Tetsuya Naito

Biography

Tetsuya Naito is a Japanese professional wrestler best known for his 21-year run in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) from 2004 to 2025, where he led Los Ingobernables de Japón and is widely seen as one of the greatest and most popular wrestlers in the company’s history. He now works as a freelancer, primarily appearing for Westside Xtreme Wrestling (wXw) and Pro Wrestling NOAH (NOAH) alongside BUSHI, where the pair are one-time GHC Tag Team Champions.

He started training in 2000 under Animal Hamaguchi and joined NJPW in 2004 as a Young Lion in the company’s dojo. In NJPW, he built a decorated career as a five-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion and eight-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion, while also holding the NEVER Openweight Championship. As part of No Limit with Yujiro Takahashi, he held the IWGP Tag Team Championship and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. He later added two more IWGP Tag Team Championship reigns with SANADA and Hiromu Takahashi. In tournament competition, he won the G1 Climax three times (2013, 2017, 2023), the New Japan Cup in 2016, and later the World Tag League in 2023 with Hiromu Takahashi.

Over time, Naito grew into one of NJPW's most accomplished and decorated figures, earning Tokyo Sports MVP honors (2016, 2017, 2020, 2023), the Technique Award (2018), the Best Bout Award in 2020 for his match against Kazuchika Okada on January 5 at Wrestle Kingdom 14, and Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards for Best Gimmick (2017) with Los Ingobernables de Japón, Most Charismatic (2017, 2018), and Japan MVP (2020). He was inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 2022 and was ranked No. 5 in the PWI 500 in both 2020 and 2024.