine but those that I found on google though I know some came from New Japan Pro Wrestling and Puroresusystem.fandom.com

NJPW Main Theme

Happy 50th Anniversary to New Japan Pro Wrestling

Wrestlers Who You Likely Didn't Know or Forgot Held A Title In A Promotion (New Japan Pro Wrestling)

Wrestlers Who You Likely Didn't Know or Forgot Held A Title In A Promotion (New Japan Pro Wrestling)

July 21, 2021

By Ryan Porzl

Since it's formation in 1972, New Japan Pro Wrestling has had it's share of all time great champions and some lackluster along the way. While many are well known from Antonio Inoki to Tatsumi Fujinami to Riki Choshu to The Three Musketeers to Jushin Thunder Liger to Hiroshi Tanahashi to Shinsuke Nakamura to Kazuchika Okada. The company has also had many great foreigners hold titles including Hulk Hogan, Vader, The Steiner Brothers, AJ Styles, and Kenny Omega to name some. However, with such a long history, there's bound to be champions you may have forgotten about or didn't even know they held a title. Even wrestlers you're familiar with. This will be the first article in a series where I look at companies who had champions you heard of but didn't know they held a title there or forgot they did. First one is New Japan Pro Wrestling especially since a lot of foreigners are interesting in the promotion these days.

Note: I don't own any of the pictures as I got them off google and puroresusystem.fandom.com

Looking at Puroresu for August 2013

Thoughts on Japanese Wrestling.