Howdy!
Yep, back again as usual for what I do – preview Wrestle Kingdom! The annual New Japan show is set to take place once again on January 4th, and this year’s edition is one of the strongest in a long time.
So with that in mind, let’s preview the big show and get ready for 12 matches in the Tokyo Dome!
Let’s watch (preview) some wrestling, shall we?
As always, this will be a newbie-friendly preview. I love New Japan and want others to love New Japan, and there’s no gatekeeping in my blood. If you need to skip some of the more obvious stuff, please do – I want to do the best I can to serve both masters.
WHAT IS WRESTLE KINGDOM AND HOW DO I WATCH IT?
The $64,000 question! Let’s start with the what. Wrestle Kingdom takes place on January 4th and is the signature event for New Japan Pro Wrestling. For those who are new to this, you may have seen a bit about NJPW while watching AEW, or Impact, or perhaps through independent promotions that they’ve worked with over the past few years. Or you may have heard talk of former NJPW wrestlers making their way to the various North American promotions as full-time wrestlers; Shinsuke Nakamura is a good example from the WWE side of things, while obviously Kenny Omega stands out as the best AEW representative.
Wrestle Kingdom came more to prominence over the last several years with the increased presence of outside wrestler appearances; beginning with the promotion’s North American alliance with Ring of Honor and continuing into Chris Jericho’s famous match against Kenny Omega several years ago. Since then, Wrestle Kingdom has stood out as one of the strongest single events on the pro wrestling calendar, usually featuring several wrestlers from various companies taking on New Japan wrestlers in various incarnations. This year is especially full of such matches, including likely one of the only times that we will see WWE and AEW wrestlers appear on the same card.
Wrestle Kingdom normally pays off several New Japan tournaments that happened over the course of the year. The largest of these events is the G-1 Climax, which is the biggest tournament in wrestling and produces a challenger for the Dome in the winner. This year, the World Tag League and Junior World Tag League winners will also challenge for their respective tag titles. In that respect, even though Wrestle Kingdom happens at the beginning of the year, it’s really the end of the New Japan year in a lot of ways, as things will reset in new directions the very next day at New Years’ Dash, which we’ll cover later.
Changing from last year is that Wrestle Kingdom will only be one night this at this time, with a “2nd night” coming later on in January; we don’t yet know how the second night will tie into the first outside of the name, at least as of yet.
Watching New Japan is easy enough – all shows are broadcast on NJPWWorld, New Japan’s streaming service. At only 999 yen per month, you can watch this show for less than $10 American, which is an insane deal, especially for those of us who remember our tape trading days of paying stupid amounts of money for 18-gen dubs of the Super J-Cup. English commentary with Kevin Kelly, Chris Charlton, Rocky Romero, and Gino Gambino will be available for those who don’t listen to the Japanese version – I am not one of the cool kids and always listen to the English, so don’t hesitate to join in!
Cheering in limited fashion will be allowed on this show, which is a welcome relief; the NJPW shows with cheering over the last several months have shown the real and tangible difference that it makes for the matches.
Start times for Wrestle Kingdom are as follows:
Prelims: 1:20 am ET | 6:20 a.m. GMT | 5:20 p.m. AEDT | 3:20 p.m. JST
Main Card start time: 3 a.m. ET | 8 a.m. GMT | 7 p.m. AEDT | 5 p.m. JST
Now then……
THE MATCHES:
New Japan is very much about the matches and strong ringwork, no doubt. But they are also credited with frequently excellent, logical booking and I hope that if we go match by match, we can find those stories and bring them out for those who may not watch every New Japan show. Let’s begin!
THE PRE-SHOW:
There will be two matches on the pre-show. Up first, we’ve got a Young Lion exhibition with Ryohei Oiwa taking on the debuting Boltin Oleg. After that, the New Japan Ranbo, which will give us our 4 finalists for the King of Pro-Wrestling title to be decided at New Years’ Dash. The Ranbo is basically a Royal Rumble style match with eliminations being gained by pinfall, submission, or tossing a wrestler over the top rope. The last 4 men standing advance to the next night.
One would think that Oleg will win his debut, and as for the Ranbo? Well, that’s where everyone not on the main card ends up. With the KOPW title at stake, the Final Four will likely include Yano (who has made the Final every year since the title’s introduction), and likely Shingo Takagi, as he is the defending champion and does not have another match on the WK card. From there, pick ’em – I’ll give to Taichi and Fale or something.
Onto the main card!
Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Togi Makabe vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Minoru Suzuki, Tiger Mask – Antonio Inoki Memorial match
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? – This is a match mostly made up of men who had at least glancing interactions with Antonio Inoki, who passed on this year. Outside of Tiger Mask, who will be representing Satoru Sayama, all of them have some degree of tie to Inoki. This match will follow a brief ceremony to commemorate the memory of Inoki as part of this show.
WHO WINS? – I would assume that Tiger Mask goes down to Nagata, but I don’t really have a dog in this fight. This isn’t a personal issue or story, it’s about doing a tribute to one of the greats who left us.
The United Empire (Francesco Akira/TJP) (C) vs Lio Rush/YOH – IWGP Junior Tag Team title match
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? – Two of these juniors may be familiar to you, as both TJP and Rush have had a lot of North American exposure. YOH is a multi-time former IWGP Tag title holder with former partner SHO, and Akira just debuted this year as a new member of the United Empire. Rush and YOH are the winners of the Junior Tag League, which gave them the right to this title shot.
WHO WINS? – This is one where I think that the foreign team is keeping it. I don’t know if Rush is a guy I would totally trust to a certain extent with a title, and the UE team is excellent with neither of them really on the horizon for a Junior Title shot in the future – might as well keep the straps where they are.
Kairi (C) vs Tam Nakano – IWGP Women’s title match
WHO ARE THESE WOMEN? – Kairi is the former Kairi Sane in WWE for those who may know her from there. She defeated Mayu Iwatani to win the first iteration of this title in a tournament, and Tam Nakano has stepped up for the challenge at WK. Tam is a former Stardom champion, Stardom being the top women’s promotion and NJPW’s sister company under Bushi Road. Tam is a princess-style wrestler prone to moments of aggressive violence. She is, in fact, Lawrence Talbot’s favorite wrestler in the world and I would never ever lie about that, no sir.
WHO WINS? – Well, perhaps you’ve heard a rumor that one Mercedes Varnado, also known as Sasha Banks, is expected to be in attendance at Wrestle Kingdom, and will likely confront the champion after this match – that champ will remain Kairi, I would think. The lead-in will clearly be to the New Japan show set in San Jose in February, and Banks/Kairi is the best match for that card on top. As such, I expect Kairi to retain amidst a strong effort by Nakano.
FTR (Cash Wheeler/Dax Harwood) (C) vs Bishamon (YOSHI-HASHI/Hirooki Goto) – IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team title match
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? – Well, now, I suppose most people know who FTR are by now. Former champions of everywhere, Dax and Cash’s IWGP titles are the last ones they’re hanging onto at this point, having hung onto them against Aussie Open at Royal Quest. Bishamon are Goto and YOSHI-HASHI, former champions, current World Tag League winners (2x), and members of the CHAOS faction. As World Tag League winners, they’ve earned this WK title shot.
WHO WINS? – FTR has been shedding title belts over the last few months as rumors swirl that their AEW contracts come to an end relatively soon; with that in mind, I’m sensing a title change here. It was fine to have the tag belts out of the company for a bit while World Tag League was ongoing, it’s time to bring them home and Bishamon as former champions are as good a choice as any to do so.
Zack Sabre Jr vs Ren Narita – Final of the IWGP World TV title tournament
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? – Zack Sabre Jr is a technical wizard who is a 2x New Japan Cup winner, a multiple time tag champion, and former Rev Pro British champion. ZSJ has also never held a singles title in New Japan, which is part of the intrigue here. On the other side of the equation, we’ve got Ren Narita. A Shibata disciple from the LA Dojo, the former Young Lion returned to NJPW last year at WK to face off against his mentor Katsuyori Shibata in an exhibition that turned into an actual match. Ever since, he’s adopted all of Shibata’s affectations and the sobriquet “Son of Strong Style”, and has run all the way to the Final of this tournament. The title itself, the TV title, is meant to be an international style title that will be defended in fast matches with 15 minute time limits; this led to some truly fun matches as part of the tourney that led to this, the Final.
WHO WINS? – I am TORN on this one, honestly. There are arguments to be made strongly for both. ZSJ is coming off of the breakup of the Suzuki-Gun faction, which he’s been a part of his entire NJPW career. This also ended his Dangerous Tekkers tag team with Taichi, a team which had multiple tag title reigns. In short, he’s embarking on a new path in NJPW and it would make perfect sense to start that journey with a title run. BUT, and here’s where it gets tricky, Ren Narita is the perfect story to kick off a new title with. He’s a returning Young Lion in the midst of his first big push since the Shibata match, he’s fresh and new, and he’s a master of the Shibata style that hasn’t been a big part of NJPW for quite some time. It would give the title a big-time rush of excitement and the crowd would have an organic character to get behind.
I dunno, man. I’m thinking it’s Narita, but if it’s ZSJ I won’t be shocked. I will say that this could steal the show if they want to and I won’t be disappointed with either winner here.
Karl Anderson (C) vs Tama Tonga – IWGP NEVER Openweight title match
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? – Karl Anderson is a current member of the O.C. with AJ Styles and Luke Gallows in WWE. Before re-signing with the WWE, he had returned to NJPW and the Bullet Club, of which he is an original member, and won the NEVER title. Tama Tonga is another Bullet Club OG, and is a former NEVER champ and tag team champion with Tanga Loa as the Guerillas of Destiny. Tama was uncerimoniously dumped from the Bullet Club earlier this year and since has been embroiled in feuds with his former stablemates. After Anderson defeated fellow Tongan Hikuleo (in an awful, awful match), Tama made the challenge to get the strap back.
WHO WINS? – Tama. Tama. Tama. This shouldn’t even be close. Anderson has been a disaster as the champion and there is simply no need for him to keep the belt, which is a now far down the New Japan pecking order as a result of his reign. He doesn’t carry it on WWE television, it is scarcely mentioned, and there’s no reason to delay the happy ending here. This is the biggest slam dunk on the card.
Keiji Muto, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito/SANADA/BUSHI) – Muto’s Final NJPW match
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? – Well, let’s start with Keiji Muto, since this is his swan song. Muto is, of course, known mostly in North America as The Great Muta and has been touring companies over the last several months on a long retirement tour as he ends his storied career. Tanahashi is the Ace of New Japan, one of the greatest to ever do it. A former IWGP champion who has headlined multiple Wrestle Kingdoms, Tana will be in multiple Hall of Fames someday. Shota Umino is another young lion making his return to NJPW over the last several months and is likely most famous for being known as Jon Moxley’s young Japanese protege. His inclusion in this match speaks quite highly of how he’s viewed in by New Japan. Los Ingobernables are one of the most established and popular factions in all of New Japan, led by Tetsuya Naito, one of the company’s biggest stars. SANADA is the icy and calculating ‘Cold Skull’ of the faction, while BUSHI is their resident masked luchador along with Titan.
WHO WINS? – This one is one of the 500 sendoffs that Muta has booked over the last several months. ‘The Great Muta’ already had his last match in New Japan, so this is the last one for Kenji Muto, who just had his final Great Muta match in Pro Wrestling NOAH against Shinsuke Nakamura on January 1st. This entire match also answered the question of ‘what will Naito and Tanahashi do at Wrestle Kingdom?’, as both had been without a clear direction leading to this match. In the end, while it’s a big deal for Umino to be in this match, I expect either him or Muto is taking the pin here with LIJ picking up the win.
Taiji Ishimori (C) vs Master Wato vs El Desperado vs Hiromu Takahashi – IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? – It’s the cream of the crop in the Junior division…..and Master Wato. Ishimori is the champion and part of the Bullet Club. He’s great. El Desperado is my favorite of the Juniors and is a former champion, also a former member of Suzuki-Gun like ZSJ. He’s great. Hiromu is the coke-binged Time Bomb of LIJ, multiple-time former champion, multiple-time former Best of the Super Juniors Tournament winner, one of the most charismatic and talented wrestlers in all of New Japan. He’s great. And Master Wato is okay. He’s gotten better over the last year and change as he’s started working more with the top guys, but the gap between him and other three is still noticeable.
WHO WINS? – So this one came about because Wato pinned Ishimori in a non-title match, but Ishimori was also confronted by Desperado and Hiromu for title shots, so he just threw his arms in the air and said he would take on all of them at the same time at Wrestle Kingdom. This actually happened months ago, so there’s been varying degrees of build since as we finally arrive at this match to settle it. Starting with the most basic, Wato likely can’t win this. That leaves the other 3. I can make the case for either Hiromu or Despy to win equally; Hiromu hasn’t had the title in a long time and is the biggest star in the division, while Despy needs the big win after Suzuki-Gun disbanded and he lost the BOSJ Final. But as weird as it sounds, I’m going with Ishimori to retain, mostly due to the fact that he had an aborted story with KUSHIDA that had to quickly end due to KUSHIDA catching hand, foot, and mouth disease midway through it. I think that’s where we’re going eventually and I expect Taiji to have the strap when it happens. This is the match I’m least sure about, though, as someone is going to beat Wato to win this match and I could see any of the other 3 do it.
Will Ospreay (C) vs Kenny Omega – IWGP United States title match
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? – You gotta be kidding me. Alright, fine – Will Ospreay is in the middle of a long, establishing run with the US title that has vaulted the belt in prestige all the way up the ranks to make this title match part of a double main event. Dave Meltzer’s favorite wrestler is a talented machine of high spots and high drama sequences, and is widely considered one of, if not the, best wrestlers in the world. On the other side, the man who used to be in that position, Kenny Omega. The AEW founding member is also the first IWGP US Champion in history, and is looking to regain this title for the first time since losing it to Jay White many moons ago. This will be Kenny’s first NJPW match since leaving the company to form AEW along with the Young Bucks and Cody Rhodes, and he is being used as the big draw in this match as a result.
WHO WINS? – Oh, strap on in here. So the feud between the two has been escalating through social media and other avenues for months and months now, primarily based on Kenny’s accusations that he left New Japan in Will’s hands to a certain extent, that Ospreay was supposed to take up his mantle and has failed to do it. Ospreay, on the other hand, has accused Kenny of not being able to do what he has done, to work through the pandemic in New Japan and that he, Will, has more than taken that mantle from Kenny and all that remains is for him to do it in the ring. There will be a LOT of eyeballs on this match for several reasons, chief among them being that both wrestlers have basically promised to have the match of the night and justify selling the PPV to international markets as a result.
So who wins? I don’t think there’s a non-zero chance that Kenny wins here. If they want to do a long program, that would be a reason, but the other factor will be Forbidden Door. Last year’s PPV was considered a big success by both companies on the metrics and both are said to be eager to repeat it; so with that in mind, what would be a bigger match than Ospreay/Omega 2, with Will trying to regain the title from Kenny in enemy territory in AEW? Combine that with NJPW very much wanting to deliver on their partnership with AEW as part of their North American expansion, I can certainly see them putting Omega over here, especially if they plan to move Ospreay into the World title scene again.
But I don’t think they will.
At the end of the day, a nebulous promise of what might happen down the line isn’t a reason to change the title here. Ospreay is a strong champion for them right now and is a New Japan guy. And New Japan, for better or worse, needs New Japan guys holding their belts. They just spent months with FTR having the tag belts out of Japan, the NEVER title under the thumb of Karl Anderson in WWE, and having the World champion in Jay White over in NA for an extended period. With all that in mind, it feels like the time to experiment in having titles leave the company for long periods should be over. Combine that with the increased prestige that the US title has now gained over the last several months (it is clearly the #2 title in the company at this point), it would be the wrong call to send it to AEW for an extended time frame. If they do decide to move Will up, they can get the title off him another way. I don’t think they’ll do it here as Ospreay wins it after 30-35 minutes.
Jay White (C) vs Kazuchika Okada – IWGP World Heavyweight title match
WHO ARE THESE GUYS? – Jay White is the current IWGP World champion. And despite what it may seem, I am not trolling Scott in the slightest when I talk about Jay being the best in the world, because I truly believe that when you break down all the metrics of in-ring ability, promo ability, and intangibles, Jay White is the best in the world. He excels at all aspects of pro wrestling and is, to me, the finest product of the New Japan system in a long, long time. And that Okada guy isn’t half-bad either. If I were voting the wrestler of the year in 2022, it would likely be Okada, who occupied 3 spots on my Top 10 match list, all of them slightly different performances that required an off-the-charts ring IQ to pull off. A multiple-time former IWGP Champion, G-1 Climax Winner, and Wrestle Kingdom headliner, Okada is rightly considered one of the best of his generation.
WHO WINS? – There were some accusations about Jay’s title reign that I don’t totally understand – he won the title at Dominion and has defended it twice since then (once against Tama Tonga and once against Adam Cole, Okada, and Adam Page), and that’s perfectly in line with what champions do after Dominion. After that show, it leads into the G-1 and then the tag leagues, so there’s a narrative that I have yet to understand about Jay’s reign here when it clearly falls right in line with others in the same position. There’s a sense that he wasn’t in Japan enough for some reason, but he was there for the entire G-1 and has tried to raise the international profile of NJPW by traveling everywhere he could to promote the company.
But I doth protest too much. I’ve said this in other places and meant it – the ballsiest thing that GEDO could do would be to put Jay over. White has OWNED Okada, going 4-1 in singles matches against him and keeping him as Okada’s kryptonite is a good story to a certain extent. More to the point, it would be an absolutely defining win for Jay, whose last Wrestle Kingdom main event was a ***** affair against Kota Ibushi, but that ended in a loss. GEDO has pushed a lot of chips in on Jay, and now it’s time to go all in.
However, I can’t see it. I would be surprised and delighted, but I can’t see it. Okada beating Jay has seemed preordained since Jay won the strap from him. Okada winning the G-1 and gunning for revenge and his belt back makes all the sense in the world and is perfectly fine, if predictable, booking, and there’s nothing wrong with being logical. I think that a lot of the overall ‘meh’ for this match I’ve seen online comes back to that, where there just doesn’t seem to be anyway that White can win. As a result, it leaves most people cold to the match. But the match itself is likely to be fantastic, as both guys are amazing professional wrestlers who have already had great matches with each other. I expect nothing less here, even though my heart will likely be broken when Okada rainmakers Jay into next week and wins the title again. But a man can dream.
THE AFTERMATH:
New Years’ Dash! The day after Wrestle Kingdom, we get their version of the Raw after ‘Mania with New Years’ Dash. The only thing we know for sure is that the King of Pro-Wrestling title will be decided from the Final Four Ranbo participants. The entire rest of the card will be a mystery vortex style event, where we won’t know who’s wrestling who until the music hits. Dash has been absent in the time of 2-day WKs, so it’s lovely to have it back this year.
And that should do it! You can join all of us late night puro freaks if you wish; we’d love to have you for the big show. There’s nothing better than Wrestle Kingdom, so if you’re awake, log onto the BoD and talk some wrestling with all of us!
As always, thanks for reading this thing I wrote,
Rick Poehling
@MrSoze on Twitter
[email protected] for email