Big things are happening in the world of professional wrestling right now. WWE is soft launching its road to WrestleMania through the Royal Rumble buildup, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Tony Khan has aligned himself with Cody and the Young Bucks in forming a new wrestling company called All Elite Wrestling, and New Japan Pro Wrestling not only announced plans to continue its western market expansion- but also stunned fans prior to Wrestle Kingdom 13 with the announcement that the WK-post-show “New Year’s Dash” would be moved to the Tokyo Dome, for a two-night festival.
But how was the show that NJPW claims is the start of a “new era”, as lead booker Gedo has constantly shouted in his heel promos? In the main programs, Kazuchika Okada is trying to rebound from his former manager Gedo betraying him for the services of Jay “Switchblade” White, and Tetsuya Naito is determined to win back his Intercontinental Title from a deranged, makeup-sporting Chris Jericho.
For the main event, Kenny Omega puts his IWGP Heavyweight Championship on the line against G1 Climax winner Hiroshi Tanahashi. Can the self-proclaimed Ace of New Japan reach the mountaintop one more time, or is Kenny right when he accuses Tanahashi of being a has-been with a dated wrestling style? Let’s find out.
Gauntlet match for a shot at the NEVER Openweight Trios Championship: Marty Scurll, Yujiro Takahashi & Hangman Page vs. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano &Togi Makabe vs. Trent Baretta, Chuck Taylor and Hirooki Goto vs. Yuji Nagata, David Finlay & Jeff Cobb
Yes, Minoru Suzuki is in a pre-show match, as much as it breaks my heart to type that. This replaces the usual New Japan Rumble that tends to open Wrestle Kingdoms, and it really speaks to how stacked the main card is.
There are some fun sequences including Cobb and Smith trading suplexes, Suzuki brawling with Taguchi in the crowd presumably because he’s so disgusted with Taguchi’s rugby outfit, Cobb suplexing both Best Friends at the same time, and Goto turning a sleeper hold on Cobb into a cool roll-up. Hopefully, Goto can rebound from being so slotted so low on the card this year, given his amazing match against Suzuki at WK12. One piledriver that Chuckie T gives Finlay is particularly nasty.
Makabe and Suzuki pummel each other for a while, then Yano tries some cheating on Smith that looks like a Bugs Bunny vs. Elmer Fudd cartoon, as is Yano’s typical style. DBS and Archer pummel Yano, but Taguchi and Makabe come to his rescue. There’s a cool exchange between Suzuki and Taguchi that gets Jushin Liger on commentary to mark out, and Yano gets his revenge with a double low blow on the Killer Elite Squad to give his team the win. Of course, Suzuki takes his anger out with a steel chair on the young boys at ringside, and as always it’s awesome.
NEVER Openweight Championship: Kota Ibushi © vs. Will Ospreay
Ibushi and Ospreay are definitely high flyers, but this match is more fundamental than you might imagine, as they apply their athleticism into their open exchange in a way that feels logical. Kota makes an early mistake when he misses a moonsault earning him an Ospreay kick to the gut followed by a space flying tiger drop. But from then on it begins to feel more like an old-school match as Will works the champion over. It all ties into the theme of this show’s conflict of modern vs traditional wrestling.
One of my favorite moments in this match is when Ibushi gets the Gold Star Bomb for two, but Ospreay clips Kota’s leg as he’s going to the top rope and they slap each other while he’s in the tree of woe position. But Ibushi hits a double stomp on the apron to Will’s back, but his mega-german is countered (thankfully, as that thing is not good for the neck of the wrestlers he gives it to). Then Ibushi manages a regular bridging german suplex for two, but Ospreay gets a lariat in response.
For the finish, Will gets a beheader elbow to the back of Kota’s head that looks like it legit K.O.’s the guy, then he hits the Stormbreaker to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion. Kota may just be a fantastic seller, but you could hear that strike throughout the Tokyo Dome. Yikes.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Suzuki-Gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado) vs. Los Ingerbonables de Japon (BUSHI & Shingo Takagi) vs. Roppongi 3K (YOH and SHO)
I’ve been a fan of Shingo Takagi since seeing his work in Dragon Gate, and it’s cool to see him showcasing his skills on such a major platform. He’s rocking some pretty sick entrance gear here, as is the standard with Los Ingerbonables, although BUSHI’s outfit veers far into the lane of cultural appropriation.
Suzuki-Gun works over R3K early, but SHO starts throwing lariats at everyone before BUSHU and Kanemaru collide. Shingi delivers some brutal shots to SHO before SHO hits him and Desperado with the double german suplex. R3K hit double jumping knees to Desperado before hitting knees on Shingo for two. Roppongi then dodges SuzukiGun’s mist attempts before LIJ capitalizes and Shingo hits a pumping bomber for two.
BUSHI dives onto YOH suicide style, but Takagi gets the Last Dragon to give LIJ the Junior Heavyweight Tag Titles. An entertaining, but fairly quick tag team title match that one might see at a heavily stacked WrestleMania card.
RPW British Heavyweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii © vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
I swear if ZSJ were coming up in the 1980’s or early 1990’s, he would have been saddled with either a variation of God Save The Queen or a dainty, “gentlemanly tea time” theme song by a wrestling company, especially because of his scientific wrestling work, Instead, he walks out to brutal-sounding death metal, which helps a lot with his aura. Taka Michinoku is still awesome as his bragging mouthpiece, though ZSJ’s talking ability is a bit underrated. Someone in the Wrestle Kingdom thread refers to Ishii as a “pissed off old fisherman”, and I can’t help but agree that’s the perfect way to describe his essence.
This is definitely the most old-school style match on the card, a clash between Ishii’s smash-mouth brawling style (though he’s pretty technically proficient in his own right) and Sabre’s skill at working his opponents over with holds and tying them up into knots. Things get bad for Ishii in a hurry when he hits Sabre with a superplex, only for Zack to flip out if it and hit an armbreaker on Ishii. The RevPro champion is able to dodge ZSJ’s sweep, but Zack hooks in an octopus hold. He follows that up with a cool flipping powerbomb for two.
Ishii gets out of ZSJ’s clutch pin and hits a sliding lariat, but ZSJ stays on the arm, then locks in Hurrah, Another Year- I’m not going to type in the whole name here’ it’s his double chickenwing hold- that gets Ishii to submit- netting Sabre the RevPro British Heavyweight Championship. This was a fantastic scientific wrestling match, and it’s a testament to how much ZSJ has grown as an overall performer. He’s looking more confident all the time and his ring work’s getting more versatile.
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Guerrillas of Destiny © vs. The Young Bucks vs. Los Ingerbonables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA)
The Bucks aren’t buying Tanga’ insistence that he’s turned over a new leaf and become nice, seeing as that’s not an ideal strategy for Wrestle Kingdom success. EVIL hits Matt Jackson with a lariat from the aisle, but the GOD work him over back in the ring. The Biuckstake over with their usual high flying assault, nailing EVIL with a spinning neckbreaker, and a baseball slide to SANADA. The Guerrillas continue their questionable new moral outlook by encouraging EVIL when Matt has him locked in a sharpshooter while they pull away the ropes, which is pretty funny.
SANADA dropkicks Tama and nails multiple planchas on different opponents. Tongan Twist to Nick Jackson, then Tanga suplexes the hell out of EVIL. Matt gets a spear on Tanga, then Nick hits a 450 on SANADA after a tower of doom superplex. Jado and Fale get involved before EVIL clothlines the big man of Bullet Club out, but GOD stop the Magic Killer. The Bucks then go for the Meltzer Drive,r but GOF counters, then LIJ hit Magic Killer and a SANADA moonsault to win the Heavyweight Tag Titles.
IWGP United States Championship: Cody Rhodes © vs. Juice Robinson
Cody’s swing at Juice with the actual belt doesn’t work, and Juice is able to counter his flexing to the crowd with a crescent kick and spinebuster. Brandi begs off over Cody’s body. But the ref’s not having it. Cody does manage to get uice to miss a change and drive his shoulder into the post. Brandi gets a spear on Juice while Tiger Hattori’s not looking, finally getting her ejected.
Cody hits CrossRhodes for two, but Juice blocks Din’s Fire before Cody blocks Pulp Friction, then Juice gets his own CrossRhodes for two. Disaster Kick, then Cody gets Pulp Friction for a very near fall. Off comes the weight belt and a hard whip to Juice’s back, then the two trade jabs. Juice gets a hard left hand, then a brutal second strike to Cody’s jaw. Another Pulp Friction, then he hits a second one for a decisive win to regain the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship.
So this affair wasn’t given as much time as I thought it would get, but it was still a fun match that helped to make Juice look strong. Cody gets a ton of flack for the pace of his ring work as he’s not as spot-heavy as other talents in NJPW, but in my opinion he’s fantastic at generating emotion and drama, something all great wrestlers know how to do.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (C) vs, Taiji Ishimori
Unfortunately, Doc Taguchi doesn’t have the time machine mechanics sorted out, and “younger KUSHIDA” is sent back to his own time for the real deal in a clever entrance. So many people on the FAN boards suddenly switch their icons to images of the creepy child KUSHIDA and it’s hilarious and unsettling at the same time. Ishimori isn’t amused and rakes the champion’s eyes, but that earns him a hiptoss and dropkicks. Bone Soldier’s able to transition into a Lebell Lock, holding KUSHIDA in the middle of the ring relatively early. Daniel Bryan might consider Ishimori’s version “fickle”, but I think it looks pretty effective.
Ishimori looks incredibly strong throughout this match, rarely giving the champion any room to breathe. Ishimori gets a flying senton, then a nasty sliding german suplex from the ropes. The springboard 45o misses and KUSHIDA gets the armlock. Ishimori fights out of it and hammers on KUSHIDA’s arm. The champion gets Ishimori in a weird position with the referee to deliver a sharp kick, but Bone Soldier gets the facebuster for two.
KUSHIDA hooks in a hoverboard lock, but Ishimori escapes with a death valley bomb. KUSHIDA then gets Back To The Future, but Ishimori counters with a knee strike and nails KUSHIDA with Bloody Cross to win the Junior Heavyweight Title. The former Pro Wrestling NOAH star’s made quite the impact since joining Bullet Club last year, and he’ll certainly be the one of the top dogs of the junior heavyweight division in 2019. Afterwards, it was leaked that KUSHIDA is WWE bound, so this was a fine sendoff for this NJPW run. Maybe he’ll have another go with them someday, who knows?
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
The Rainmaker’s entrance is as gaudy as ever, as he’s sporting a sash under his coat which he removes to reveal that his short trunks have returned. The sight of Okada’s thighs gets one of the biggest pops of the night, I kid you not (to be fair, they are pretty magnificent). He’s all over White early with boots and forearms, but the Switchblade quickly suplexes him outside the ring. He throws Okada into the turnbuckle and delivers a brutal elbow, then another suplex. They exchange slaps, then Okada starts disdainfully kicking White in the head, followed by more elbows and a DDT.
The longest-reigning heavyweight champion in New Japan history hits White with a dropkick to the outside, then Okada boots him over the barricade. Gedo makes the mistake of trying to sneak attack Rainmaker, but that get him beat up and crossbodied alongside his current client. But White levels Okada with a flatliner, german suplex, and Uranage. He never falls completely behind in this match, which really sells the power level of White seeing as this is the moment ideally where Okada would be manhandling anyone else he had such a major grudge against.
Like a great heel manager, Gedo distracts the ref and goes after Okada with a chair, but that gets him dropkicked twice. But a rainmaker attempts gets him SPIKED with a half nelson suplex from White and then a Kiwi Crusher for two. But Okada gets his tombstone piledriver, and after an exchange another dropkick. A series of reversals, then he hits the spinning Rainmaker. He goes for one more, only for White to hit Blade Runner for the three-count. It’s interesting how the narrative instantly switches from “Can Okada get revenge?” to “Can Okada ever beat Jay White?” This was a solid match that needed to kick into another gear and could have perhaps been a touch more violent, in order to really sell the hatred between these two men.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho © vs Tetsuya Naito
With his weird hat, goofy spiked jacket and face paint, Jericho has essentially transformed into “Dr. Rockzo” from the Adult Swim cartoon Metalocalypse. But don’t sell him short based on his appearance, as he’s continued his path of destruction against L.I.J, winning the IC Title from Naito in a chaotic battle at the Dominion show last year, then tapping out EVIL at Power Struggle.
Naito’s not making the same mistake he did in their last match though, and he jumps Y2J right away and attacks him on the outside. He hits Jericho with a nasty piledriver, beats him up some more back inside the ring. But Jericho does his best Charlotte Flair impression and whacks the Stardust Genius with a kendo stick, pummeling him with it some more back inside.
This is a no-disqualification garbage brawl, but there’s plenty of drama throughout all the same, which speaks to how many types of match styles Naito can work. Jericho springboard dropkicks Naito on the apron, and he lands on his head. More cranial trauma ensues when Y2J hits a brutal DDT on a table aside, and Y2J dings prematurely to massive boos in a funny moment. A crossbody and Lionsault get two-counts for Jericho, as does a back suplex in which he does his “Cmon babay” pose.
Naito comes back with a flying forearm and dropkick to the back, then a neckbreaker for two before mocking him with his own pose, But Jericho hooks in the Walls of Jericho, only for Naito to break it up with some kendo shots. He then nails Jericho with a few more kendo shots, only to eat a Codebreaker for two. Jericho whacks Naito with a steel chair, but Y2J then gets DDTed on the steel, then follows up with his own Codebreaker for two. He german suplexes Jericho onto the stairs, but Jericho Codebreaks him again. God damn.
Much like Omega/Jericho last year, there are moments where you may think the finish is about to come, but it doesn’t. Naito alley-oops Jericho into the exposed turnbuckle metal and hits a Destino, but it gets a two-count. Finally, Naito hits a Destino, whacks Jericho with the IC belt, then finishes off Y2J with a final Destino to become the Intercontinental Champion once again. He makes sure to abuse referee Red Shoes Unno afterward though, just to prove he’ll never change. As chaotic as this was, it was still intense fun, and a suitable ending to the Jericho/Naito saga in a way where both guys came out looking stronger.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega © vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
The song “Devil’s Sky” is absent, as the defending IWGP Heavyweight Champion instead walks out the to the ring to “Hopes and Dreams” from the hit video game Undertale. The angelic costume is interesting, as he’s casting himself as a villain who doesn’t believe he’s wrong- as all good heels do.
Right out the starting gate, this match feels like a fight, with Tanahashi countering Omega’s early one-winged Angel attempt into an abdominal stretch and pinning combination. But Kenny is able to take over relatively quickly, and the kicks he starts hitting the Ace of the Universe with are unsettling to watch.
He folds the G1 Climax winner like an accordion with a suplex on the ring apron, and he’s fulfilling his promise to “beat that old man ass” as he’s taunted throughout interviews leading up to Wrestle Kingdom. Tanahashi’s able to manage in hope spots here and there, but it’s mostly the Elite leader in command for the first half. He accidentally knocks Milano Collection AT over while setting up a moonsault, and he salutes the former junior heavyweight star-turned announcer to the crowd, which Milano hilariously wants little part of.
Tanahashi, who’s argued in favor of a more traditional wrestling style as opposed to Omega’s, looks curiously at a table Kenny’s set up on the outside, but changes his mind and battles him honorably back in the ring. He hits a dragon screw and dropkick, followed by a flipping senton for two. But Kenny gets a facebuster before a slick looking frankensteiner. He then nails Tanahashi with the tope con hilo, sadly slamming his back onto the edge of the apron in the process and also tweaking his knee a bit. This becomes important later.
Kenny does power through the pain enough for a missile dropkick and two dragon suplex, then the first V-Trigger knee of the match. However, his knee gives out on the fireman carry roll , and Tanahashi blocks his moonsault by dragon screwing his leg again in a brutal fashion. The twist-and-shout leads to a Texas Cloverleaf. In a cool twist, he transitions it into a Styles Clash on Omega, but his High Fly Flow attempt earns him double knees to the gut. Kenny misses another V-Trigger attempt though, getting him dragon screwed yet again. Tana then pulls out a sling blade on the ring apron.
.
And then Tanahashi looks at the table again….and gets an idea. Maybe he will use that table. After all, the title is on the line. He places a prone Omega on it and goes up top for a High Fly Flow, but Kenny moves and Tana crashes through it spectacularly. Don Callis, an Omega supporter, is relishing taunting Tanahashi for his hubris, calling him a “preachy S.O.B.” Dude, the guy’s taken enough lumps tonight.
But Kenny disagrees, and starts powerbombing Tanahashi repeatedly back inside the ring. The Ace gets another sling blade just to stay alive, and the crowd is beside themselves cheering on their hero. A strike exchange leads to Kenny giving Tana some brutal knees to the ribs, then a german suplex- but Tana literally hulks up, brother. Without as much racism, brother. Kenny’s like “damn that”, and gives Tana a sling blade of his own! He then hits his own High Fly Flow, but Tana hulks up AGAIN at one. Jushin Liger’s going crazy behind the booth.
Omega throws some more knee strikes, then pulls Tana’s tights, exposing his butt yet again for the first time since the Billy Gunn match. He then hits a reverse frankensteiner and a killer V-Trigger, but Tanahashi won’t die, and he gets his own reverse frankensteiner to huge applause. He gets a dragon suplex for two, and back-to-back High Fly Flows for a close two-count. Tanahashi goes up again, only for Kenny to fly at him with a V-Trigger, then an avalanche dragon suplex. Thankfully, Tana wasn’t spiked on the back of his neck the way Okada was at Wrestle Kingdom 11.
Kenny gets one more V-Trigger on Tanahashi, then goes for a One-Winged Angel, but Tana counters. He hits a sling blade, followed by one more High Fly Flow to win his record-setting eight IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
This was faster paced than I imagined it being, as I incorrectly predicted they would wrestle up to an hour, and there weren’t as many false finishes in this Omega match than he’s had with Okada. Still, he and Tanahashi told a great, physical story here that served as a satisfying payoff to the buildup. Despite his exhaustion, Tanahashi just barely has enough for one air guitar jam session, celebrating another chapter in his legendary career.
Overall thoughts: New Japan has some interesting and tough choices to make going forward if they want to continue their success in the rapidly changing wrestling landscape of 2019, and this show was a reflection of a company who wants to evolve and continue showcasing innovating talent, yet without alienating its primary fanbase and long-time New Japan supporters. This is evident by Tanahashi going over in the end, and every single champion falling to the challengers.
As of writing. Omega- who lives in Japan- has shown interest in both NJPW as well as AEW. If NJPW makes a deal with All Elite, what does that say for their relationship with Ring of Honor going forward, especially with their Madison Square Garden show coming soon?
Regardless of what choices they make, this show was immensely entertaining with a wide variety of wresting styles on display. The storylines are simple to understand, and most of their outcomes made sense- I’m still curious about how Okada’s going to light that fire and get his groove back again- but aside from that call, there’s some amazing wrestling up and down the card to mark out to. Easily recommended.