NJPW: 10 Greatest Wrestlers of All Time
By Tim Sherry
Honorable Mentions:
Manabu Nakanishi
A former amateur wrestler who finished 11th in that category at the 1992 Barcelona Summer Olympics, Nakanishi started his pro wrestling career pretty late for Japanese standards. At 25 years old, he came to NJPW as a very green talent but with a huge upside. Over the course of the next 25 years, “Yajin”, with his huge personality and heart became one of the most popular stars in the company.
As far as his accolades go, he’s won 3 IWGP tag titles, the Young Lions Cup, and a G1 Climax in 1999. But his biggest accomplishment came in 2009 after 17 years with NJPW, when he finally captured the IWGP Heavyweight title. Not the most polished wrestler compared to his competition but a hugely popular legend that still competes with the company to this day.
Satoshi Kojima
Another legend who still competes full time even at the age of 46, “Cozy” may have actually cracked the top 10 had he not taken an 8 year break from NJPW and went to rival All Japan Pro Wrestling. However, it was in AJPW where Kojima honed his craft best, and when he returned to NJPW in 2010 and at almost 40 years old, he was better than ever. He would use that momentum to snatch up his second world championship as well as 4 more tag titles and 2 NEVER Openweight belts.
A guy who truly seems to get better with age, Kojima still seems to have his best days ahead of him. And at the rate he’s going, if we do this countdown again in five years, he may just have a much higher ranking.
Yuji Nagata
An absolute fitness machine, 49-year-old active wrestler Nagata, still moves like a guy in his 20’s. Still full-time and still executing his moves like a guy half his age, “Blue Justice” makes the impossible look easy every time he wrestles. He’s one of the most daring guys to ever step foot in a ring and that was evidenced in 2001 and 2003 when he stepped into an MMA ring and got his skull caved in by Mirko Filipovic and Fedor Emelianenko, respectively. That takes guts.
A 2-time IWGP world champ and winner of the 2001 G1 Climax, Nagata has won over 1300 matches under the NJPW and that number should continue to rise. He’s a member of this year’s G1 and there’s no doubt he’ll make another mark.
Masahiro Chono
The only man to ever win the G1 Climax 5 times, Chono’s 26-year career in NJPW ended in 2010, but his legacy still stands. With 7 world tag titles under his belt, he’ll go down as one of the best tag workers of all time, and with a 1998 IWGP Heavyweight championship win, one of the best ever, period.
Known as one of the best pure heels in NJPW history, “Mr. Black Jack” just narrowly misses the top 10 here. Now at 53 years old and freelancing the Japanese indy circuit, don’t be shocked if you see one last run in NJPW for Chono.