[thread] "His One and Only." @s_d_naito and the Intercontinental championship: A Love Story.
The Intercontinental title cost Tetsuya Naito everything.

After he won the G1 as a babyface in 2013, he was so unpopular with the fans that the IC championship match was made the main event at Wrestle Kingdom over Naito & Okada’s match for the heavyweight title by fan demand.
Naito lost his match for the heavyweight title in the semi-final, then had to watch as Hiroshi Tanahashi won the Intercontinental title in the main event that should have been his.

From that moment on, he hated the IC championship.
The fans jeered him. He went to Mexico and returned a bitter, jaded heel. When he won the Intercontinental championship, he tossed it in the air like trash and walked away.
In his first, nine-month reign, he stomped, spat on, desecrated and literally destroyed the despised Intercontinental title. When he lost it (to Tanahashi) it had to be completely re-made.
He won it again from Minoru Suzuki--more to punish Suzuki for tormenting Hiroshi Takahashi than to win the title itself. He refused to acknowledge its existence when Red Shoes gave it to him and left it in the ring again (though he didn't destroy this new belt).
Chris Jericho took it from him the next time, and Naito had to win it back to spite him. This time, at Wrestle Kingdom 2019, the Intercontinental championship delivered the blow that left Jericho vulnerable to his finishing move.
He still ignored it when Red Shoes tried to give it to him, brushing it away.
However, he did insist that Young Lion Shota Umino (Red Shoes' son) give it to him--and he took it with him when he left the ring this time.
After his win, he seemed almost bemused at finding himself again with the title he hated so much.
After his win, he seemed almost bemused at finding himself again with the title he hated so much.
After his win, he seemed almost bemused at finding himself again with the title he hated so much.
After his win, he seemed almost bemused at finding himself again with the title he hated so much.
In 2019, though, the IC title became essential. Because if Naito wanted to achieve his goal of winning double gold in the Tokyo Dome, he had to hold the IC title.

Without the title that symbolized his greatest failure, he could never achieve his greatest triumph.
In 2019, though, the IC title became essential. Because if Naito wanted to achieve his goal of winning double gold in the Tokyo Dome, he had to hold the IC title. Without the title that symbolized his greatest failure, he could never achieve his greatest triumph.
In 2019, though, the IC title became essential. Because if Naito wanted to achieve his goal of winning double gold in the Tokyo Dome, he had to hold the IC title. Without the title that symbolized his greatest failure, he could never achieve his greatest triumph.
In 2019, though, the IC title became essential. Because if Naito wanted to achieve his goal of winning double gold in the Tokyo Dome, he had to hold the IC title. Without the title that symbolized his greatest failure, he could never achieve his greatest triumph.
He lost it to Ibushi and won it back, still refusing to take it from Red Shoes but willing to pick it up to pose with his foot on Ibushi's neck.
His relationship to the Intercontinental title started to shift as it became the key to achieving a victory greater than his loss ever was.
He even started to fist-bump it as if it were a member of his faction.

Then he lost it to Jay White and had to fight Jay at Wrestle Kingdom 2020 in order to win the chance at being double champion on night 2.
After he beat Jay on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom, he still refused the title from Red Shoes--before changing his mind and demanding it be handed over so he could spit in the referee's face.
The next night in the Tokyo Dome, in the main event with Okada that he was denied years before, he finally achieved his destiny--becoming the first NJPW wrestler to hold both top titles at once.

And this time he accepted the Intercontinental title from Red Shoes' hands.
For most of a year—through pandemic and chaos, betrayal and heartache—Tetsuya Naito carried both titles. He carried them both as equals. He and the Intercontinental title were finally reconciled.
And when he lost his match with Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 15, he took the titles from Red Shoes one last time. To hold them both for just a little longer.
Then he handed them over with his own hands, with a full heart and no regrets.
He handed them over to fulfill another man's destiny, as they had fulfilled his own a year ago.
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