Some wrestlers are made by winning. Tetsuya Naito was made by losing, waiting, and then refusing to play the role he’d been handed.
Over a two-decade run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, he went from a fan-rejected “chosen one” to the leader of the most popular faction of his generation, main-eventing Tokyo Dome five times and holding the promotion’s top title on five separate occasions.
His story isn’t a straight line. It begins with a demotion, moves through a heel turn nobody scripted quite like this, and builds into a slow-burn redemption that reshaped how New Japan tells stories.
Tetsuya Naito – The Origins of the Ungoverable One
– The Young Lion Years
Naito signed with NJPW in 2004 and trained at the company’s dojo, the traditional boot camp that has produced most of the promotion’s homegrown talent.
He made his in-ring debut in May 2006, and like almost every young wrestler in Japan, he lost. That defeat wasn’t a setback so much as an initiation.
Every Young Lion loses constantly while learning the trade, and Naito’s early Best of the Super Juniors run followed the same pattern: last place in his block, four losses, four points. There was no signature style yet. There was just the grind.
That grind paid off faster than expected. In 2007, Naito partnered with Yujiro Takahashi to form the tag team No Limit, and the pairing clicked immediately.
They won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from Jushin “Thunder” Liger and Akira, then took part in something New Japan had never really tried before: the “No Limit Generation Smash,” a string of five matches held not in arenas but in Tokyo nightclubs, against a mix of veterans and rising stars.
No Limit lost every match in that series, but it didn’t matter. By the fall of 2008, they had beaten Prince Devitt and Minoru to reclaim the junior tag titles, proof that, in Naito’s career, losing streaks were rarely the end of the story.
Learning the World: TNA and Mexico
After dropping the titles at Wrestle Kingdom III, No Limit was sent on what NJPW frames as a “young lion excursion”—time spent working for other promotions and in other countries to round out a wrestler’s style before they’re considered ready to return home.
Naito and Takahashi spent a stretch with TNA in North America, then moved on to Mexico’s Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre, one of the sport’s oldest and most storied promotions.
There, they were booked as rudo heels, in lucha libre terms feuding with Mexican stars in the kind of hair-versus-hair matches that carry real stakes in that wrestling culture.
That trip mattered more than anyone realized at the time. Years later, Naito would return to CMLL on his own, and the visit would change the entire trajectory of his career.
Tag Team Gold and a Return to Singles
No Limit came home for Wrestle Kingdom IV at the end of 2009, beating the teams of Bad Intentions (Karl Anderson and Giant Bernard) and Team 3D to win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
They held those belts until May 2010. After the loss, Naito chose to step away from the team and chase singles success, not because of any personal fallout, but because he wanted to see what he could do on his own.
He racked up wins over former and current champions early in that run, though he and Takahashi briefly reunited for the 2010 G1 Tag League, reaching the finals before falling short.
The team didn’t survive much longer. In 2011, Takahashi abandoned Naito mid-match during a title shot against Bad Intentions, and shortly after, attacked him outright following a tournament loss.
No Limit was over for good. Naito was on his own — and the company had bigger plans for him than anyone in that gymnasium in 2006 could have guessed.
The Golden Boy Who Didn’t Land
By 2013, NJPW was grooming Naito as its next great clean-cut ace. He won that year’s G1 Climax tournament, defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi in the final to earn a Tokyo Dome main event shot at Wrestle Kingdom 8.
It should have been the moment that made him. Instead, his clean-cut babyface persona drew significant fan backlash, and the planned main-event slot at NJPW’s biggest show of the year was denied.
After that, Naito appeared to toil without direction or a clear path. Although he was winning, it didn’t seem that his work or commitment resonated with the crowd, which ultimately sent him back on excursion.
Mexico, Again — and a New Man Comes Home
In 2015, NJPW sent Naito back to CMLL, and while touring Mexico, he was made the fifth member of Los Ingobernables, the rebellious CMLL stable led by Rush and La Sombra. Something clicked.
Naito returned to NJPW that October with a new look and the “Tranquilo” attitude he’d picked up in Mexico, officially bringing Los Ingobernables to New Japan.
He was soon joined by the returning Takaaki Watanabe — quickly rechristened EVIL — and by Bushi, forming Los Ingobernables de Japón.
Building an Empire: Titles, Tag Team Success, and Growing the Stable
LIJ expanded quickly. Sanada joined in April 2016 after his own run in Mexico, followed by Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, and Mexican junior star Titán.
The group didn’t just accumulate members; it accumulated championships across every division NJPW offered. By January 2019, it held effectively every singles and tag title in the promotion simultaneously, and that same year it added the newly created IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.
Naito’s own championship résumé grew alongside the stable’s. He went on to hold the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP World Heavyweight Championship five times combined.
This, along with a record six-time run with the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and the G1 Climax in 2017 and 2023, showed that Naito delivered when it mattered most.
Naito vs. Okada: The Rivalry That Defined an Era
If one feud captures Naito’s career arc, it’s the one with Kazuchika Okada. The two wrestlers came up through New Japan around the same time, but while Kazuchika Okada was fast-tracked to stardom, Naito had to claw his way there.
Naito had to claw his way there. He spoke ahead of a title match against Okada in April 2022, and was candid about what fueled the rivalry.
“Until now, I’ve never thought about it,” Naito says. “Because I think it’s more fun to fight against Okada than it ever would be to team up.
However, I’m interested in this idea of Okada and Naito teaming together if he joined Los Ingobernables de Japon.
“Okada is tall and powerful; he has speed and endurance. And he’s smart. He is an excellent wrestler in all aspects.
His heart is a real strength. And there are many groups in the professional wrestling world, but Los Ingobernables de Japon is the top one, so I could see why he would want to join.”
The rivalry stretched from Naito’s first failed title shot in 2013 through Wrestle Kingdom 14 in January 2020, when he beat Okada to become IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion simultaneously — the promotion’s first “double gold dash.”
EVIL’s Betrayal and the Stable’s Later Years
Not every LIJ story was triumphant. In July 2020, EVIL turned on Naito mid-celebration after Naito won the New Japan Cup, aligning with Bullet Club and taking both of Naito’s championships with him to Dominion.
Naito clawed both belts back that September, becoming a three-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and a record six-time Intercontinental Champion in the process.
The betrayal became one of the signature storylines of the stable’s back half, a reminder that even LIJ’s family-like bond wasn’t immune to wrestling’s usual double-crosses.
Tetsuya Naito and his Leaving of New Japan Pro Wrestling
By early 2025, Naito’s contract situation had become a story in itself. His deal expired on January 31, and after five rounds of failed negotiation, NJPW announced on April 16, 2025, that he and Bushi would both depart the company. Tetsuya Naito addressed his departure.
“Let me be clear: in the five contract renewals I’ve had, I never once brought up money.
Ever since they made me the initial offer in the first negotiation, I never touched the subject again.
It’s extremely frustrating to have people think I’m quitting because of money, and honestly, I think it’s Tokyo Sports’ fault.
But if Tokyo Sports writes about it, it somehow sounds even more like a lie, so what the heck am I supposed to do…?
I never made any unreasonable demands. I never said, ‘Since I’m wrestling more, pay me more,’ or ‘That guy wrestles less, pay him less.’ I just wanted them to properly value what a wrestler’s match is worth.
I’ve been saying that for years. I get that the number of wrestlers has increased, and there are unavoidable circumstances, but still…”
His final match came on May 4, 2025, at Wrestling Dontaku in Fukuoka, teaming with Bushi, Hiromu Takahashi, and Shingo Takagi in an eight-man tag, a fittingly full-circle LIJ send-off with no retirement speech, just a raised fist and a walk up the ramp.
He argued his real frustration was that the company didn’t properly value what a wrestler’s matches were worth, defended NJPW president Hiroshi Tanahashi from fan criticism over the exit, and warned that if the company’s approach to contract renewals didn’t change, more departures would likely follow.
Tetsuya Naito – Where He Stands Today
Naito hasn’t slowed down since leaving NJPW — he’s just spread out. He and Bushi formed Los Tranquilos de Japon and have worked dates as freelancers, including for Pro Wrestling Noah, where the pair won the GHC Tag Team Championship.
Naito confirmed to Tokyo Sports via Wrestlezone that he has no plans to retire, saying he intends to use the time to recover from eye surgery and stem-cell treatment on a long-troubled knee before figuring out his next chapter.
“Some people may be under the wrong impression, but I’m not retiring or anything like that.
First of all, I want to take the time to maintain my body, and then I want to move on to the next stage.
I want to continue preparing for the next stage while undergoing various treatments.”
For now, Naito remains what he’s arguably always been at his best: unpredictable, doing things on his own terms, and still very much must-watch whenever he steps through the ropes.
His impact and significance in New Japan Pro Wrestling are not without their impression or recognition. From notable rivalries to key matches and multiple title reigns, along with the emergence of the formation of Los Ingovernable de Japon, Tetsuya Naito moved to the beat of his own drum, a tranquilo one.
