The Best Wrestlers In NJPW, Right Now

#3 Hiroshi Tanahashi

Hiroshi Tanahashi

A record 7-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Tanahashi has held the title for a total of 1358 days, the most by any NJPW wrestler. Like Naito, he has also won the ‘G1 climax’ on 2 occasions (2007 & 2015). Tanahashi has wrestled all over the world, even appearing on TNA, where he fought AJ Styles.

Dave Meltzer, of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, once famously stated, "you could make a strong case for him as the best in-ring performer in the business today" while inducting him into the 2013 Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame.

He credited Tanahashi with bringing NJPW from “being in a terrible shape” to “being the No. 2 pro-wrestling company in the world". Tanahashi’s multiple 5-star matches just go on to show why he has been at the helm of NJPW for 15 years.

Best Matches:

Tanahashi vs Okada, May 4th,2018 (for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship)

Tanahashi vs Tetsuya Naito, Aug 11th, 2017 (G1 Climax, 2017)

Tanahashi vs Okada, Jan 4th, 2016 (for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship)

Tanahashi vs Shinsuke Nakamura, Aug 16th, 2015 (G1 Climax final, 2015)