>>10752839All Japan was setting up three stars for the next generation in 1998. Jun Akiyama, Yoshihiro Takayama, and Takao Omori.
Misawa wanted to make Masahito Kakihara be the fourth member of this next generation, but the rest of the board, including Baba himself, preferred him as a steady hand in the undercard. It also didn’t help that Kakihara had an ego. For example, at the debut show for NOAH, Kakihara got hit by one too many potatoes by Omori in a six man tag. And when he got the pin for his team, he walked straight out of the ring while his two confused teammates got their hands raised. Kakihara would go back to All Japan before joining New Japan.
Akiyama was set up with both Misawa and Kobashi in tag teams to elevate him before they pushed him as the top heel in NOAH.
Omori and Takayama would join Gary Albright in a group before becoming their own tag team, No Fear. They were both on the rise until Omori blew it in December 2000, when he called for the match between him and Shinya Hashimoto to end earlier than it should be, deflating a hot crowd. He was sent down the card before leaving to become a freelancer in 2002.
Takayama was a big star, but he chose to go freelance and work in Pride FC. He would be a far bigger deal in New Japan in comparison.
After that group, they tried Rikio, Morishima, Sugiura, KENTA, and Marufuji. That’s another story.
