5 Best NJPW Stars Right Now

4. Hiroshi Tanahashi

The Ace of New Japan has been one of the cornerstones of NJPW for the last decade. Tanahashi has amazed fans with his high flying and his incredible technical wrestling skills. Often compared to as NJPW version of John Cena, Tanahashi’s accomplishments certainly solidify that comparison.

The Ace has won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship a record 7 times and also has the record for defending it the most amount of times during a reign with 11. Tanahashi is often credited as being the star that helped bring NJPW from being in bad shape to the Number 2 wrestling promotion in the world.

Tanahashi was one of the first wrestlers to really bring Western Culture into his wrestling persona. For years many Japanese wrestlers were very bland with no character or personality what so ever.

Tanahashi along with others like Jushin Thunder Liger began to change that trend adding real personality to their characters. His character resonated with the fans and he has become one of the most popular stars in NJPW history.

Along with winning the IWGP Heavyweight gold, Tanahashi has also won the Intercontinental and Tag Team Championships as well. He is also a two time winner of the G1 Climax (2007, 2015) and the New Japan Cup (2005, 2008).

Though it is starting to look like Tanahashi is starting to wind down in NJPW as he is beginning to put over younger talents more and more, the Ace is still one of the top stars in New Japan Pro Wrestling.