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Beretta (2018)

130 PTS.



After Roppongi Vice amicably split up during the summer last year so Beretta could transition to the heavyweight division, Beretta looked to be on the fast track for an elevation in the coming months. He defeated Yujiro Takahashi in a brief “heavyweight gatekeeper” feud, then took a big step up when he wrestled Kenny Omega for the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship in the semi-main event of Power Struggle 2017. When the calendar turned to 2018, it seemed like the train would keep a-rollin’ for Beretta; not only did he and his CHAOS stablemates Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano win the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12, Beretta was the one to score the winning fall when he pinned Tama Tonga with the Dudebuster. The trio’s reign only lasted one day (Tama, Tanga Loa, and Bad Luck Fale regained the belts the next night at New Year Dash), but the optics of Beretta being the one to score the fall in the Tokyo Dome as opposed to the more tenured Ishii or Yano made it clear that New Japan had plans for Heavyweight Trent.

Unfortunately the winds of fate had other plans for him because Beretta got injured at a PWG show in February a week before his scheduled ROH World Championship match against Dalton Castle at Honor Rising: Japan. Beretta tore both his bicep and pectoral muscle, but soldiered on to Korakuen Hall anyway. As a last minute audible to help ease some of the burden on Beretta’s body, the title match was changed to a triple threat match featuring Beer City Bruiser. Beretta thankfully got through the match and took several months off to heal. The injury felt like a real momentum killer as the New Japan Cup was only a few weeks away. When the brackets were announced, Beretta’s Best Friends partner Chuckie T. (who ironically was the one who injured Beretta in their PWG match) was listed as a participant, but it was generally believed that Beretta was meant for that spot. Beretta also missed a potential spot in the G1 Climax, which certainly would have been another forward momentum boost had he entered.

Beretta returned to New Japan in September on the Road to Destruction tour and quickly re-established himself amongst the pack. He beat Toa Henare in a singles match in Korakuen Hall, then main evented Korakuen the next night in a tag match with Kazuchika Okada against Hiroshi Tanahashi and Juice Robinson. In a humorous moment while Beretta was on commentary during a Super Jr. Tag League show, Beretta announced that he was challenging Cody for the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title. Whatever Trent says goes, apparently, because the title match was set for Global Wars in Toronto. Bad luck struck again when Cody suffered an injury, forcing a cancellation. Beretta then closed the year out in World Tag League with Chuckie. Best Friends initially scored 10 points and looked to be on a path to the finals, but Chuckie’s temper would get the best of him on a few occasions. Best Friends lost two of their WTL matches via DQ when Chuckie would go nuts and assault their opponents with chairs. Beretta would have to physically carry Chuckie to the back, demanding to know why his tag partner would cost them those precious two points. Best Friends ended the tournament at 14 points, missing the finals.