5 Best NJPW Wrestlers Who Won’t Be At Wrestle Kingdom 12
Credit: NJPW1972 Instagram
3. El Desperado
While Nagata and Cobb toiled in Jew Japan’s tournament circuit, the following performers took their 2017 to the next step. Each of them challenged for one of NJPW’s singles championships.
On the relatively lackluster Destruction tour, Suzuki-gun were given their first real chance to shine since The New Beginning. El Desperado was one of those to be given a featured bout. His decent showing in the Best of the Super Juniors granted him an opportunity at the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, KUSHIDA.
9・16広島を目前に鈴木軍が棚橋＆KUSHIDAを蹂躙!! 鈴木がタイトルマッチ全勝を予言!!
— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) September 14, 2017
9月14日(木)四日市大会をスマホサイト（https://t.co/7xh3nqaLQZ）で独占速報中!! #njpw #njdest pic.twitter.com/Qf9dxQFdIR
Like the title matches of Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr., overbooking created a mess between the performers. El Desperado proved he can work with the best Juniors on the roster, but his Suzuki-gun roots overcame him. Cheating is a cornerstone of their identity, but when you cheat and fail, it’s hard to come out looking good.
That said, to go from title contender to pre-show fodder in only a few months is not what Despy deserves. Suzuki-gun’s entrants into the 6-man melee are ZSJ, Taichi and Takashi Iizuka. Desperado will likely lead Iizuka through the crowd, but would be better off taking his place in the match. He also built solid camaraderie with his heavyweight partner ZSJ during the G1 tour, which is also being overlooked at Wrestle Kingdom.