I was looking at the G1 blocks and wondering if there was anyone in the opposite block that Tanahashi hasn’t wrestled in a singles match yet. There’s only 3 guys.
Ren Narita.
I Was kind of surprised he hasn’t faced Ren 1 on 1 yet. I figured he probably did at some point last year when he was feuding with HoT. I do think this match will likely end up happening after the G1. I can’t imagine Tanahashi not facing one of the younger guys in a singles match on his way out.
ELP.
I think this one will likely happen after the G1 as well. I could definitely see Tanahashi answering an open challenge of ELP’s and facing ELP for the TV title some time after the G1.
Drilla Maloney.
This is the one I think is least likely to happen. Drilla of course just moved up to heavyweight this year and hasn’t been in NJPW for very long so it’s not surprising this one hasn’t happened. But would be cool to see if it does happen.
Some side notes:
In A Block these are the guys Tanahashi has never faced in singles matches and will be having his first singles match against them. Callum Newman. Ryohei Oiwa. And David Finlay (Finlay one surprised me)
He has faced Yota Tsuji in a singles match only once. But it was when Tsuji was a young lion. So his upcoming match in A block against Tsuji will be his first singles match with Tsuji since Tsuji returned from excursion.
The only other NJPW heavyweights (besides young lions) I can think of that Tanahashi hasn’t faced in singles action is Hartley Jackson.
Hopefully Tanahashi can stay healthy and complete his Final G1 and have some good matches with these guys on his way out!
(Sorry if I’m incorrect on any of this. All info came from cagematch. Also the images in the post are just random ones off of google)
by Adampro123