In the Los Ingornables De Japon faction, there is only one member who has never held singles gold in NJPW. This is SANADA. He is a two time IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champion with partner EVIL, and a three time NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champion with EVIL & BUSHI, but any attempts at singles glory have always ended in defeat. He is able to go out and have the Tokyo Sports match of the year with Kazuchika Okada over the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, but it won’t end with him getting his hand raised in victory. Will SANADA’s time ever come, or is it time to move on?
SANADA Has Not Won A Singles Match In Six Months
The last time SANADA was successful in a singles match was during last years G1 Climax when he defeated Lance Archer on the 15th night of action. Since then, he has lost to Bad Luck Fale, Kazuchika Okada, Zack Sabre Jr., and Jay White. He has put on incredibly impressive performances in each of these matches, but always ended up on the losing side. He is able to earn these big matches by pinning his opponents in tag team encounters, but when he has no back up he is rarely able to beat his fellow NJPW talents.
Will The New Japan Cup Bring Him Another Chance?
In March, we will see the single elimination tournament known as the New Japan Cup come around once again. The winner of this tournament gets a title shot of their choice for an upcoming event. SANADA made it to the finals last year before losing to Kazuchika Okada, having defeated Hirooki Goto, Minoru Suzuki, Colt Cabana & Hiroshi Tananashi to get to that point.
With his recent singles woes, he will need a strong performance to remain relevant in NJPW. He risk becoming the L.I.J equivalent to Yoshi-Hashi should he continue this trend of losing singles matches. He has been getting closer every year in the New Japan Cup, so maybe the event brings him good luck. Should he win, he would likely face fellow L.I.J member Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championships. He’s one big win away from the very top of the card, he just needs to get it.
Do you think SANADA will be able to break his slump and win the New Japan Cup? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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