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July 2021
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Based on the somewhat successful first edition of the new series I thought we'd define another stable from New Japan. Last time we looked at the stable that former IWGP World Champion Okada calls home and this time we move to one faction that was started in Mexico and expanded to Japan. For those who don't know early on in his career Tetsuya Naito was a plain white meat baby face & really couldn't get over to his potential. Naito would actually win G1 Climax and didn't land in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom which to my knowledge is extremely rare; the main event of that Wrestle Kingdom in particular was Tanahashi vs Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
Tetsuya Naito: Soon after Naito was sent on excursion to Mexico and would join Los Ingobernables in CMLL which was a stable lead by La Sombra, La Mascara, and Rush at the time of him joining the faction. It was here when Naito began to become the wrestler he is today and upon his return to New Japan it was clear that he was comfortable and might be on the road to find his potential. After seeing a number of matches and video clips from the leader of LIJ it is clear to me that nobody was better served to lead the expansion then Naito. Even though we have yet to see Naito get the long World Title reign that most of think his has the potential for well that gives us something to look forward to and that just means Naito hasn't hit his full potential just yet. Hiromu Takahashi: Right now I think the only thing that anyone thinks when we see the name Hiromu Takahashi after the events of the G1 Climax special. During his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match with Dragon Lee we saw Hiromu take a nasty bump landing on his head. At first many thought that Hiromu broke his neck, but we know now that the current IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion was just a little shaken up but luckily didn't sustain any major injury from the spot. Overall all though I think that Takahashi really found his footing a few years ago when NJPW's roster went through some changes and spots were left open. If Takahashi does miss any time it is a big loss for the division, but the depth would allow them to handle it. Sanada: I can't talk about LIJ without talking about the one man who can do anything in the ring and not have a hair out of place. For any fan that has never seen New Japan and might remember Sanada from his time in Impact he is totally different now and you will be entertained just by his hair dew. Anytime I've seen Sanada work I'm entertained by the fact that you watch him do things and his hair doesn't move which is puzzling. In my opinion I think that Sanada keeps you invested in the match just looking at his hair and seeing if it does ever move.
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