Feud of the Year 2019

Feud of the Year 2019

10) Zack Sabre Jr vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

ZSJ and Tanahashi had a great series of matches in 2019. They had a match in the New Japan Cup, MSG, G1, Royal Quest and Destruction. These matches revolve around ZSJ breaking Tanahashi’s torn-up body through his arsenal of submissions. This gives these matches a classic face/heel dynamic that tells a great story. The feud was a great indicator of where both these men placed in the rankings of NJPW in 2019.

9) Natsuko Tora vs Jungle Kyona

This feud started when Jungle Kyona lost a match in which she had to disband her group Jungle Assault Nation. The seeds for the feud were planted earlier when Natsuko and Jungle failed to win the Goddess of Stardom titles. Natsuko saw Jungle as a weak leader. The two fought in tag matches throughout the year and the heat was always there. They had a singles match against each other in the Cinderella tournament where Natsuko won. The feud is still ongoing.

8) Jay White vs Tetsuya Naito

Both of these guys can be described as sleazy individuals. That was one of the highlights of the feud. Seeing how nasty they can get with each other was truly entertaining. White beating Naito in the G1 and at Destruction added heat to the match they built up to at Wrestle Kingdom. The taunting by Jay White and the indifference shown by Naito created great charisma.

7) Kenou vs Kaito Kiyomiya

One of the highlights of Pro Wrestling NOAH’s 2019 was this feud. They had two great championship matches. There is a big brother/little brother dynamic that really works between the two. Kenou brings out the best out of Kiyomiya, who can be a little stale in a lot of his matches. 

6) Kento Miyahara vs Jake Lee

The search to find the right successor to Miyahara continued through this feud. Lee is a favorite to take that spot. That is how this feud was built. They had 3 singles matches in 2019. Two of them were great with one being very good. Lee won one of them to win the Royal Road Tournament and to later challenge Kento. There was excitement as well as good wrestling.

5) Kento Miyahara vs Naoya Nomura

Similar to the Miyahara/Lee rivalry this was also on the search to find Miyahara’s successor. This one was better because Nomura shows more promise than Lee thus making the feud and matches hotter. They had two matches including one that made my top 10 matches of the year. Miyahara’s heel tactics also added a lot of heat as people were wanting a Nomura victory.

4) Shingo Takagi vs SHO

This feud was great. Shingo bullying SHO throughout all their encounters in multi-tags and Jr Tag Title matches was the build of this feud. SHO had to show a different side of himself to match up to Shingo. The feud came to a head at the opening night of Best of the Super Juniors 26 where they had an amazing 5 star match. SHO kept surprising Shingo throughout the match and Shingo had to acknowledge SHO’s progression. I look forward to this feud continuing. 

3) Hazuki vs Arisa Hoshiki

You talk about hate-filled feuds and this is a prime example of one. They only had one singles match but it was so brutal and vitriolic that it actually made me question whether these two really hated each other. The feud was built through multi-woman tags throughout the spring of 2019 in STARDOM. This feud showed a nasty side of Hazuki that was quite scary. It also added more depth to Arisa’s bright and shiny character. It was great.

2) Kota Ibushi vs Tetsuya Naito

A feud built around respect for a title is sometimes not successful but they pulled it off. Ibushi hated Naito for the disrespect that he showed the Intercontinental championship. That title is cherished by Ibushi because of the high reverence that it was shown by his “gods” Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura. Naito also by this point had fully accepted the IC title and only treated it badly for appearance. The hate for each other reflected in their matches. They had three single matches, two of which were MOTY contenders.

1) Jushin Thunder Liger vs Minoru Suzuki

Jushin Thunder Liger retires with an all time feud. It was a heated feud between two men who are on the wrong side of 50. Throughout the entire year Suzuki and Liger battered each other in multi-tags. There was taunting and brutality and Grade A shit-talking all year long. We even got the final appearance of Kishin Liger, who tried to impale Suzuki with a spike! The feud culminated with a great match at King of Pro Wrestling, proving that both guys can still go.