At the sake of full disclosure, my Voices of Wrestling Match of the Year ballot features SEVEN (7!!) New Japan matches. And SPOILER ALERT — the big Match of the Year reveal will feature a lot of New Japan’s best from 2013 in the Top 10 and in the Honorable Mentions. It should go without saying, New Japan Pro Wrestling was the best wrestling promotion on Planet Earth in 2013.
So, to spare a lot of repetitive mentions in VoW’s 2013 wrap-up, I’ll spare the best of the best that New Japan gave us this past year. You’ll read plenty more on Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada and their epic matches as well as some of the best from the classic G1 Climax in a few days. But, New Japan was so good in 2013, there is a glut of great matches that need to be seen from this promotion if you’re playing catch up or looking to dive in head first.
So, no, again, this isn’t the definitive best of, you’ll get more of that later this week so consider this — The Best of the Rest. You’ll be reading about the absolute very best New Japan has to offer in a few days.