It reminds me of 2023 where no one expected SANADA to join J4G and win the belt, hell he was like 5th favourite to win.
There’s an angle here, and I think we’re missing it. On a straightforward route: Zack’s the favourite. Like he was in 2023, actually, but Zack doing the swing around “Drop and re-win”, keeping the defence record at a breezy (and often too quickly reached) V4. But I’m not feeling it.
If we’re courting a swerve, it’s gotta be Umino. 2024 was a bad year for him… but a weirdly deliberately booked one. He had a bad G1… with all his wins giving him a strong case for his Dome main. His year was defined around “God bless him he’s trying…” before he then loses horribly. Took him 8 months to fulfill Tama Tonga’s dying wish to go over EVIL. Now he’s lost to O’Khan, shaved his head, and I think there’s an angle coming. The logical direction is he takes over UE, what with how clear it is the office has 0 faith in TJP beyond filling space. But I dunno, I think whatever we see will be unexpected. Might not even be Umino.
Also Newman is 100% beating Naito. Saw rumours a while back that the office sees him as Ospreay 2, he’s lost to Naito twice before… calling that as close to a lock.
by SevenSulivin