The Road To Wrestle Kingdom Across The Frozen Stardust

SANADA’s winding road to his first ever Wrestle Kingdom main-event in the Tokyo Dome has taken him from being the Cold Skull of Los Ingobernables de Japon to becoming his own man in a group of Just 5 Guys. In many ways, this path runs parallel to the one his opponent, Tetsuya Naito, had taken on his way to becoming one of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s brightest stars. Even as far back as their respective starts, Naito and SANADA’s paths tread familiar ground like a mirrored reflection of one another, with both men’s paths intertwining at every juncture.

Keiji Mutoh: The Path of the Genius

Tetsuya Naito and SANADA both began their wrestling journeys as fellow students in the New Japan Dojo system. For Tetsuya Naito, his inspiration for joining NJPW was none other than Keiji Mutoh’s match against Nobuhiko Takada at the New Japan Pro Wrestling vs. UWF International event on October 9th, 1995. The man known as the Genius became the blueprint and inspiration for the man who would later become the Stardust Genius as he went through the NJPW system. For SANADA, however, the path wasn’t as stable as his classmate.

Tetsuya Naito passed and would be accepted into NJPW as a full-fledged Young Lion. SANADA, however, would fail the class, resulting in the youngest of the class to begin looking for other ways to fulfill his dream. It was during this quest that SANADA would find himself directly under the tutelage of Keiji Mutoh, the man who inspired Tetsuya Naito to get into the wrestling business. SANADA’s time under Keiji Mutoh led to him working for All Japan Pro Wrestling before joining Wrestle-1, following his mentor shortly after the founding of the new company. Along the way, both Naito and SANADA would be on their own journeys in rounding out their skillsets across North America.

TNA, Mexico, and Canada: The Path of Impact

As part of NJPW tradition, their rookies are often sent on an excursion to other companies in order to broaden their wrestling horizons, expose them to different styles, and allow them to develop before returning to the company as a more “complete” package. In 2009, Naito would take his excursion to TNA as part of the tag-team “No Limit” with Yujiro Takahashi. Naito’s excursion to TNA, however, was not a rousing success, only lasting two months before diverting to CMLL in Mexico in 2010. It would be a few years later where SANADA’s excursions would bear much grander fruit.

Prior to his time in Wrestle-1, SANADA (then known as Seiya Sanada) would begin to find his footing in the ring, clearly taking inspiration from his mentor in-ring while traveling to Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling in Canada under AJPW. It was during this excursion that the founding of Wrestle-1 under Keiji Mutoh took place, bringing SANADA back to Japan momentarily before a partnership opened up between his new home and TNA, which would see SANADA’s biggest success to date.

During the working partnership between Wrestle-1 and TNA, SANADA would be placed under his greatest challenges against some of the biggest names in the American wrestling scene at the time. Despite falling to AJ Styles in a challenge for the TNA World Heavyweight Title, SANADA would rebound with a victory over Austin Aries for the X-Division Title. SANADA’s time in TNA was paying dividends as his class mate, Naito, began to struggle in his path. However, one after the other, a revolution would begin to brew, and a genius would become ungovernable.

An Ungovernable Storm: The Path of Revolution

SANADA enjoyed his success in TNA, ruling the company’s flagship division for a time until he would fall at the hands of Austin Aries, the belt returning to the hands of its previous owner. Sensing weakness and an opportunity, TNA’s James Storm would swoop in, insulting SANADA’s legendary mentor by citing his teachings as fraudulent and branding himself a “greater Legend” than the Great Muta, the alter ego of Keiji Mutoh. When the time came for SANADA to defend his mentor from an assault at the hands of the Cowboy, SANADA made his allegiance clear by striking Muta with a steel chair instead, bowing a head to Storm and joining his newly formed Revolution through the remainder of his time in TNA.

SANADA would spend the next year in TNA under James Storm’s leadership with Storm proclaiming himself as SANADA’s new mentor and rechristening him as “The Great Sanada” in mockery of The Great Muta. This change brought with it a much more limited round of success, however, even suffering defeats to opponents like Austin Aries, Samoa Joe, and the Great Muta himself before eventually being excommunicated by his new mentor. Forsaking the ways of his mentor had led SANADA astray, leaving him wandering and himself forsaken…and around this time, another forsaken man would carve an ungovernable path.

In 2015, Tetsuya Naito found himself on another trip to CMLL in Mexico, working with La Sombra in the stable known as Los Ingobernables. His time in Mexico led to a change in demeanor from the normally clean-cut Naito, adopting the more unruly attitude of his peers. After all, the NJPW fanbase was beginning to waver in their support of the man who once called himself the “Shuyaku”, the Top Man, in the company. Having earned himself a main-event spot in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 8, the match lost a fan vote to the Intercontinental Title match almost 2:1, costing him his main-event place against Kazuchika Okada. Frustrations would continue to mount before the trip to Mexico opened his eyes to a new perspective.

No longer concerned with pleasing the audience, Tetsuya Naito would begin abandoning his teammates in tag matches and display a much more disrespectful and ruthless side of himself, proudly waving the Los Ingobernables banner as a representative within New Japan. It wouldn’t be long before Naito was joined by Takaaki Watanabe (now named EVIL) and Bushi to form Los Ingobernables de Japon. With his new attitude and team behind him, Naito’s ascent in the ranks of NJPW quickly began as audiences rained boos down on the Stardust Genius while he wore his heart on his sleeve for all to see, a truly authentic Naito shining through that would bring an old friend into the fold.

The Cold Skull Converges on The Path of the Ungovernable

Tetsuya Naito’s newfound resolve and attitude brought him his ultimate challenge in Kazuchika Okada at Invasion Attack 2016 for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. It was a match that displayed what Naito had gained with his new demeanor as well as the lengths he would lower himself to in order to obtain what he thought was his as he reached out to his old classmate in SANADA and brought him into Los Ingobernables de Japon, sealing the allegiance as SANADA helped Naito claim his first IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Naito’s walk with ruffians had led him to the top prize, and SANADA looked poised to do the same, yet something just never clicked for the man now known as the “Cold Skull”.

In retrospect, SANADA has stated that the “LIJ SANADA was kind of a sham” in that “nothing was genuine”. In terms of results, perhaps there is something to be said about that. SANADA’s turn as the Cold Skull of Los Ingobernables de Japon resulted in monumental tag-team success with EVIL at his side, but his Singles success was fleeting, continuously falling to NJPW’s upper echelon of talent and only achieving a momentary title reign with the IWGP United States Championship before vacating the title due to injury. His convergence with his fellow classmate left him falling back in line in the shadow of someone greater, even going as far as to help them achieve success.

For Naito’s part, he had stated that he had wanted the members of LIJ to be able to fight amongst one another, even going as far as daring them to challenge him directly if the time came. Almost every member of LIJ had achieved individual success as well: Naito would later win the IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Championships on his own, Hiromu Takahashi would become one of the most decorated Jr. Heavyweights in NJPW history, Bushi would attain Jr. Heavyweight Championship success in his own right, and Shingo Takagi would go on to also claim the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The only two who would not see notable success as members of LIJ were EVIL and SANADA. Realizing this, EVIL made his move in 2020, and in doing so, laid a blueprint for SANADA himself.

Just A Guy On His Own Path…?

In the New Japan Cup in 2020, EVIL committed the ultimate betrayal of Los Ingobernables de Japon by laying out Tetsuya Naito after winning the tournament and joining the Bullet Club. EVIL’s allegiance with this faction immediately led to rewards as EVIL would defeat Naito to claim the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships in a match for both titles, stripping Naito of the titles he had won at Wrestle Kingdom 14 that year. Naito would eventually take the belts back, but SANADA remained aimlessly aloft, now having lost his tag-team partner and being the only member of LIJ, at the time, without an accolade to his name.

SANADA’s path remained aimless as a singles competitor, yet he would recapture success as a tag wrestler with Tetsuya Naito working as his partner. Naito stated that teaming with SANADA “reminded him of how fun” it was to work as a tag-team while SANADA wanted to teach Naito that exact feeling after ten years away from the tag division. Even in this, SANADA and Naito’s partnership retained a sense of distance.

In a joint interview, the duo discussed their philosophy as tag-team partners, noting their own lack of communication with SANADA praising how they were able to “do the things they do” without speaking to one another. Naito compared the duo to the Motor City Machine Guns, Alex Shelley and Chris Sabin, regarding their individual styles melding toward one goal. The interview shifted for a moment to a prior comment SANADA had made where he viewed Naito as someone he had his eyes on “more than any other wrestler”. Naito and SANADA would clarify working as “two guys, one goal” and Naito wished to keep the distance that was present, but the distance only seemed to grow as SANADA remained on the outside of singles glory. It was at the New Japan Cup in 2023 when SANADA made a fateful decision.

The New Japan Cup in 2023 saw SANADA face-off with Taichi, fresh off of the dissolution of Suzuki-gun, in a bout that pushed both men to their limits and continued an on-again/off-again rivalry between the two. This time, SANADA showed a spark he had never shown before, planting Taichi with a brand-new finishing move and advancing to face Naito. SANADA would go on to defeat Naito as well with his new finishing technique before revealing that he was joining Taichi’s new unit, leaving the ranks of LIJ and becoming a founding member of Just 5 Guys. Just like with EVIL, the change quickly paid off in perhaps SANADA’s most satisfying victory.

SANADA would win the New Japan Cup by trouncing David Finlay in the Finals, bringing one of his old mentor’s finishers into the equation with the Shining Wizard. Invoking Mutoh’s finishing blow while also choosing to march to his own drum created a sense of confusion in this new identity for SANADA, leading him to state that he “wanted to completely change people’s ideas of who SANADA is with this tournament, and that match”. A new finisher while harkening back to his roots under Keiji Mutoh, SANADA claimed that this would be more akin to the “real him”, stepping out of the enormous shadow of Tetsuya Naito yet still paying homage to his old mentor. With his resolve solidified and a new team behind him, SANADA took his next step on his new path without realizing that the road had already been paved by those before him.

Walking Through The Rain: The Path to Self-Deceit

SANADA’s victory in the New Japan Cup brought him face-to-face with his peer, Kazuchika Okada, and in SANADA’s grandest achievement to date, he would fell Okada with his newly-named Deadfall, becoming the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Stepping out of the shadow of the person bigger than himself after frustration both in tag-team and singles competition… Forming a new unit of individuals…Defeating Kazuchika Okada to attain the IWGP Heavyweight Title… All steps undertaken by SANADA to prove he had become his own man and show the world the “real SANADA”… yet every step of this path had already been done by Tetsuya Naito himself.

Naito’s inherent frustration at his lack of singles glory led to him stepping out of the shadow of Keiji Muto, the man who inspired him to get in the ring in the first place. The Stardust Genius had fallen for El Ingobernable, the Stardust Press giving way to Destino, and the angry, embittered man that was Tetsuya Naito was on display for the world to see. His true personality shined, and in letting it shine brighter than any star, Naito realized his true potential by defeating Okada to attain his goal of main-eventing Wrestle Kingdom and walking out with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Everything that SANADA had done had been done before by the person he sought to come out from underneath, inadvertently stepping right back into the shadow he tried to so desperately escape.

Even as SANADA has evolved in his current status as the IWGP World Heavyweigt Champion, his past continues to dictate his future. His path through to Wrestle Kingdom and back to Naito was reflective of the path EVIL took after he defeated Naito and betrayed Los Ingobernables de Japon, defending his newly won championship against his former LIJ stablemates that would challenge him. His moveset, while evolving with the introduction of Deadfall, also called back to his mentor by bringing the Shining Wizard into his arsenal. a move that SANADA claims was “more about me than him”. As SANADA continues to step forward as Just A Guy, his need to create distance has only brought him back to walking the exact same path as those before him.

Just Ungovernable: The Final Stop on The Path to Wrestle Kingdom

SANADA’s journey has taken him from leaving the overwhelming shadow of his mentors and his peers who succeeded where he had failed before finally making it to his first Tokyo Dome main-event at Wrestle Kingdom 18, claiming that a victory over Naito would break the hold people like Okada, Naito, and Hiroshi Tanahashi have had on the main-event spot of the event. Once again, this echoes similar to Naito’s goal in becoming the Shuyaku, looking to take Okada out of the equation and surpass both of his peers on the biggest stage. In perhaps his biggest push in creating distance, SANADA mentioned that the way LIJ functioned did not suit him, yet Just Five Guys seemed to echo LIJ by bringing in Yuya Uemura as LIJ welcomed Yota Tsuji into the fold.

Naito’s journey, however, has been truly distant from SANADA, seeking only to have that one, uninterrupted roll call to close out the Tokyo Dome main-event regardless of who stands across from him in what has a chance of being his final opportunity to close out Wrestle Kingdom. SANADA’s exit from LIJ merely left Naito confused, yet understanding that maybe LIJ wasn’t a true fit for SANADA. Despite this, SANADA’s path has been inescapably tied to his former stable ever since his departure, bringing him face-to-face with the man handpicked over himself to retire Keiji Mutoh. The man who sits upon the throne of New Japan Pro Wrestling adorned with a frozen crown, the Cold Skull’s light is ever dimmed by the immense shadow of those who came before, the path before illuminated only in Stardust. At Wrestle Kingdom 18, can SANADA prove he is “his own man”, or is he doomed to remain trapped in the shadow of his own self-deceit?

~Fin