NJPW: How SANADA Looked Like A Champion In A Beautiful Loss

When it was announced that SANADA would take on Kazuchika Okada at NJPW New Beginning in Osaka for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, many wondered if this would be SANADA’s chance to show that he is capable of being a big star in the company. He didn’t disappoint.

Kazuchika Okada has now been the IWGP Heavyweight Champion for 600 days, and the argument can be made that he isn’t just the greatest champion in NJPW history; you can argue that his championship reign is the greatest of all-time.

So nobody expected SANADA to defeat Okada for the most prestigious belt in professional wrestling at NJPW New Beginning in Osaka, but everyone did expect him to produce the performance of his life. Not only does Okada have a way of bringing out the best out of all of his opponents, but SANADA’s talent and potential have been well-documented.

They were even on display at Wrestle Kingdom 12, when he scored the winning pinfall in a miraculous comeback that allowed Los Ingobernables de Japon to take the IWGP Tag Team Championships off of the dominant Killer Elite Squad.

SANADA’s display in that tag match was excellent, but even that paled in comparison to what he accomplished at New Beginning in Osaka.

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At the beginning of the match, the crowd was 50/50 for both SANADA and Okada. By the time SANADA scored a hair-rising nearfall on Okada using the Rainmaker, which is Okada’s own move, the crowd was firmly behind SANADA.

The crowd’s roar was indeed thunderous, and you could sense the momentum from the fans shifting towards SANADA with every hard-hitting move the former AJPW and TNA star hit on the champion.

Even though I knew there was only one logical conclusion to this match, a win for Okada, I bit on so many false finishes. The first “Skull End”? Yes, I was sitting on the edge of my seat, because it took an awful long time for Okada to get out of the hold.

The second “Skull End”? Look, I honestly thought it was over for Okada, I was just that swept up in the moment of the match. SANADA had Okada beat, but he made a fatal mistake. He broke the submission and went for the Moonsault Press to try to put Okada away for good, but, of course, the champion kicked out. So naturally, SANADA went for the big move again, but this time Okada moved out of the way.

In the end, it took three rainmakers, an elevated DDT on the outside, two piledrivers, and several other big moves for SANADA to finally go down against Okada, who, again, was on the ropes multiple times due to the “Skull End”.

SANADA’s performance at NJPW New Beginning was indeed every bit the star-making performance it was meant to be, because the man looked like a champion. No, he didn’t walk away from the main event with the title in his hand, but every single person in the crowd or watching at home could have easily bought into the idea of him winning that match. That’s how agonizingly close SANADA was to a victory, and his “Skull End” submission truly looks like one of the most devastating moves in NJPW as a result of this match.

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It will be exciting to see what the future holds for SANADA, and my colleague Tim Sherry was spot on when he wrote that fans shouldn’t be shocked if SANADA is a heavyweight champion at some point in the next few years. Because when SANADA hit a “Rainmaker” of his own, you could feel the energy in the arena and the chills invigorating your nervous system. That’s the sign of a future heavyweight champion.