Shingo- he’s always been champion material, even though he is getting older, he’s not showing his age at all whatsoever in the ring. He needs to carry LIJ when Naito retires and he’d be a good fit to hold the title.
Jeff Cobb- him beating Okada 2 years ago was the tip of the iceberg on how new Japan was ready to push him to the top, why they didn’t was a little odd to me considering the fans love him and he consistently performs well.
Goto- he’s more of a personal choice, I really want to see him win the G1 before he retires and finally win the belt in the main event of wrestle kingdom since it didn’t happen when he won the G1. I’m also so sick of him being the next “super cena” of the IWGP tag division, I feel like he’d flourish in a singles run but they won’t do it because Yoshi Hashi needs him.
Takeshita- Simply put Takeshita needs to be New Japans top guy, he is such a natural heel, he proved that he was arguably the MVP of this years G1. Once he drops the International title I want to see new Japan scoop him up and make him a top champion. He just oozes champion material.
Evil- okay I know this opinions controversial but in my opinion he’s the perfect transitional champion. Yes people hate him but they hate him because he’s such a creative heel, he is insanely entertaining despite being a heel. I don’t see him as a long term champion but I feel like if he won the title he’d do a good job of keeping it warm as a heel and getting some real heat to make the next big babyface have a massive win over the guy that everyone hates.
Sanada- the problem with Sanada’s first title run is that new Japan didn’t give him a character or any charisma to work with which had nothing to do with him. Now that he’s in bullet club, he has so much room to play with as a heel. He was a phenomenal champion in terms of wrestling, his match with Okada, Tsuji and Evil were great defenses but new Japan just didn’t give him a character to work with.
by Accomplished-Tree177