NNew Japan Pro Wrestling

Whats your favorite mini rivalry?

  • January 1, 2026

Whats your favorite series of matches that technically arnt a feud but when they clash its always a banger mine has to elp vs takeshita
Takeshita has always been great and elp is so underrated i feel people forget how good of a fit he is in the title picture i believe if takeshita retains at kingdom theres a good chance elp challenges at new beginning or win the new japan cup and face off at Sakura genesis

by pee_theif

11 comments

  4. Would you consider Okada/SANADA a mini rivalry or a full fledged feud? Because that was my peak example for a LONG time. For one, I’m a long match enjoyer and those dudes loved working long. Secondly, SANADA’s inability to get over the hump against Okada was a satisfying struggle for an upper midcard guy I really liked to go through. When he FINALLY beat him in the G1 in 2019 and then for the title in 2023, it felt properly huge cause he had struggled against him intermittently for so long, even though it was rarely SANADA or Okada’s main story.

    But if that’s too much of an actual feud, I’ll go Gabe Kidd and HENARE. They’ve only gotten to have 1 proper singles match, but every time they’ve interacted in UE vs War Dogs violence on violence scenarios it’s always been compelling stuff. Just two goons who like to slug each other, it’s fun and I hope they get to do it more when HENARE comes back.

  6. Takeshita / ELP as the first post-Tana main event 😭 imagine.

    Tbh I would consider their thing a feud. ELP certainly treated it as such.

    If it’s pre-Doomer Era then it’s probably the Shibata/Ishii NEVER matches. Of the current roster it’s Uemura / Finlay

  7. SANADA/Zack, Zack seems to bring out the old SANADA even now. Not sure if that’s considered a mini rivalry though. I think I’d argue SANADA’s main rivals were Okada and EVIL, and current one is probably Taichi.

  10. Edge case for counting as a proper feud, but ELP versus Robbie Eagles back when both were juniors was class.

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