NJPW has clearly failed to cement the current generation as stars bar Tsuji (although it took longer than it should for him too). I feel the biggest reason is simply the booking. The one disadvantaged by this the most has been the intended star Shota Umino, who until his day has not won a single title in NJPW.
Now I wrote this months ago but came more relevant after the shows this week. Also, drafted up a similar deal for Narita and Uemura, so will likely follow up.
I am going to look into, nitpick and suggest with hindsight what went wrong, how could it have been better and how to get back on track.
NJPW had been very good at forcing their top prospects into being stars, even if it has to be hamfisted at first. Okada won the IWGP title 2 months in, Hiromu won the JR title on his first singles match back, Jay White won the US title 2/3 months in, SHO and YOH won the Jr tag and the Jr tag Tournament within two months. Whilst most of the Reiwa 4 challenged for titles instantly they all lost and lost several other times before winning but the shine had mostly come off by that point.
Now returning in late 2022/2023 it was an interesting situation in NJPW. The old guard had been at the top for years and felt untouchable yet stale, it was ready for a change as Naito and Tanahashi were breaking down but by bit. The start of 2023 saw a big shift; they lost Jay White this compundrd with the dissolution of Suzuki Gun shook the roster. 5 new psuedo factions emerged as a result. NJPW opted to push their upper mid carders (ZSJ, Sanada, Taichi, Finlay and Tama) further up the card instead of shoving Umino and Narita there.
Where could it have been better? I understand his first year or so not getting shot straight to the top. But firstly, he really needed the big time matches Vs Tanahashi and more importantly Okada. Secondly, he was always in the shadow of Moxley and really needed to have a coming of age feud to break the shackles.
In hindsight, he maybe should have beaten Ospreay the 2nd time round at Power Struggle 2023. He was red hot in that match.
However, I feel the better title to win was the NEVER title to start 2024. He had just come off a great win over Narita and declared he would be the new ace, which seemed believable at that moment. EVIL was NEVER champion and had spray painted over the title. This would have been the perfect time to show Umino as the shinning light and the right babyface to lead the company forward, they could have even given him a new design to show this new era.
Now the other point of course correction was during and after Moxley's title run. Whilst I enjoyed their match at Resurgence it needed more story line beats. Such as Moxley brutally winning or cheating to win. This would have set up another match for Umino to finally come into his own. Likely at Forbidden Door or Dominion whether for the title or not.
It has been 3 years since he returned from excursion and he has not won any titles or tournaments and has an air of failure around him. The whole shaving his head bit seems weird since it's just grolew out and he is wearing the same attire.
Where do we go from here? Keep waiting for him to magically get over, force him to be successful, give up, or change direction. He could do with a heel turn/ drastic character change if not an excursion and come back with something different.
by shecanbromehard