SANADA - Certain Success in the Future. How Could it Come to Fruition?

2019 has been an interesting year in the world of New Japan Pro Wrestling. We've had shocking moments like Jay White beating Hiroshi Tanahashi at the end of January to become IWGP Heavyweight Champion, the debut of KENTA on the cerulean blue mat in June, and the return of former IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi. We've also had a great deal of wrestlers breaking out into higher positions on the card, including El Phantasmo and EVIL. Out of all the wrestlers to move further into the main event scene, SANADA has to be (unfortunately) seen as the least successful to enter the main event scene this year.

While consistently being put into high stakes matches and having all the tools to succeed, Cold Skull has fallen at the last hurdle, not really learning from past mistakes and losing constantly on the big stages. This year alone, he has lost 3 times out of 4 in singles competition against Kazuchika Okada, with his sole win coming in the G1 Climax where he handed the Rainmaker his first loss in this year's block competition. While that was an excellent way to redeem SANADA, who had lost to Will Ospreay, EVIL, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi; it set up for another inevitable loss at King of Pro Wrestling, another loss against Okada, and another failed attempt to win the top prize in New Japan.

With Wrestle Kingdom coming up and a match for the RevPro British Heavyweight Championship against Zack Sabre Jr (against whom SANADA has an excellent track record) being made official for night 2, SANADA has the best opportunity yet to win a singles championship, after nearly 4 years under the New Japan banner. But if this opportunity is once again failed, what does he go?

He hasn't signed a contract (at time of writing), has lost nearly all momentum, and is lacking a visible drive that would make a main eventer seem like a threat, one that distinguishes the likes of Tetsuya Naito, Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada as guys to carry the company. SANADA seems very nonchalant about losing big matches, and this could be the barrier between him and superstardom.

The seeds for a drastic change in SANADA's character to come to fruition have already been planted, through video vignettes, press conferences and even matches themselves. Wrestlers who have defeated SANADA (or even those who haven't) can see his potential, and have offered insight or criticism which could make Cold Skull question his mindset. A loss to tag partner EVIL, a wrestler who used to be seen by many as the 'Janetty' of the team despite being the only one of the pairing to win a singles title in NJPW, in the block stages of this year's G1 Climax may have sowed the seeds of doubt - can SANADA become a success when he is losing to a man who was constantly seen as the weaker member of the team?

G1 Climax winner Kota Ibushi also said in an interview that he could see SANADA thriving as one the top stars in the business, but not with a name stylised in all caps - as Seiya Sanada; while Wrestle Kingdom opponent Zack Sabre Jr leapt upon the potential self-doubt, saying that SANADA was 'Mr Olympia' and saying that he should've done something big but instead lost out on winning this year's World Tag League. If SANADA loses once again, this time on the biggest stage possible, where does he go?

"You’re blessed with the best physique in professional wrestling and you’ve done nothing with it. I’m basically a wet noodle, and look what I’ve done. I’m a noodle man, and yet I’ve achieved all I have as one noodle strand. You, you should be Mr. f***ing Olympia and yet you’re losing the World Tag League." - Zack Sabre Jr to SANADA (quote taken from https://www.njpw1972.com/67524)

A plausible conclusion (in my opinion, at least) is for SANADA to follow a series of events similar to Kota Ibushi post-Tokyo Dome last year. He takes some time away - this time to re-evaluate, look at where he has gone wrong, where he can improve.

The New Japan Cup draws ever closer, and the brackets are revealed. The man that sent him packing at the Tokyo Dome, Zack Sabre Jr, is announced for the tournament. His opponent, to the surprise of much of the audience, is the returning SANADA - this time with a refreshed mentality. It is announced that he has signed a long term contract.

Much like last year, SANADA would make it to the finals, defeating ZSJ in the first round, Hiroshi Tanahashi in the quarter finals (avenging the loss in the G1 Climax), reaching the next stage and setting up a chance for redemption, meeting Kazuchika Okada in the semi-finals.

The match finally arrives, and SANADA decides to make yet another change, looking to his past. He returns with the Mohawk, the old mask and ring attire, signalling a return to the past. He stares down the Rainmaker from across the ring.

The match begins and SANADA is relentless. He attacks the arm and the midsection, reducing the effectiveness of Okada's Rainmaker finish while increasing the potential impact of the Moonsault Press. Everything is done in a calculated manner, and SANADA has an answer for everything. The dropkick, the back elbow into the corner, everything is either countered or avoided. Okada eventually makes the fatal mistake of hitting the ropes, and gets hit with the pop up cutter, which is followed up by a TKO and a final, decisive moonsault to set up a finals match with Kota Ibushi, which he wins with a moonsault press.

SANADA rectifies all of these past losses, silences his previous critics before choosing to challenge for the Intercontinental Championship instead of the Heavyweight Championship. He sees the prestige that the belt possesses, and how he can elevate himself and other wrestlers in the position of champion. In a match against Tetsuya Naito, SANADA finally proves he is at the top of his game, defeating the top 4 native stars in the company within a month. This redemption ends entirely with a brilliant visual of the new intercontinental champion sitting in the ring, basking in the light of the torches held by the fans at in the crowd.

While this is not a particularly long redemption story, it could be a way of restoring SANADA's credibility without the meteoric push to the top championship, especially with Tetsuya Naito seemingly set to finally have a dominant year as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion which would surely result in yet another failed challenge for the top title in New Japan by Cold Skull

It offers a tournament win, a championship win which (on paper) would be better than the way that the IC title has been treated since the first half of 2018, keeps all the major singles titles under the banner of Los Ingobernables de Japon and could elevate the rest of the roster before they could challenge for Naito's championship, creating new stars and offering a wider variety of brilliant matches alongside the likes of Jay White, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tomohiro Ishii, EVIL, Hirooki Goto, Chase Owens, Shingo Takagi, KENTA and so many more - a true revival of a division that has arguably lost a lot of its prestige.

How do you feel SANADA could bounce back from a disappointing 2019? Will he finally win a singles championship? Or will he be once again stuck in a fairly uninspiring tag team division like he was for a lot of 2018?

Follow us on twitter @ringcrewmag for updates and discussions!