Wrestling: Ten Potential Breakout Stars In 2018

EVIL

Honestly, all of the Los Ingobernables de Japon members are great in their own way. They have to be in order for NJPW fans to buy their merchandise as much as they do. SANADA, much like Will Ospreay and Ricochet, makes everything he does in the ring look easy. Hiromu Takahashi is just great in general; the man got a stuffed animal over for crying out loud. Bushi is pretty cool when he isn’t doing that tired t-shirt choke spot. Tetsuya Naito’s greatness spoke for itself at this year’s Wrestle Kingdom.

Outside of Naito and Takahashi, EVIL had the best 2017 of the group. I realize I just mentioned three-fourths of the stable but bear with me for a moment. The former Takaaki Watanabe had a great showing in the 2017 G1 Climax, with standout efforts against the likes of SANADA, Minoru Suzuki, Juice Robinson, and the IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. EVIL’s victory over “The Rainmaker” in the tournament earned him a shot at New Japan’s top prize. He came up short, but once again turned in a great performance.

I expect the “Prince of Darkness” to continue his upward trajectory in 2018. He’s already off to a good start, winning the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships from the Killer Elite Squad (Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) at Wrestle Kingdom 12. He won’t be one of the two or three top stars in New Japan, but he will have a couple more Heavyweight title matches in 2018. Thanks to those matches, EVIL will establish himself as a dependable upper mid-carder who occasionally main events.