Puroresu fans....it finally happened.

[Jmare007]

More than 17 years since he showed the world he could stand toe to toe with Tanahashi

More than a decade after most of us gave up on the idea of him ever becoming champ.....

Special shout-out to my hermano @The Rainmaker who kept his hopes up every single time Goto had an IWGP Title match no matter how ridiculous the idea of him winning was. It was finally "right time, right place" for jreh

 

[AKM-95]

Gedo pulled the trigger

 

[Jmare007]

Gedo pulled the trigger

I can finally give him props for something

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

wow, I gave up on the idea after he lost the G1 final to Kenny (goat match btw, shockingly underrated)

 

[MenacingMonk]

How long does he hold it?

 

[Toe Jay Simpson]

How long does he hold it?

They’ll give it to literally any white dude in 2 months

 

[Jmare007]

How long does he hold it?

He'd be the perfect victim for an invader or monster gaijin to beat, but sadly there are no realistic options for those scenarios. I think he's a good guy to put Tsuji over and get his run on top finally going. But, if anything, the one thing Goto as champ gives you is uncertainty with every title defense

Takeshyta would be a cool option too, so he can be set up for Tsuji later in the year or even WK.

His first challenger is Tana in March for the Anniversary show and even though it makes no cotdamn sense for Tana to win, the fact that it's Goto, you can still it happening

 

[Cattle Mutilation]

They’ll give it to literally any white dude in 2 months

Would be dumb to essentially have two transitional reigns back to back with ZSJ and Goto, especially given how both of them as champs is something people have been pining for years to get.

 

[Jmare007]

Would be dumb to essentially have two transitional reigns back to back with ZSJ and Goto, especially given how both of them as champs is something people have been pining for years to get.

I wouldn't call ZSJ's reign a transitional one. He didn't transition into anything, he just got a normal reign (4 months, 4 defenses).

 

[Kidd Dibiase]

wow

 

[DaylitoJames]

Goto finally did it

 

[Ed MOTHERFUCKING G]

They’ll give it to literally any white dude in 2 months

Karl Anderson hit the birdman rub as soon as he was released

 

[TOAD99]

They’ll give it to literally any white dude in 2 months

Maybe Gabe Kidd

 

[VegetasHairline]

That title is

 

[Jmare007]

Karl Anderson hit the birdman rub as soon as he was released

It's kinda crazy that he could've been IWGP champ if Okada didn't end up being the draw he was. New Japan would kill for a gaijin to be as over as Anderson was in 2012