The world of professional wrestling is filled with captivating characters and varied fighting styles. Among them, the "Heart of a Lion" mentality stands out, embodying a blend of courage, technical skill, and unwavering determination. This style is exemplified by wrestlers like Ren Narita, Chris Jericho, and emerging talents like A.J. Parent. Let's delve into what makes this style so compelling.
Ren Narita: A Young Lion's Journey
With it being such an exciting time in professional wrestling, certain performers fly under the radar. One such performer is Ren Narita. Few, if any, developmental systems have cranked out the amount of talent that the New Japan Dojo has. This is to make sure their focus is on wrestling and wrestling only. Evidently, the system works.
Ren Narita with a huge debut victory! |NJPW STRONG backstage comments
Jushin “Thunder” Liger, The Great Muta, Masahiro Chono, Finn Balor, and Jay White are just a few of the stars that bore the name “Young Lion” at one time. Fast forward to 2021, and there are now three New Japan Dojos in operation. The original in Japan, one in Los Angeles, and one in New Zealand.
Ren Narita was born on November 29, 1997. He began his venture into professional wrestling in 2017 when he joined the original New Japan Dojo. Although a little undersized (coming in at six feet tall and 183 pounds), his understanding of the fundamentals and his execution more than makeup for his shortcomings. In addition, Ren Narita has perfected the Bridging Front Suplex, as it has finished off many of his opponents. His modified cloverleaf is another move in his arsenal that has proven effective.
He wrestled fellow Young Lion Shota Umino to a ten-minute draw in an impressive first showing. His first challenge was not an easy, to say the least. He teamed with his one-time opponent, Shota Umino, to take on Suzuki-gun members El Desperado and Zack Sabre Jr. In December of 2017, Ren Narita performed in his very first Young Lion’s Cup. He had a disappointing showing, losing his first two matches and going to a draw in the third and final. Things really started to pick up steam for Narita in May of 2019. Although not earning a single point, his gutsy effort surprised everyone watching. Specifically, his performances against YOH and Will Ospreay raised quite a few eyebrows.
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Feeling he had learned all he could from his home country, Ren Narita felt ready to begin the excursion. He asked permission to join Katsuyori Shibata’s LA Dojo in late 2019. Never one to get an easy opponent; his first opponent was Lance Archer. Then, 2020 happened. With the COVID-19 pandemic more-or-less ending indie wrestling, Narita didn’t wrestle a single match for ten months.
STRONG is the newest show under the New Japan banner. Based in Los Angeles, it is the company’s attempt to get in on the American market. In February, Ren Narita’s hot streak continued. He defeated Chris Dickinson and was then granted a qualifying match in the 2021 New Japan Cup USA. Once again, never getting the luck of the draw, his first-round match-up was a stiff challenge. He was to take on “Filthy” Tom Lawlor. Lawlor’s MMA background, however, proved to be too deadly. “Filthy” locked Ren Narita (who was bleeding from the mouth) into a devastating rear-naked choke.
Later, in July of 2021, Ren Narita entered the Tag Team Turbulence tournament. Teaming with Yuji Nagata, the two picked up a victory in the first round against the team of Fred Yehi and Wheeler Yuta. Although only just beginning his career, Ren Narita has certainly shown flashes. There is obviously a lot of trust in his talents within New Japan management. He was even featured on an episode of AEW Dark. Even if he hasn’t been on the winning side of things as much as he’d like, such is the life of a Young Lion. Ren Narita has a chance to add his name to that list as well. At the time of this writing, he has a match against STRONG Openweight Champion Tom Lawlor.
The greatest thing about youth, though, is that there is plenty of time. Even if Narita is unsuccessful in his upcoming championship bid, he is only twenty-three years old. The junior heavyweight division in NJPW always has a spotlight on it, and for good reasons. Some of the best matches of all time have come from that division. Could Ren Narita be the next in line?
Chris Jericho: A Career of Reinvention
According to Chris Jericho in “A Lion’s Tale” he was originally born in Manhasset, New York, but was raised in Canada. I believe that Chris Jericho is one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Chris rose to fame at an early age and has remained one of the most prominent wrestlers in the country, with a career that has spanned over 30 years.
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Chris Jericho was born Christopher Kieth Irvine in Manhasset, New York on November 9th, 1970 to Ted and Loretta Irvine. Growing up as an only child in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Chris was a creative kid who loved reading, writing and had a strong passion for music. Chris played in bands during his high school years and was heavily influenced by his two favorite bands, Metallica and AC/DC. Chris also loved professional wrestling. He has stated in multiple interviews that he was first exposed to wrestling while watching the American Wrestling Association (AWA) on television with his grandmother.
Ren Narita with a huge debut victory! |NJPW STRONG backstage comments
Chris began his training at the Hart Brothers Pro Wrestling Camp in Calgary, Alberta, Canada in 1990. This is where he met his future tag-team partner, Lance Timothy Evers, who is professionally known as Lance Storm. Chris and Lance struggled to gain the respect of veteran wrestlers at the start of their careers, as they were younger, more athletic, and were able to do high-flying moves in the ring. During this period, Chris was trying to come up with a name for himself. Originally wanting to call himself Jack Action, he ran the name by Lance to see what he thought. Lance, having no filter, scoffed at Chris and said that he thought it was a stupid name.
Chris would have his debut match on October 2nd, 1990 against Lance Storm. Chris and Lance wrestled each other in the opening match to a twelve-minute draw. The style of the match was influenced by their favorite wrestler, Owen Hart. For the next six years, Chris traveled all over the world perfecting his craft as a single and tag-team wrestler with Lance Storm. He would wrestle as “Lionheart” Chris Jericho. Throughout that six year period, he wrestled in Germany, Japan and Mexico. He wrestled six nights a week in Germany in front of the same crowd, which he said taught him how to work different styles and give people different types of matches. Japan is where Chris would meet one of his closest friends in the wrestling business, Chris Benoit, who was known in Japan as The Pegasus Kid.
He went to work for Paul Heyman in Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) where he would only have a handful of matches before going to Ted Turner’s World Championship Wrestling (WCW). After his stint in ECW, Chris met WCW President Eric Bischoff at The World Peace Festival in Mexico. “Benoit’s been recommending you like crazy and that’s enough for me. Bischoff then gave Chris his secretary’s number to set up a meeting. Chris and Eric met in Atlanta. Getting straight to the point, Eric compared Chris to World Wrestling Entertainment’s (WWE) Shawn Michaels and wanted to build upon the Cruiserweight division, which Chris competed in. Eric Bischoff signed Chris Jericho to a $135,00 WCW contract, which was way more than Chris was expecting.
Chris made his national television debut for WCW on their Monday night show Nitro against Alex Wright in an eight-minute match that ended in a no contest. At first, Chris was a baby face (young wrestler) with no defined character or personality. The best he could do was scream at the fans “Come on Yeah!” After toiling away in the cruiserweight division for a while and on a losing streak, Chris became upset with the company. This is where Chris would develop a character and his personality began to shine. He got microphone time before his matches, which he rarely got before. This is where he came up with catchphrases “Never eeeeeeeeeeever again!” being the most famous.
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One of his best rivalries as a heel in WCW was against Dean Malenko where, once again, his creativity began to shine. He did a promo segment saying that he was the man of a thousand and four holds. A dig at Dean Malenko’s nickname “The Man of a Thousand Holds.” He also came up with nicknames for Milenko such as Stinko Malenko. Another feud he had was against Bill Goldberg where Chris would call out Bill to have a match with him. Bill never accepted the match because he thought it was comedy. This feud is where Chris would come up with another one of his famous creations. Ralphus who Chris Jericho wanted to play a fat ridiculous-looking security guard as a knock on Goldberg’s ring entrance. Goldberg would have security guards walk him down to the ring.
Chris was once again unhappy due to Bill not cooperating and felt like his career was not advancing. In mid-1999, he wanted to go to the WWE, where he always dreamed of working. Chris had a meeting with WWE’s owner, Vince McMahon, at his house in Stamford, Connecticut while he was still under contract with WCW. After Chris’s WCW contract ran up he finally made it to what he felt was the land of opportunity. A countdown clock would start appearing randomly on RAW (the WWE’s Monday night show) for weeks. Finally, the countdown clock would end on August 9, 1999 in the middle of The Rock’s promo, when Chris made his WWE debut. The WWE is where he would spend the next 20 years of his career.
He had multiple runs in the company; with ups and downs with breaks in between. His first run took place from 1999 to 2005. He returned in 2007 and then would be on and off with the company ever since doing projects outside of wrestling that interested him. His last run with the WWE to date was from 2015 to 2017. He then went to work for New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) in 2018 for their Super Show at the Tokyo Dome, which was called Wrestle Kingdom 12. He wrestled against New Japan’s top star Kenny Omega. Chris has continued to work there off and on for the past couple of years.
I believe Chris Jericho should be considered one of the greatest wrestlers of all time because of his reinvention skills and his career statistics. In the WCW, he was a four-time cruiserweight champion, a two-time United States champion, and a one-time European champion. He’s held the WWE Intercontinental Championship nine times, was the first WWE Undisputed champion, and won five World Heavyweight Championships. He also is a one-time AEW World Champion and New Japan Intercontinental Champion. (NJPW The Recount) Along with his laundry list of accolades, Chris also has many incarnations of his character. From the Lionheart in his early career in WCW, to Y2J in the WWE and his soft-spoken, serial killer, Suit & Tie wearing Jericho in 2008, to the list of Jericho in 2016.
Not only is Chris successful inside the wrestling realm, but he’s also had tremendous success outside of wrestling. He has a rock band named Fozzy; they have made multiple records such as Chasing the Grail, Do You Wanna Start a War, and Judas. Judas’ title song on that record is their most listened to song to date. Chris also has four books published. Such as A Lion’s Tail, I’m the Best in the World at What I Have No Idea, Undisputed, and No Is a Four-Letter Word. He has another book coming out detailing his 30-year career. Chris has had a tremendous career spanning three decades over a multitude of companies. He has a laundry list of championships he’s held and success outside the ring with his books and successful podcast.
A.J. Parent: Laying Down the Standard
A.J. Parent contemplates his next move in the 132-pound championship match at Gloucester’s holiday wrestling tournament on Monday. As he searched for the answers, the Gloucester City High School senior picked at dried up blood on the bridge of his nose. A.J. Parent lost in the 132-pound championship match of his school’s holiday tournament last Monday, according to the official results at least.
The first three weeks of his final high school wrestling season has had the usual array of triumphs and tribulations, but Parent’s focus is unwavering. “Hard work,” Parent said of the reason he’s confident a breakout year is in the making. If you’re a Gloucester resident, you’re likely to see him running around town throughout the year. His running regiment - sprints, jogs, long-distance running - is constant.
Gloucester City High School senior A.J. Parent awaits his championship bout from the sidelines. Parent became the first wrestler in school history to finish in first-place at his weight in the Paulsboro tournament and will make a run at the school’s all-time wins record in 2020.
Ren Narita with a huge debut victory! |NJPW STRONG backstage comments
“He’s by far one of the most coachable kids I’ve ever coached in my life,” said Tom McConnell, a long-time wrestling coach who worked with some talented kids at Eastern and Kingsway before launching Gloucester’s program in 2010. “He listens to everything the coaches say, he’s always going out on his own for extra work all the time. He’s going to clubs to work. He lifts all the time.
Both Parent and fellow senior Derron Cooney (who won the heavyweight titles at the Gloucester and Collingswood tournaments) provide veteran leadership to a Lions team on the rise. Parent is doing his part in laying down the standard for future Lions to follow. “I’m not really going for 100, I’m going for as many as I can,” Parent said.
Parent did just that in the Paulsboro Tournament the weekend before Christmas. “You’re talking about two of the top teams in the state (Paulsboro and Howell) that are in that tournament,” McConnell said. “A.J. wrestled very well, regardless of the fact that he won it. It’s just the way he’s been wrestling.
Parent tries to get a takedown along the edge of the mat. After a quick start to his senior season, Parent entered 2020 just 10 wins away from the career 100-win plateau. Nine days later, Parent had to swallow a loss, questionable calls or not. Between the start of 2020 and a chance at representing his school in Atlantic City in March, Parent will surely experience more ups and downs.