NJPW Spotlight is a series by Walter Yeates that highlights past and present members of the New Japan Pro Wrestling roster. This article highlights Yuji Nagata. The previous article in the series on Minoru Suzuki is available here.
While Yuji Nagata is over 50-years-old he remains a top-flight competitor inside the ring. If needed, Nagata can still deliver a two minute plus match in a marquee setting. His ability to remain at a high level despite being north of 50 is similar to Minoru Suzuki. Often on his Twitter account, Nagata speaks about his daily workout regimen — explaining how he’s able to fight off the aging process. New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) announcer Kevin Kelly often uses ‘Anti-Aging’ to refer to Nagata.
Before graduating during the third generation of the NJPW Noge Doge in 1992, Nagata was a World Cup and World Championship level Greco Roman wrestler, explaining his basics and renowned suplexing ability. His background in amateur and professional wrestling and career loyalty to NJPW has seen Nagata become a trainer at the NJPW Noge Dojo in Japan.
Yuji Nagata is the only wrestler in history to win the three top round-robin tournament in Japan (and arguably in the world of professional wrestling) the NJPW G1 Climax (2001), All Japan Pro Wrestling’s (AJPW) Champion Carnival (2011), and Pro Wrestling NOAH’s (NOAH) Global League (AKA N1 Victory) [2013]. He is also a former All Asia Tag Team Champion (AJPW), NEVER Openweight Champion, ZERO1 World Heavyweight Champion, 2x IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion, AJPW World Tag Team Champion, GHC Heavyweight Champion (NOAH), and 2x IWGP Heavyweight Champion.
Despite his highly decorated career and respect throughout the industry, including from Kurt Angle who praised Nagata after their match at Wrestle Kingdom II on January 4, 2008, Nagata could have become one of the pillars of wrestling if not for the philosophy that led to NJPW’s ‘Dark Ages’ between 2000 – 2006. Antonio Inoki’s mixed martial arts vision, combined with Riki Choshu’s booking left individuals like Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi on the back burner, although they were far more talented (and better draws) than several IWGP Heavyweight Champions during that period.
While Nagata was IWGP Heavyweight Champion for 392 days between 2002 – 2003, setting the record at the time for his v10 defense (ten successful title defenses), he could have easily had two other long runs of over five defenses in 2000 – 2001 and 2005 – 2006. Nagata being the ‘Ace’ during that period could have led to him making Shinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi while making NJPW millions of dollars — instead of the substantial losses, the company suffered during the period.
Adding that to his 2007 IWGP Heavyweight Championship victory, Nagata being a 4x IWGP Heavyweight Champion would have put him in rare territory, likely leading him to more marquee positions later in his career. NJPW is in a great financial situation now, but their international expansion could have begun years earlier if Nagata was put ahead of individuals like Bob Sapp, Tadao Yasuda, Kazuyuki Fujita, and Brock Lesnar who ended up not drawing a lot of money for the company.
Even with that missed opportunity, Yuji Nagata has carved a legacy for himself that will be impossible to erase when speaking about the history of NJPW.
