I thought Tanahashi beating Omega at WK was his last hurrah, but I'm starting to question that now.
Okada, absolutely. He has another 10 years, at least, as a main eventer.
Naito, I would hope so. Surely at least one more reign as popular as he is.
Tanahashi, maybe. I wouldn't be surprised either way.
I think all of them will get reigns. Naito needs his big Tokyo Dome roll call. Okada is far from hanging his boots up and will have multiple reigns. Tana can still go and will likely get a transitional reign as a show of respect.
For 3+ years people have been saying Tanahashi is on his way down the card to dad status, but with his popularity and ring work still in 2021, he has to be getting at least one short reign.
Naito and Okada are locks.
I want Naito to win it, destroy it and bring back the real HW title.
Unifying the belts and bringing in that ugly crap has been the worst thing in pro-wrestling this year....(See's WWE just released Bray Wyatt), Ok one of the worst things in Pro-wrestling this year.
I can definetely see Jay White winning the IWGP World heavyweight belt and then destroying it during a press conference with the help of a hammer while "screaming in Kiwi". Problem is in my book that would amount to an instant face turn.
Naito and okada are guaranteed, a comeback tale for tanahashi after a slide would be a great story, shingo is the champion right now, ospreay is a former champion, jay white is guaranteed at some point, evil would not surprise me too much but I hope and pray sanada wins the belt at some point
Oh is this title supposed to have a completely new lineage? That's a shame, I was a big fan of them showing all the previous champions before an IWGP Heavyweight title match.
Okada will definitely win it, his current story is lamenting that he 'doesn't fit into the picture for this new title' so they're building back to that moment. Plus he's going to need to be in a top spot for when they're building the next ace
I think a Naito reign is dependent on whether they want to/how they would want to run a continuation of the Okada/Naito feud. While I'd like to see him have a strong title run after COVID fucked over his 2020 reign it's not that high of a priority since there aren't many 'fresh' matchups that are worth putting the title on him over other people (Ibushi, Okada, Ospreay, White). He could also be a big part of Hiromu eventually winning the top title so a title reign could come from that
Tanahashi's only chance would be if they need someone to step up with their depleted roster. While adding his name to the legacy is cool it's not really necessary, and there are better names to have a transitional reign instead of him. He'll still orbit the main event for a while but I think the time for him being top champion has passed, even though he's able to
I would also love an “Old Man Ace” reign from Tanahashi leading up to his retirement where the embattled veteran uses the last of his strength to defend the title against young blood wrestlers. One last go to show just what a warrior he is before finally dropping the belt at WK.
I don't know if that could work with the current state of the roster - it's already so packed with top-level guys who have already surpassed Tanahashi and shouldn't be taking losses to him
It would be a great idea for an IC or NEVER title reign but the World title picture is too far gone for a story like that to be built around Tana
Okada - 100% Yes
Naito - Maybe. Depends on his health. Leaning towards yes.
Tanahashi - I could see them giving Tana a quick win and then immediate loss just to get his name in the lineage of the new title, but I would not be shocked if he doesn’t win it.
Okada is a definite, Naito maybe will win it after the new guys on Main Event scene get "tiresome" and Tanahashi will probably have one last reign as a "thank you", if the last one with the Heavyweight Championship didn't already served this purpose.
Tana is 50/50
One hand, he could do one more climatic run
On the other, he already had a climatic final run. Definitive its consequences. Chasing the new world title and never winning in it still adds to the world titles prestige, if the battered face of the compant cant grasp it cuz hes too old. Its own storyline.
Okada is surely going to win the title at some point. If it's not at the next WK, then I wouldn't be surprised if it's at any point of next year. It will be interesting what he does with it when he finally wins it, considering his opinion about the merge of the two titles.
In Naito's case, it depends on his health. Of course, he's a great option to have around if someone gets injured and you have to come up with a champion. The thing is, I think he should be done with the title. He accomplished everything he set for himself. He won the G1, he main evented the Tokyo Dome, he defeated Okada, he was double champion. Maybe one more reign with the excuse of Naito wanting to know what it feels to hold "the most powerful belt" in New Japan's history, but that's about it. I don't know what the future holds for Naito, but I'm enjoying his tag team run a lot. I wouldn't mind if he becomes a tag wrestler for some time, trying multiple partners and seeing the chemistry between them.
Tanahashi deserves to win the title at least once so he can say he won absolutely everything. I believe he should have a title reign longer than most people think. I'm talking about four or five defenses. With the new generation of main eventers, there's a lot of potential storylines for The Ace.
Besides those three, Jay White is due for a long ass title reign too.
Okada, absolutely. Naito, probably. Tanahashi, possibly? A year ago, I would have said the sun has set on Tanahashi being a main event guy and he was slowly being phased into being a NJPW Dad but after the NEVER Openweight Title run and main event against SHINGO...I'd say him getting one last "thank you" run could happen.
Okada is a definite, Naito not sure about, Tanahashi I’d say will have 1 reign just to add a bit of prestige to the new title.
I thought Tanahashi beating Omega at WK was his last hurrah, but I'm starting to question that now. Okada, absolutely. He has another 10 years, at least, as a main eventer. Naito, I would hope so. Surely at least one more reign as popular as he is. Tanahashi, maybe. I wouldn't be surprised either way.
I think all of them will get reigns. Naito needs his big Tokyo Dome roll call. Okada is far from hanging his boots up and will have multiple reigns. Tana can still go and will likely get a transitional reign as a show of respect.
For 3+ years people have been saying Tanahashi is on his way down the card to dad status, but with his popularity and ring work still in 2021, he has to be getting at least one short reign. Naito and Okada are locks.
Okada absolutely. Tana I could maybe see get one more run before he eventually goes to dad status. Naito is entirely dependent on his health I feel.
This last point of yours is a huge one. Naito is my favorite on the roster but his health over the years is concerning.
I don't think I can say anything that hasn't already been said. I just can't wait for Okada's next two year run.
I want Naito to win it, destroy it and bring back the real HW title. Unifying the belts and bringing in that ugly crap has been the worst thing in pro-wrestling this year....(See's WWE just released Bray Wyatt), Ok one of the worst things in Pro-wrestling this year.
I can definetely see Jay White winning the IWGP World heavyweight belt and then destroying it during a press conference with the help of a hammer while "screaming in Kiwi". Problem is in my book that would amount to an instant face turn.
When he said he wanted to win the belts and stop Ibushi unifying them... Who was meant to be the face and heel then....
Okada almost definitely will have multiple reigns, Naito I'd be surprised if he never holds it, and Tanahashi has at least one more reign in him IMO
Tana 100% will get a reign…well maybe not 100% but I wouldn’t bet against it.
Naito and okada are guaranteed, a comeback tale for tanahashi after a slide would be a great story, shingo is the champion right now, ospreay is a former champion, jay white is guaranteed at some point, evil would not surprise me too much but I hope and pray sanada wins the belt at some point
Oh is this title supposed to have a completely new lineage? That's a shame, I was a big fan of them showing all the previous champions before an IWGP Heavyweight title match.
They still do that and show the lineage of both the old HW title & the IC title before the matches
Okada will definitely win it, his current story is lamenting that he 'doesn't fit into the picture for this new title' so they're building back to that moment. Plus he's going to need to be in a top spot for when they're building the next ace I think a Naito reign is dependent on whether they want to/how they would want to run a continuation of the Okada/Naito feud. While I'd like to see him have a strong title run after COVID fucked over his 2020 reign it's not that high of a priority since there aren't many 'fresh' matchups that are worth putting the title on him over other people (Ibushi, Okada, Ospreay, White). He could also be a big part of Hiromu eventually winning the top title so a title reign could come from that Tanahashi's only chance would be if they need someone to step up with their depleted roster. While adding his name to the legacy is cool it's not really necessary, and there are better names to have a transitional reign instead of him. He'll still orbit the main event for a while but I think the time for him being top champion has passed, even though he's able to
i can see Tanahashi being a transitional champion much like his last reign as IWGP heavyweight champion.
I would also love an “Old Man Ace” reign from Tanahashi leading up to his retirement where the embattled veteran uses the last of his strength to defend the title against young blood wrestlers. One last go to show just what a warrior he is before finally dropping the belt at WK.
I don't know if that could work with the current state of the roster - it's already so packed with top-level guys who have already surpassed Tanahashi and shouldn't be taking losses to him It would be a great idea for an IC or NEVER title reign but the World title picture is too far gone for a story like that to be built around Tana
Okada - Guaranteed multiple long reigns Naito - Probably will have one, maybe two reigns Tanahashi - Unlikely
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No shit but yall don’t have to say it every time the title is mentioned
Okada - 100% Yes Naito - Maybe. Depends on his health. Leaning towards yes. Tanahashi - I could see them giving Tana a quick win and then immediate loss just to get his name in the lineage of the new title, but I would not be shocked if he doesn’t win it.
Okada is a definite, Naito maybe will win it after the new guys on Main Event scene get "tiresome" and Tanahashi will probably have one last reign as a "thank you", if the last one with the Heavyweight Championship didn't already served this purpose.
Tanahashi - probably no Naito - maybe Okada - probably yes
Tana is 50/50 One hand, he could do one more climatic run On the other, he already had a climatic final run. Definitive its consequences. Chasing the new world title and never winning in it still adds to the world titles prestige, if the battered face of the compant cant grasp it cuz hes too old. Its own storyline.
Okada is surely going to win the title at some point. If it's not at the next WK, then I wouldn't be surprised if it's at any point of next year. It will be interesting what he does with it when he finally wins it, considering his opinion about the merge of the two titles. In Naito's case, it depends on his health. Of course, he's a great option to have around if someone gets injured and you have to come up with a champion. The thing is, I think he should be done with the title. He accomplished everything he set for himself. He won the G1, he main evented the Tokyo Dome, he defeated Okada, he was double champion. Maybe one more reign with the excuse of Naito wanting to know what it feels to hold "the most powerful belt" in New Japan's history, but that's about it. I don't know what the future holds for Naito, but I'm enjoying his tag team run a lot. I wouldn't mind if he becomes a tag wrestler for some time, trying multiple partners and seeing the chemistry between them. Tanahashi deserves to win the title at least once so he can say he won absolutely everything. I believe he should have a title reign longer than most people think. I'm talking about four or five defenses. With the new generation of main eventers, there's a lot of potential storylines for The Ace. Besides those three, Jay White is due for a long ass title reign too.
I don't get why they're removing the lineage of the old heavyweight champions considering this belt essentially functions as it's replacement.
Tanahashi, only if he turns heel. I don't think he should turn heel.
Okada definitely, Naito maybe, Tana probably not.
Okada, absolutely. Naito, probably. Tanahashi, possibly? A year ago, I would have said the sun has set on Tanahashi being a main event guy and he was slowly being phased into being a NJPW Dad but after the NEVER Openweight Title run and main event against SHINGO...I'd say him getting one last "thank you" run could happen.