Is Hiroshi Tanahashi ready?

[Luds]

Hiroshi Tanahashi has come a long way in a couple of years, from a young dragon, to a member of Sasaki's band, to U30 champion.

He's done it all as a young heavyweight. U30 titles with wins over every other young dragon, the Tag titles with Yoshie, HUGE wins over Tenzan (G1 last year), Nishimura, Sasaki, Koshinaka, (all in 2002 or 2003 G1) and now with a massive upset over Takayama.

Is Hiroshi Tanahashi ready to hold the IWGP heavyweight title?

I say YES. and a big one it is. Not that I don't want Tenzan to hold the title longer, but I would love Tanahashi to defeat Tenzan later this year, or maybe at the dome early next year

[edgehead1984]

Tanahishi should be the young gun getting the shot, not Nakamura, he's ready IMO and he's been ready since December.

[Pheonix_Chi25]

YES.

He proved himself with a strong showing in the tournament

[Luds]

Good to see I'm not the only one who thinkis he's ready.

I watched his 08-07-02 "G1 Special Tag" match before the 2002 G1 climax, and let me tell you friends, this is the match where he removed his young dragon boots and but the superstar outfit.

Tenzan & Tanahashi vs. Nagata & Nakanishi.

Get the tape guys, this match is fantastic

[Jason]

I don't think he's there yet. I still haven't seen anything out of him even approaching 4 stars in a singles match. Granted, I haven't seen much New Japan lately (and what I have seen hasn't impressed me much), but to me Tanahashi is a pretty decent, but not great, wrestler who's been dubbed as the next savior of New Japan mostly because of his look and because New Japan fans seem to always be looking for the next savior since the only heavyweight star left is the aging Chono.

[Luds]

You're way off on that one Jason!

Watch his recent matches, watch his fights against established heavyweights... It doesn't look odd to see him win... Kinda like when you see Randy Orton win over RVD & Booker T in WWE, that feels odd, as Orton is pushed to the moon and still green.

Tanahashi looks great.

[mrpayperview]

I don't know if he is ready just yet, but he really isn't all that far off

[Pheonix_Chi25]

Tanahashi is ready. Everyone felt Nakamura wasn't ready to be champion (and he wasn't) but he won the IWGP title beating Tenzan. I believe Tanahashi will be wearing the IWGP Title either by year's end or next year.

[Jason]

Luds,

Well, I guess since the question is whether Tanahashi is ready to be IWGP champ, I suppose you may be right since pretty much everyone and their mother has held the title on the New Japan roster over the last couple of years. Isn't Norton due for another title run? But I don't buy Tanahashi as a true ace no matter who he beats because I just don't think he's all that good yet. Your comparison with Orton is probably a pretty good one, but your reasoning is flawed since Orton is not WWE champ nor is he main eventing pay per views, and probably won't be for quite a while. Victories over RVD and Booker don't really mean much at this point, but who a guy beats doesn't make him a draw anyway. If New Japan does make him IWGP champ anytime in the next year its only going to further devalue the title. For all of Muto's booking flaws, at least he hasn't put the Triple Crown on Kojima just for the sake of passing it on to the next generation, regardless of whether Kojima would draw money as champ.

[Luds]

No, Orton's push is a big thing as he's not only defeating RVD & Booker, but Shawn Michaels and soon Mick Foley. Orton will hold the WWE title within 6 to 9 months unless McMahon sees that he is bombing big times.

[edgehead1984]

Back to Tanahishi, he should be the one to beat Tenzan, after winning the G1 this year...

[Luds]

I would welcome that. Tanahashi getting a huge push with a G1 win would just be great. I could see him making it as an underdog in the 2nd round, and taking it over someone like Nagata or Tenzan in the final. I would love it if he could win on a Dome show

[Pheonix_Chi25]

I think fans could stomach that much more than Nakamura beating Tenzan for the belt just to drop it months later right? Tanahashi has been the one u-30 wrestler ready to lead. Much more than Nakamura

[exploder]

I think that Tanahashi is not ready yet to become IWGP champ. He still needs some extra seasoning. I saw a recent match with Nakamura, and he has improved himself within the last couple of months. I would keep the U-30 title on Tanahashi for now, and continue to push Nakamura in the heavy weight division.

[Luds]

I'm glad he won over Murakami. I'm pretty sure the NJ Office wants him over pretty much everybody right now. I wouldn't be shocked if he faces Nakamura for the IWGP title (once the later wins over Sapp).