10 Best Entrances In NJPW History

Entrances are a crucial aspect of any pro wrestler’s presentation. After all, it’s the performer’s first opportunity to make an impression on fans, especially those who are unfamiliar with them. This is true even in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, which often features a presentation closer to traditional sports than the flashy, bombastic American pro wrestling that WWE fans are used to.

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Over the years, NJPW has treated fans to some really great entrances, often at big shows like Wrestle Kingdom. Let’s take a look at the best entrances in New Japan’s history, which includes some of the promotion’s all-time great stars.

10 Shinsuke Nakamura (Wrestle Kingdom 9)

While Shinsuke Nakamura has mostly struggled in WWE’s midcard over the last few years, during his time in NJPW the King of Strong Style was easily one of the coolest wrestlers on the planet, with fans anticipating what his Wrestle Kingdom entrances would be. For his awesome Intercontinental Championship title defense against Kota Ibushi, Nak came out living up to his nickname by wearing a giant cape and huge pointy crown. On top of that, he also wore an entrance jacket that he dramatically unzipped to reveal the IC Title belt, making for a cool visual.

9 Kenny Omega (NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11)

A junior heavyweight standout who became arguably one of New Japan’s greatest gaijin, Kenny Omega’s NJPW run involved a now-classic series of matches with IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada. The first bout in their series happened in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11 following Omega’s win at the G1 Climax in 2016. For his big entrance, Omega employed a Terminator theme, with a special cinematic video (complete with time travel and Kenny taking a dude’s clothes) before Omega came out with a half-metal face, a leather jacket, and a shotgun.

8 KUSHIDA (Wrestle Kingdom 13)

Nicknamed “The Timesplitter,” six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion KUSHIDA works a Back to the Future themed gimmick, with entrance gear styled after Marty McFly’s look in the first film. In other words, a special entrance involving Back to the Future was inevitable.

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Before defending the Junior Heavyweight belt against Taiji Ishimori at Wrestle Kingdom 13, the champ had a hilariously weird entrance in which fellow junior heavyweight Ryusuke Taguchi in a Doc Brown transformed a child in a KUSHIDA mask into actual KUSHIDA.

7 Atsushi Onita (NJPW Strong Style Symphony)

Japanese deathmatch wrestling pioneer Atushi Onita is most often associated with his promotion Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, so it may be surprising to find out that he wrestled for New Japan. In 1999, Onita returned to his old stomping grounds to take on NJPW icon Masahiro Chono in an Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch — at the Tokyo Dome, no less. Such a rare gimmick in NJPW begs for a special entrance, and Onita’s was perfect: all he did was sit in a chair on the entrance ramp, smoking a cigarette while fans pelted him with trash.

6 Prince Devitt (Wrestle Kingdom 8)

Before becoming Finn Balor in WWE, one of Prince Devitt’s last big matches in NJPW was at Wrestle Kingdom 8, where he defended his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Kota Ibushi. Even before WWE, Devitt was no stranger to elaborate body paint and theatrical entrances, and for this match, he basically looked like Carnage from Spider-Man as druids carried him out to the ring in a gigantic coffin. He didn’t retain the title, but Prince Devitt looked awesome on his way to defeat.

5 Taichi (Always)

While most NJPW stars have pretty standard ring entrances — coming out to music, doing their signature poses and taunts — “The Holy Emperor” Taichi’s regular entrance is so theatrical and ridiculous that it deserves to be counted among all these special intros. Worshiped by his “Diva” and valet, Miho Abe, Taichi comes out in an ornate mask and coat, looking like a villain from a Castlevania game, as he poorly lip-syncs his own entrance theme. There’s no one in NJPW who has an entrance as bombastic and silly.

4 Minoru Suzuki (Wrestle Kingdom 7)

A pioneer in modern MMA and an accomplished pro wrestler, the veteran Minoru Suzuki is one of NJPW’s more popular exports when he appears in the States. While his in-ring style is obviously heelish and not even remotely flashy, fans love to sing along with his “Eye of the Tiger”-esque entrance theme, “Kaze Ni Nare” by Ayumi Nakamura — so much that it was a minor controversy when it was cut short in an AEW appearance.

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For his Wrestle Kingdom 7 match against Yuji Nagata, Suzuki got a special entrance where Nakamura played it live, which always makes for a great entrance.

3 Masahiro Chono (NJPW Strong Style Symphony)

The Masahiro Chono part of the aforementioned Chono/Onita Exploding Barbed Wire Deathmatch was also impressive in the special entrance department. While Onita looked like a glorious dirtbag covered in trash while smoking a cigarette, Chono looked like an absolute boss arriving in a Humvee, wearing body armor and sunglasses, and smoking a cigar. The former IWGP Heavyweight Champion and former nWo Japan leader looked like a hybrid of any member of The Shield and the Terminator, even as the match ended in a double knockout.

2 Shinsuke Nakamura (Wrestle Kingdom 8)

Shinsuke Nakamura’s entrances are so cool that it’s only natural that he has two on this list. For Wrestle Kingdom 8, a fan vote determined that Nak’s Intercontinental Title defense against Hiroshi Tanahashi would headline the show, with the King of Strong Style getting a special entrance for the occasion. With flames shooting up at the top of the ramp, Nakamura came out on a stage full of pole dancers, eventually carrying one on his shoulder, and took his time getting to the ring. Nakamura never looked cooler.

1 Kazuchika Okada (NJPW New Beginning In Osaka)

While Shinsuke Nakamura may have one of the coolest in NJPW history, Kazuchika Okada can boast one of the most awesomely ridiculous entrances of all time — and notably one that didn’t happen at Wrestle Kingdom. Instead, it was at February 2014’s New Beginning in Osaka for a IWGP Heavyweight Title defense against Hirooki Goto that Okada made his legendary entrance. Opening with a giant rubber dinosaur moving around on a smoky stage, The Rainmaker made his appearance carrying a Final Fantasy 7-esque Buster Sword while money rained from the ceiling.