In NJPW, new talent are brought up through the Young Lion system. They recruit promising athletes, put them through strenuous tryouts, and the best of the best get accepted into the dojo. From there, you become officially known as a Young Lion, and work to improve. Often times, they’ll open shows, and be back at ringside during main events to provide support. After a while, you’ll be sent off into the world to develop further, before making his return. Ren Narita is now made it through these steps, and will be making his homecoming soon.
The Path Of Ren Narita On Excursion
Ren Narita took an interesting path when it came to excursions. Generally, someone will go to Mexico like Master Wato or the UK like Great-O-Khan. Instead, Narita would go to the LA Dojo, and demand to be trained further by Katsuyori Shibata. He’d be accepted, and would work in the United States, namely for NJPW Strong but also for other promotions.
During this process, many fans really noticed the hands on touches of Katsuyori Shibata. From his look to his ring gear, Narita is really modelling himself after Shibata – and fans have been loving that. We’d even see Narita wrestle in a spotlight match at Wrestle Kingdom earlier this year, in Shibata’s first official match since his return from retirement – which saw Shibata come out as the victor.
Other highlight matches from Narita included a match against another Young Lion on excursion in Yuya Uemura at Ric Flairs Last Match, and battles against Will Ospreay, Josh Barnett, Jay Lethal, and Kota Ibushi.
Homecoming To Happen On October 10th
Narita will have his homecoming on October 10th at NJPW Declaration of Power. No opponent has been announced at this time, but there’s time before this show at Ryogoku Sumo Hall. Other matches announced for this event include El Phantasmo vs. Shingo Takagi, KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori, Kazuchika Okada vs. JONAH, and Jay White defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Tama Tonga.
Do you expect Narita to make an instant splash in NJPW? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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