NJPW G1 Climax 2017: 3 Reasons Tetsuya Naito Should Win

3 reasons why Block A Winner, Tetsuya Naito, deserves to win the 2017 G1 Climax.

On August 11th, 2013, a then 31-year-old Tetsuya Naito squared off with NJPW legend, Hiroshi Tanahashi in the finals of that years G1 Climax.  Naito, a member of the NJPW roster for 8 years at that time, had never attained elite status, having never won a singles title in the company.  However, that did not stop him tearing into Tanahashi, who was at that time was a 6-time IWGP champion.  This resulted in a fearsome 27-minute battle that saw Naito climb the mountain and capture his first major accomplishment under the NJPW banner.

The win set him on a collision course to face Kazuchika Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 8 that following January.  However, the idea of a Naito/Okada pairing for the biggest show of the year didn’t exactly excite the Japanese fans which led to their match being the pre-main event of the show, while Shinsuke Nakamura battled Tanahashi in the main event.  Naito failed to take the belt from Okada that night and the perceived lack of excitement over the match was a hit to Naito’s stock.

However, 2 years later and after a stint wrestling in Mexico, Naito returned to NJPW with a new look and attitude.  With his new stable of Los Ingobernables, Naito had transformed himself into a disrespectful, brash, heel and the results were staggering.  He finally did capture the IWGP title in 2015 and now he finds himself in a position to get back to the Wrestle Kingdom main event with a win in the finals of the 2017 G1 Climax.

Here are 3 reasons why he should do exactly that.