10 Tetsuya Naito Matches You NEED To Watch

3. Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – G1 Climax 23 Final

The only match on this list from before Naito’s departure to Mexico, he defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the G1 Climax in 2013. Naito was an up-and-coming star at the time and this was the biggest win of his career.

It is important to watch this match to get an understanding of where Naito was before his life changed. In addition to being a phenomenal wrestler, he was a clean-cut, happy-go-lucky babyface. This match is the perfect illustration of how different things would get in addition to it also being a great match. After his victory, Naito proclaims himself the top star of New Japan, a statement that would haunt him as he consistently failed for the next 18 months.

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2. Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada – Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 2

Naito’s career had gone through more twists and turns and highs and lows than most. He had fallen into a deep depression based in self-doubt after continuing to fail in 2019 and injuries continued to pile up. At Wrestle Kingdom 14, this was legitimately his last chance.

The Double Gold Dash was the focus of the two-night show. Naito would first challenge Jay White for the Intercontinental title if he wanted to main event the second night of the show for both the Intercontinental and Heavyweight titles. Thankfully for Naito, he dug down deep and came out swinging. This was the best of Naito’s three Tokyo Dome matches with Kazuchika Okada and ultimately it was the fulfillment of Naito’s destiny, seven years in the making.

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1. Tetsuya Naito vs. Kenny Omega – G1 Climax 27 Final

One might wonder why his climactic moment with Okada wouldn’t be the top spot on this list. Well, the reason we’ve gone with is this match in 2017 was Naito’s peak as a performer and as a star. He had drawn people to his new character and was putting on matches at the highest level of his career. All that was left in 2017 was to win the G1 Climax for the second time.

We spoke earlier about how Naito and Omega had great chemistry together. On this night, they had their best match together. Omega was fighting for the chance to face Kazuchika Okada one more time as their matches had been lighting the world on fire. However, Naito had his own destiny to worry about. This match was brutal and unexpectedly dangerous but thankfully both men seemed to come out unscathed.

In the end, Naito was victorious, earning the biggest win of his career at the time. After the match, Naito once again proclaimed himself the top star of New Japan, only this time it was true.

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