Taichi

[Grimmas]

k-punk:

One of the best wrestlers in NJPW over the last decade. Has a crowd connection that few others in the promotion can match, and is better at structuring matches than most. His offence is very derivative of Kawada's but there are worse wrestlers to imitate. 

Recommended Matches

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Taichi (NJPW, 11/8/2019)
Kazuchika Okada vs. Taichi (NJPW, 21/7/2023)
Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Taichi (NJPW, 15/3/2025)
Ryohei Oiwa vs. Taichi (NJPW, 3/8/2025)

[Ma Stump Puller]

I like Taichi more than most, I enjoyed him when he was a hapless rookie seconding Kawada in places like HUSTLE or AJPW, I was one of the few who actually liked his Jr heavyweight stint where he just stooged and stalled for most of his matches, etc etc. I'm somewhat mixed on his material today since it seems like he's relented to becoming a NJPWism upper main event guy who needs to have 30+ minute affairs with endless false finishes and forearms while also occasionally doing something Kawada did for the sake of it.

I enjoy when he's pushed outside his comfort zone like his KOPW series with Shingo, but those aren't often enough these days so his material is (mostly) just acceptable tag matches with a good match every couple of months. When he's allowed to do a bit more I think he's tolerable than most at the style however. 

 

 

[Boss Rock]

I hated him 2017-2018 because of how often he relied on constant interference and "hide the weapon" spots during his matches. Seriously, a good chunk of Suzuki-gun around this time was essentially what House of Torture is now. Then around the 2019 G1 he started wrestling more traditional matches and I thought to myself "Huh, maybe there IS something there." From 2020-onwards he pretty much dropped the bullshit entirely and proved he was actually pretty good all along.

Not a guy who will make my list but someone who ended up genuinely surprising me.

[Tetsujin]

Definitely the most underrated pro wrestler of the last ten years or so. Awesome moveset and execution, perfect timing for everything, can play the chickenshit heel, the more serious vicious heel, the fiery underdog babyface, can work the typical dick meassuring fighting spirit kind of match WITHOUT feeling a parody or cliché, excells in both singles and tags. He gets wrestling psychology like few today in his environment. Pretty charismatic guy that should have been pushed since at least the late 10s, and still being great today, maybe the best NJPW wrestler since Tanahashi's peak ended and he became a heavyweight.

[MidasGloves]

Prime candidate for a guy with a chance to sneak into 98-100 but that's a big "maybe". Young Taichi is a fun watch in HUSTLE, but HUSTLE also had a knack for pulling the most entertainment out of everybody that worked there. His NJPW run has some incredible highlights that nobody else has really replicated and has had him work the entire spectrum from chickenshit Junior to grizzled Heavyweight, and that's the main reason he's got an outside chance. He had the honor of being the final BOSJ opponent for Liger in what I consider the company's most underrated match of the 2010s where Taichi is just a grade-A shithead and provides a beautiful on-ramp for a killer Liger comeback. His KOPW feud with Shingo is full of great matches with interesting stips; the 30-Count match they had is one of the most creative and open-ended stips for a match I've seen and they work it so well. His recent work mostly tagging with Ishii & Kojima has been really nice too.

I've also gotten quite a lot of mileage out of this promo but that's neither here nor there.