NJPW: Starter’s guide to New Japan Pro Wrestling
How do you get started with getting into New Japan Pro Wrestling? Allow us to give fans a NJPW beginner’s guide to offer a jump-off point.
Jumping into a new wrestling promotion is a daunting task for a new fan especially one with a deep history like New Japan Pro Wrestling. Not knowing what the promotion is about or where to start is a challenge.
With a history spanning from 1972 to the present, there is also a lot of content to go through but, lucky for you, we’re to simplify the process! Welcome to the starter’s guide to NJPW.
I’ll give a simple breakdown that’s easy to digest. This will include top stars past and present and familiar names, breaking down factions and tournaments, highlighting the top titles and, lastly, there will be resources such as my top five matches for a new fan to dive into to get started.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has been home to some of the biggest stars in the industry both past and present. This includes present stars like Brock Lesnar, AJ Styles, Chris Jericho, Jon Moxley etc. Legends like Andre The Giant, Owen Hart, Vader , Antonio Inoki (who founded NJPW) etc worked in NJPW as well, meaning once you begin your dive into the promotion, you’ll see some familiar faces. Many of these names have also held championships within NJPW!
The best part of discovering a new promotion to watch is becoming fans of wrestlers you weren’t familiar with, and while you may have heard of these names once you really watch them you will be a massive fan of the core NJPW talent.
Some names to check out will be Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito and Kota Ibushi these four names are the core four of the promotions. Outside of those four the next three up is Shingo Takagi, Will Ospreay and Jay White.
NJPW’s storytelling is told through two main factors, number one factions and number two tournaments. First I’ll give you a rundown of key factions within the promotion.
NJPW factions: Which groups should you know in New Japan Pro Wrestling?
Bullet Club – Originally founded by current WWE superstar Finn Balor, Bullet Club, historically, is the predominately heel faction for NJPW with a focus on foreign wrestlers. The faction is not as secure with sub-factions like the Elite (led by Kenny Omega) and House of Torture (led by Evil) popping up throughout the faction’s history. It’s currently led by Jay White.
Chaos – Originally founded by current WWE superstar Shinsuke Nakamura Chaos was once the dominate heel group in NJPW but has since became the biggest face faction in the promotion. While former members like Sho and Will Ospreay have turned on the group in recent times, the faction is still very secure under Kazuchika Okada’s leadership.
Los Ingobernables de Japon – The anti-heroes of New Japan Pro Wrestling led by Tetsuya Naito. Los Ingobernables De Japon started off as a subset of the faction in Mexico while Naito was on excursion there. When he returned to Japan he began recruiting members for his whole group. While they aren’t heels or faces, they are arguably the most popular faction in Japan, moving big merchandise for the company with their unique attitudes standing out.
Suzuki-gun – The outcasts led by the grim reaper of professional wrestling, Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki-gun has lasted a long time and is the most stable of the factions with barely any movement. Most of the faction didn’t come up traditionally through NJPW’s dojo system and consider themselves outcasts amongst the rest of the promotion even invading other promotions for a period of time. It’s a heel faction, even though Suzuki is very popular in America currently.
Hontai – While not exactly a faction, Hontai is the rest of the roster who are loosely affiliated with each other. Hiroshi Tanahashi kinda takes a leadership role within the non-faction affiliated wrestlers and it’s primarily filled with baby faces like Kota Ibushi and older members of the roster like Yuji Nagata.
Other (United Empire, Team Filthy) – United Empire led by Will Ospreay and Team Filthy led by Tom Lawlor are still relatively new factions within the company and haven’t garnered the depth of history yet.
NJPW Tournaments: The big draws of New Japan Pro Wrestling
G1 Climax – NJPW’s premier heavyweight tournament leading to a IWGP World Heavyweight title opportunity at Wrestle Kingdom (think Royal Rumble/Wrestlemania). Round Robin Style.
World Tag League – NJPW’s premier heavyweight tag tournament. Round Robin Style
New Japan Cup – New Japan Cup is held in the spring and is between Heavyweights and Jr. Heavyweights leading to a title match of the winners choice at Sakura Genesis. Single elimination.
Best of Super Juniors – The junior heavyweight equivalent to the G1 Climax tournament.
World Junior Tag League – The junior heavyweight equivalent of the world tag league.
NJPW Championships: Major titles in New Japan Pro Wrestling
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship – The newest title in New Japan but also the most important. This is NJPW’s top championship after they unified the IWGP Heavyweight title and IWGP Intercontinental title. Primarily heavyweights challenge for the title only but, in rare cases, junior heavyweight challengers for the belt mainly at anniversary shows.
IWGP United States Championship – Originally intended to be the title to symbolize the USA expansion, it’s now warped into the second most important title in the company staying in Japan for most of the pandemic. For most of the title’s history, only foreign-born wrestlers challenged and won the title. But Hiroshi Tanahashi was the first Japanese born IWGP US Champion.
NEVER Openweight Championship – When the NEVER title was first created, it was intended for young wrestlers to hold it. Over the years, however, it changed into the “tough guy” championship with physical workers like Tomohiro Ishii, forging the title’s prestige in violence. The unique aspect of this title is it can be held/challenged by both heavyweights and junior heavyweights.
IWGP Tag Team Championships – The heavyweight tag titles where only heavyweights challenge for the belts. It’s also amongst the longest-tenured titles in the company’s history with legendary teams like the Dudley Boyz holding them.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – The longest-tenured singles title in the company’s history with icons like Jushin Thunder Liger holding the title. Only junior heavyweights can challenge for it and, in recent years, it’s being taken even more serious with the title co-main eventing Wrestle Kingdom this year.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Championships – The junior heavyweight equivalent of the IWGP tag titles. It’s had a long history led by decorated teams like the Golden Lovers (Kenny Omega and Kota Ibushi) and The Young Bucks winning the titles.
Never Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships – A fairly new title which is only defended in six-man tag matches. Much like the singles version of the championship, junior heavyweights and heavyweights can challenge for it. The most decorated team in the title’s relatively short history is Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Yoshi Hashi, Hiroki Goto).
Strong Openweight Championship – The primary title of NJPW’s United States expansion brand, NJPW Strong. It’s only been held by one man former MMA fighter “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. Since it’s an Openweight championship, it can be challenged by wrestlers from both weight classes.
5 NJPW matches new fans should watch and New Japan Pro Wrestling resources
1. Kazuchika Okada vs Katsuyori Shibata (Sakura Genesis 2017)
2. Kota Ibushi vs Jay White (Wrestle Kingdom 15)
3. Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega (Dominion 2017)
4. Kota Ibushi vs Shinsuke Nakamura (Wrestle Kingdom 9)
5. Hiroshi Tanahashi vs KENTA (Wrestle Kingdom 16)
And finally, for anyone looking to learn more about NJPW, there are some great resources linked below.
There you have it. That should give you a good framework to get started with New Japan.
dark. Next. WWE WrestleMania 38: Predictions for every match