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El Desperado (2018)

154 PTS.



If, like me, you’ve been waiting for El Desperado to truly break out for years now, in 2018 you got everything you ever wished for and more. Desperado brought it to previously unforeseen levels in New Japan, becoming a true top junior heel in both the singles and tag divisions and setting a rivalry aflame that, health permitting, could help carry the division forward for years.

It all started for him on March 6th, when he and Suzukigun mate Yoshinobu Kanemaru captured the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team titles in a major upset in a 3-way match with champions Roppongi 3K and fellow challengers BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi. Despy and Kanemaru quickly established themselves as men willing to do literally anything to hold onto the gold, spitting whiskey and swinging title belts with gusto. As they took over the division in the ring, Desperado quickly became known for his silver tongue outside of it, becoming one of the best promos in all of NJPW. His sarcastic, taunting style quickly became a favorite of the hardcore fans.

One wrestler who found himself in Desperado’s crosshairs more than most in the spring was Hiromu Takahashi. Previously Desperado had always been described as a half-Mexican, half-Japanese luchadore, without any nods to his legitimate past as an NJPW trainee. This changed in 2018, when Hiromu began dropping hints that Desperado “hadn’t changed at all”. Both Despy and Hiromu began dropping more and more references to their shared pasts as young lions, when the then-Kyosuke Mikami defeated Hiromu in 12 straight singles matches in 2010 and early 2011. Hiromu finally broke that streak on 5/26/11, but by the time Kyosuke had gone on excursion he had amassed an impressive 16-2-1 record against him. The two officially renewed their old rivalry with their first singles match in nearly six-and-a-half years on 5/22/18 in the Best of the Super Juniors, an incredible brawl that went all over Korakuen Hall. But at the end of the day, it was once again Desperado who had his arm raised. Despy ultimately finished the BOSJ with a somewhat disappointing 3-4 record (while his rival, of course, won the entire thing), but he did pick up another impressive victory at Korakeun over CMLL luchadore Dragon Lee as well in a wild mask-ripping affair.

After BOSJ champion Hiromu went on to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title as well, Desperado was a natural first challenger. That match took place at Korakuen Hall again on the 6/18 Kizuna Road event, but this time Hiromu was able to vanquish his rival. Unfortunately, we all know what happened to Hiromu next, which put a stop to their burgeoning rivalry. But should Hiromu return to the junior division in 2019, something tells me the two of them will pick up right where they left off.

The rest of Desperado’s year saw him refocus on the junior tag team division, as he and Kanemaru continued their reign. On October 8th at King of Pro Wrestling they retained their titles against junior legends Tiger Mask & Jushin Thunder Liger, their final defense of the year. When the Super Junior Tag Tournament was replaced with a league instead, the two took part and put up a strong 5-2 record, enough to reach a 3-way final with Roppongi 3K and the new LIJ duo of BUSHI & Shingo Takagi. However in the final Desperado found himself being pinned by SHO’s Shock Arrow, a 180 from earlier in the year when Despy had pinned SHO twice in 3-way junior tag title matches. This ended up setting up a 3-way rematch for the Tokyo Dome, as all three teams will compete again, this time with Despy & Kanemaru’s junior tag titles on the line. Still, that meant that Desperado ended 2018 with the titles, giving he and his partner the second longest junior tag reign of all time (trailing only the fourth reign of the titles from all the way back in 1999-2000). It was a breakout year for Desperado no matter how you slice it, and one he’ll only be looking to build upon in 2019.