#Omega Wato

[felis-rach]

Anyway guys guess what playing Omega Factor did to me?

So yeah this is a post-2003 au, Astro and Sharaku are 12 or so and Sharaku is a new student in Astro's class, and they become buddies

This Sharaku was raised in a lab when he was a little kid, just like 2003 Rock, and rescued by Dr. Kenmochi who becomes his adoptive father (Wato is his adoptive sister here). Sharaku actually knows of his powers and remembers what happens when he uncovers his eye, so he's a lot more anxious and nervous, afraid that he'll hurt someone.

And yeah I think I'm shipping them and I'll call this ship Atomic Eye If this ship somehow exists already let me know I'll be surprised

[naritaren]

Happy Friday! I am back with a list of recs! There is a series in this list so happy weekend reading!

Our Little Remedy by namajague Pairing: Kenta/Shibata Rating: E Words: 5,340 Rehabilitation of the Anxious Mind by GrimmWork Pairing: Kenny Omega/Hangman Adam Page Rating: E Words: 65,204 pliant as gold (which is no apology) by sybilius Pairing: Okada/Jay White Rating: E Words: 2,597 El rojo, el azul by phoenixjustice (Series) Pairing: Master Wato/El Desperado Rating: E Words: 5,438 Rare Is This Love, Keep It Covered by turbobackpack Pairing: Ren Narita/Shota Umino Rating: E Words: 16,218 I want you out in the pouring rain (i want you down on your knees) *Self-rec* Pairing: Ren Narita/Shota Umino Rating: E Words: 1,343

[wrestlingisfake]

Dominion preview

SANADA vs. Yota Tsuji - Sanada is making his second defence of the IWGP world title. This is Tsuji's first match in Japan since August 2021, when he graduated the NJPW dojo and went on excursion in the UK and Mexico. He returned last month to attack Sanada, putting himself in line for this title match.

To me the draw for this match is how unusual it is. Dominion is New Japan's #2 show of the year, so you'd expect two big names to headline. It's not unheard of for a returning young boy to challenge for a title in his first match back. But a match like that would generally only headline a lesser show, unless the defending champion has the clout to carry the show all on his own. Sanada, however, is still trying to establish his title run isn't a fluke, and that he actually belongs among New Japan's tippy-toppy guys. So this is quite an experiment they've got here.

I still don't have a good sense of Tsuji's post-excursion gimmick or personality, so it's hard to know what to expect. (For comparison, watching Tomoyuki Oka as a Young Lion could not possibly prepare you for his whole deal as Great-O-Khan.) I liked the vibe in his hype videos, about some kind of wolf kaiju arriving in Japan from space, and his outfit makes him look like a dinosaur man, which is cool. Hopefully he gets to showcase a lot of new shit to get us excited for what's next. But Tsuji is not Kazuchika Okada in 2012, and I don't think he's going to win the big one on his first try. Sanada has to retain the title.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. Master Wato - Just days ago Wato won the Best of the Super Jr. tournament to earn a shot at Hiromu's IWGP junior heavyweight title. Notably, Wato completed his victory by beating two guys--Mike Bailey and Titan--who bested Hiromu during the tournament. Oh and this show is in Wato's hometown.

So it seems like Wato is a shoo-in, until you factor in that it's Wato. He returned from excursion in 2020 with an inscrutable grandmaster gimmick and immediately struggled against low-ranking juniors like DOUKI and Yoshinobu Kanemaru. For three years he's been presented like a misfire who's squandering his potential. Even his junior tag title reign felt like Ryusuke Taguchi was doing charity work for him. In singles matches Wato is 0-2 against Hiromu; in fact, Hiromu is junior champion now because he pinned Wato in a four-way to capture the belt from Taiji Ishimori. During BOSJ this year English commentary buried him throughout the tournament.

In short, they've done a masterful job making it feel like Wato can't win the big one, even when the booking suggests that he has to. If he loses here, I don't think there's any coming back from that--he'll be the YOSHI-HASHI of the junior division, jobbing in tag matches for the next decade with a confused look on his face. If he wins, it'll be huge for him...but much like Sanada finally beating Okada, I'll keep wondering if they're really serious about not cutting him off at the knees again.

I'm in the tank for Hiromu, but under the circumstances I'd much rather see New Japan make a new junior star than leave everything as-is. The junior division was feeling pretty stagnant before BOSJ, and having some of the newer faces chasing Wato on top would be just what the doctor ordered. I gotta root for a title change.

Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Jon Moxley & Shota Uminio & Claudio Castagnoli - Okada's team captured the NEVER trios title on May 3, and Umino quickly challenged them on behalf of Moxley. The third challenger, Castagnoli, is Moxley's teammate from the Blackpool Combat Club in AEW. The BCC is fresh off a major victory in an eight-man brawl against the Elite on May 28, and I guess they're still out for blood. Kenny Omega has been teasing getting help against the BCC from a friend in Japan; this match could give Okada a reason to be that friend.

Newcomers might be confused that Shota is buddies with the BCC. Basically in 2019 Moxley beat the breaks off of him and then "adopted" him as his personal young boy. I assumed the Shooter would come out of excursion with a Mox-inspired mean guy gimmick, but instead Shota returned to New Japan in 2022 wearing white, with happy uplifting music, and handing toys out to children. But he and Mox are still tight and they like to beat ass together, so it's all good. I'm not sure if Umino is officially a member of the BCC but he might as well be.

I can't clearly see where any of these guys go after this match, whether the champs retain or not. The only direction that even sort of makes sense is: Mox's team wins, beats down Okada, Omega runs in to make the save, so at Forbidden Door it's Okada & The Elite vs. BCC & Umino in a ten-man tag. So I guess that's my prediction, let's see if it happens.

David Finlay vs. El Phantasmo - This is for Finlay's NEVER championship. Finlay took over Bullet Club a few months ago and ELP was never happy with it, so Finlay finally turfed him out of the group back in April. Phantasmo returned for revenge last month, moments after Finlay won the NEVER belt. I've never seen ELP perform except as a douchebag heel covered in Bullet Club gear, so his reinvention as an anti-Bullet Club babyface should be something to see. But yeah, Finlay is going to murder this poor man.

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi vs. Great-O-Khan and Aaron Henare - This is a three-way match for two vacant titles, the IWGP heavyweight tag team championship and the STRONG tag team championship. Aussie Open--Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher--had held both titles until Davis was injured. Originally this match was Davis-Fletcher vs. Goto-Yoshi vs. Evil-Yuj, for only the IWGP title. Then it became two-on-two for both sets of belts. Then Khan and Henare demanded to represent the United Empire in place of Davis and Fletcher.

I hate to say it but it feels like the strongest move right now is to put the belts on Evil and Yujiro. Then you get 3-6 months of babyface teams trying to overcome House of Torture shenanigans, which is a quick fix for losing whatever story they had in mind for Aussie Open. Hell, maybe they can book Evil and Yujiro vs. Jeff Jarrett and Jay Lethal at Forbidden Door. Man, I'm just full of terrible ideas in this paragraph.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Jeff Cobb - This is a rematch from May 3, when Cobb challenged for the NJPW World television title but the match went to a 15-minute time limit draw. Neither man was happy with that outcome and immediately agreed to run it back. The first match was great, but the pitch here is "what if we did that great match again but shorter?" Yeah, I'm not a fan of the 15-minute time limit stuff. Sabre should retain.

KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight vs. TJP & Francesco Akira - The Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kushida and Knight) won the IWGP junior tag team title from Catch 2/2 back in April, and this is the rematch. A month ago I thought Catch 2/2 would fall out of contention, but during BOSJ, TJP beat Kushida and Akira beat Knight, which made this match inevitable. Kushida finished BOSJ with a miserable 2-7 record, so unless they're really breaking this guy down for a storyline his team desperately needs a win. I think they'll get it.

Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi & Titan & BUSHI vs. Taichi & TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru - Taichi's team are four of the guys in Just 5 Guys; the fifth guy, world champion Sanada, used to be in Naito's Los Ingobernables de Japon stable. The two groups have been fighting ever since. It's starting to seem like this will keep going until Naito challenges Sanada at the Tokyo Dome in January. For now, though, I don't expect anything important to come out of this match, so it probably doesn't matter who wins.

Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer - This the final match in a four-man tournament to decide the next challenger for the IWGP United States title. Kenny Omega won that title from Ospreay back in January. I was at the last Ospreay-Archer match back in 2019, and it was an unexpected treat, so I'm looking forward to seeing them square off again. Personally I'd be cool with Archer winning and going on to face Omega, so either outcome here is fine with me. But it's pretty clear the plan is to book Omega-Ospreay II, probably at Forbidden Door.

[rodindies]

Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Togi Makabe vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Tiger Mask & Minoru Suzuki (Antonio Inoki Memorial Match)

Catch 2/2 vs CHAOS IWGP (Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship)

KAIRI vs Tam Nakano (IWGP Women’s Championship)

FTR vs Bishamon (IWGP Tag Team Championships)

Ren Narita vs Zack Sabre Jr.

Karl Anderson vs Tama Tonga (NEVER Openweight Championship)

Keiji Muto, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino vs Los Ingobernables De Japon

Taiji Ishimori vs Hiromu Takahashi vs El Desperado vs Master Wato (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship)

Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega (IWGP United States Championship)

Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada (IWGP World Heavyweight Championship)

[anthonysstupiddailyblog]

Anthony’s Stupid Daily Blog (294): Wed 4th Jan 2022

Tuned into last night Wrestle Kingdom.

Keiji Muto, Hitoshi Tanahashi and Shota Umino vs Tetsuya Naito, Sanada and Bushi. Muta’s final New Japan match and personally I would have preferred to see him as Muta but his final Muta match will happen next month. For some reason Sanada and Muto do a Too Sweet before the match, I’m guessing that Muto used to do this gesture before Bullet Club was a thing. They had me going for a second when Sanada hit a moonsault on Muta early in the match but he kicked out. Umino wins after a Death Rider in a match that was quite shorter than I thought it was going to be and Muto gets the fuck out of the ring without celebrating. Fair enough the guy is humble but take a bow or something

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Master Wato vs El Desperado vs Hitoshi Tanahashi vs Taiji Ishimori

Confusing spot where Taiji retreats to the stage and almost gets a count out win when all the others tumble out and he slips back in but it’s a fatal four way how can there be count outs. Takahashi and Ishimori briefly team up and Ishimori goes to whip Taka into Despy but then rolls him up for a small package. Wato has it won but Ishimori has pulls the ref out, whacks Wato with a chair but Wato recovers and hits his move but Despy breaks it up. Tanahashi with Time Bomb 2 on Wato and wins. Odd choice since the build up was about Wato vs Tanahashi since October

IWGP United State Championship: Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega

Omega boots Ospreay off the apron into the barricade then boots him into the exposed turnbuckle then a Bane / Batman style backbreaker. Kenny hits a double stomp on a table then Ospreay with a suplex onto the metal side of the table

DDT on the top turnbuckle and Ospreys is busted open. Ospreay goes for a hurricanrana but omega slips out and hits an AlleyOop into the turnbuckle. Omega gets the win after a reverse Kama Goye and a One Winged Angel. This match rocked. As much as I love Omega and he’s certainly an asset to AEW (and him being there is definitely better for his health since he’s not required to do these kind of matches so often) it’s only in New Japan where you get to see why Omega is considered the best in the world.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada fa Jay White

Okada hits a Double DDT to White and Gedo on the outside when he tries to cheat. Okada wears White down with the money clip but White avoids the rainmaker by collapsing. White dominates the latter half of the match but as is often the case with Okada he outfoxes and outpowers White and gets the win with a beautiful Rainmaker. Although I think White is the best heel in the business and one day I would like for him to have a lengthy IWGP title reign I can’t deny it’s great to see Okada with the belt again. Hopefully during this reign we see some young, hungry newcomers getting the chance to develop their skills and work with Okada.

[lilietherly]

[MiniFic! Watolock]

Omegaverse.

Sherlock Alfa x Wato Omega.

Relación establecida.

Casadas y con hijas.

(El contexto es simple; Wato se enferma y no puede ver a sus pequeñas por temor a contagiarlas).

(Ya tenía los nombres que utilizaría en todas las versiones en qué H&W tuvieran hijos, pero luego salió Miss Sherlock y ya que la historia ocurre en Japón, pensé que debía modificarlos por completo, ¡pero no! Modificaré solo los segundos nombres, los primeros se quedarán igual).

(Esto significa que, de menor a mayor los nombres seguirán siendo {no importa si son niños o niñas}; Virgil, Paris y Kendall. Cuando piense nuevos segundos nombres, haré un MiniFic para estrenarlos :3)

* * *

Wato despertó aquella mañana sintiéndose más liviana que en los últimos días. Según su experiencia podría decir que lo peor había pasado y ahora solo necesitaba un poco más de tiempo para una recuperación absoluta. Está bien, se dijo, podría soportarlo siempre que Sherlock estuviera haciéndole compañía como hasta ahora.

En este momento, sin embargo, su instinto clamaba otra cosa.

—¿Estás segura? Ellas también quieren verte, pero si aún no... —dijo la detective, sentada a su lado, mientras hacía a un lado un mechón castaño de la doctora.

—Lo estoy, por favor, necesito verlas —susurró Wato, su voz todavía rasposa. Cuando su Alfa salió, volvió sus manos contra la tres gorritos que la habían acompañado en el tiempo que había pasado recluida en cama, el aroma casi desvanecido. Su lado Omega y su instinto maternal ansiaban con toda su fuerza tener a sus cachorritas tan cerca como fuera posible.

El riesgo de contagio era mínimo ahora y simplemente ya no podría esperar un minuto m��s. Escuchó a su querida Sherlock darles indicaciones a sus niñas antes de abrir la puerta, pidiéndoles silencio y calma. La petición, desde luego, fue en totalidad ignorada y las tres pequeñas niñas del matrimonio Futaba-Tachibana entraron rápidamente al encuentro de su madre.

Wato las rodeó, abrazándolas contra ella mientras inhalaba sus aromas. La menor, de tan solo cinco años, lloraba, clamando y gritando sobre cuánto la había extrañado y rogándole que no se enfermara de nuevo. Las otras dos pequeñas no tardaron tanto en seguirla. Sherlock preparó los pañuelos, calculando que Wato tampoco resistiría mucho las lágrimas.

Por supuesto que Sherlock estaba feliz también, entendía el lazo que compartían los Omegas con sus hijos y en estos momentos; ella misma podía recibir en olas todo el amor que su esposa y sus hijas irradiaban. Le tranquilizaba a niveles que ninguna otra cosa podría jamás lograr.

Cuando Wato sintió la primera lágrima caer, apareció en frente una caja de pañuelos. Al mirar a su Alfa, una sonrisa calmada adornando su rostro, la noción de sentirse completa la cubrió como un manto de relajación luminosa y cálida. El peso de sus niñas completaba tan hermosa sensación.

Y el beso que recibió de Sherlock resonando por todo su cuerpo, finamente, llevó hasta su corazón el ritmo de la tranquilidad, la paz y el amor.

(Ya sé, demasiadas notas para algo tan corto, pero sentí que necesitaba aclararlo XD. Lamento los errores ortográficos, intentaré corregirlos tan pronto como los vea. ¡GRACIAS POR LEER! ❤️❤️❤️)

[brainbustr]

How many stars to give between the last 3 fights of NJPW's Wrestle Kingdom 17 at Tokyo Dome ?? 🤔 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

👉 https://brainbustr.com/en/events/njpw-wrestle-kingdom-17-in-tokyo-dome

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW WRETLE KINGDOM 17 in Tokyo Dome REVIEW (Jan 4th, 2023)

Ryohei Oiwa vs. Oleg Boltin  N/R

King Of Pro-Wrestling Title 2023 Right To Challenge New Japan Rambo

  **1/2

Antonio Inoki Tribute Match - Tatsumi Fujinami, Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask vs. Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima  **1/2

IWGP Jr. Tag Championship - TJP & Francesco Akira (c) vs. YOH & Lio Rush  ****

IWGP Women's Championship - KAIRI (c) vs. Tam Nakano  ***3/4

IWGP Tag Team Championship - FTR (c) vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI  ****1/4

NJPW World TV Championship Tournament Final - Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita  ****

NEVER Openweight Championship - Karl Anderson (c) vs. Tama Tonga  ***1/4

Keiji Muto NJPW FINAL MATCH - Muto, Tanahashi & Umino vs. Naito, SANADA & BUSHI  ***

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship 4-Way - Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Master Wato  ****

IWGP United States Championship - Will Ospreay (c) vs. Kenny Omega  *****

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship - Jay White (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada  ****1/4+

Photos.

Happy New Year one and all! Well, my first review on here in years is of the first New Japan show in years that actually felt like New Japan! This was a tremendous show that, despite its 6 hour runtime, was a breeze to watch. Pretty much every match was a sprint until the Double Main Event, and it was full of great to outstanding action. As well as being the first Wrestle Kingdom since 2020 to have actual cheering and a hot crowd. Which created quite the environment.

The pre-show section was fine, but nothing special really. It kicked off with a 3 minute exhibition match Young Lions Oiwa, and the debuting Olympian, Oleg Boltin. This was solid stuff, but much too brief to take anything away from, other than both guys looked really good. Oleg got a near fall with a big slam as the 3:00 time limit expired. Next up was the warm January 4th comfort blanket that is the New Japan Rambo. This was a fun but unspectacular battle royal, much like we’ve come to expect. There weren’t any surprises, and it came to an end at 30:37, when Shingo and SHO (who entered 1st) lastly eliminated El Phantasmo. The final four all “win” and go through to KOPW Title Decision Match at New Year’s Dash tomorrow. The other two winners were Toru Yano (to the surprise of no one), and Great-O-Khan (ditto). Then it was time for the Inoki Tribute Match, as 69 year old living legend Tatsumi Fujinami, who’s impossible good for his age, teamed with Minoru Suzuki and Tiger Mask IV, in a losing effort to historic NJ Dojo graduates, Makabe (who I haven’t seen wrestle in forever), and the still great duo of Kojima and Nagata. This was decent enough for what it was, though it did feature some dodgy looking old dude action, but it was a nice, feel-good nostalgia fest, and I’m not complaining that we got to see any of these guys on the show. Everyone came out in the patented Inoki red towel. The finish fell apart though as Tiger tried (and failed) to do a jumping victory roll on Makabe, time stood still for a minute, then Togi effectively just sat on him and got the win for his team in 9:10. Fujinami did the Inoki “Ichi, Ni, San, DAAAAAH!” catchphrase in the post match.

The main show kicked off in grand fashion as Catch 2/2 defended their IWGP Jr Tag Titles against YOH and Lio Rush in a great little opener. This kicked off a theme of this show, which is matches clocking in at 10 minutes or under, and generally being super fun sprints. This started off hot with YOH wiping the champs out with a topé as they made their entrance, but the champions retaliated by taking Rush out with an elevated facebuster on the ramp, which busted him open. Lots of hot back and forth action culminated in the challengers hitting TJP with the 3K, but Akira broke it up. From there, YOH went for the Direct Drive, but TJP turned it into a small package to reatin the belts at the 10:29 mark. KAIRI’s first defence of the IWGP Women’s Title was next, as she took on Tam Nakano in a really good little sprint. Let’s get the negative out of the way first; this only went around 6 minutes. But, it was a s good a 6 minute match as you’ll ever see! It was all-action, they exchanged strikes, Tam hit a big dive to the floor and scored a great near fall with the Violet Screwdriver. KAIRI came back with a near fall of her own after a Cutlas spinning back fast. She hit another Cutlas, followed by the Insane Elbow to retain her title. The post match is what will make the most news, however, as the former Sasha Banks, now going by Mercedes Moné made her way to the ring, sporting a bit of a different look. She also had some badass, The Chronic era vibe entrance music. After a staredown, she laid KAIRI out with... some move, declared herself the “CEO of the women’s divison”, then challenged her to a title match in San Jose in February. Moné very much came across as a star here.

More tag gold was on the line next, as Heavyweight champs FTR defended against Bishamon. This was an excellent match, and even only going 10:10, was a fast-paced hard-hitter, that managed to be better than I anticipated. Wheeler hit big dives to the floor, and the champions scored great near falls with a Power Plex and Spike Piledriver. After an exciting closing stretch, the challengers hit Shoto on Harwood, and YH scored the win and the titles for his team. I know there’s a lot of speculation about FTR’s future at the moment, but they’ve been nothing short of fantastic in the last year, and I personally feel there’s still a lot more for them to do in Japan. The inaugural NJPW World TV Champion was crowned next as a newly blonde ZSJ faced off against The Son Of Strong Style, Ren Narita in, you guessed it, another great sprint. These 15 minute time limit matches really are a ton of fun, and this was no different; a compelling combination of hard strikes and submission grappling. Zack worked over Narita’s arm throughout to prevent the Overhead Suplex, which payed off as during a grappling exchange he caught him in a Jujigatame, and Ren quickly tapped to give Sabre Jr. the title in 10:32. The post match saw Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls come out, who were ZSJ’s old mates in NOAH. They handed Zack a TMDK shirt, which he put on and appeared to declare himself the leader. It’s worth pointing out that during his entrance, Zack demanded that “dickhead” Rishi Sunak pay nurses fairly, and quite frankly I couldn’t agree more! But back to wrestling...

Tama Tonga rescued the NEVER title from Sports Entertainment oblivion in the next match, as he defeated WWE Superstar Karl Anderson in a fun match. To his credit, The Machine Gun put in some actual rare effort here, and Tama took some nasty bumps early, including a Bernard Driver on the ramp. The finish saw Tonga get near falls with a big splash and second rope Gun Stun, before scoring the win at 9:36 with another Gun Stun (which Anderson botched the bump for, but whatever). This benefitted from me having absolutely zero expectations going in, so I was pleasantly surprised here. Next was the final match in NJPW of one of the all-time greats, as the on-the-retirement-run Keiji Muto teamed with standout student Hiroshi Tanahashi, and potential “future ace” Shota Umino, to take on the LIJ Muto Fan Club of Naito, SANADA and BUSHI. From an in-ring perspective, this was likely the weakest match on the card, as nobody really did anything (except SANADA hitting the Moonsault on Muto in the early going to get a really close nearfall), but the crowd were super hot for Muto, and it helped the match greatly. This finishing stretch saw Tanahashi hit BUSHI with Sling Blade, the Natural Born Master followed up with a Shining Wizard, and Umino put the masked man away at 9:20 with the Death Rider. They all posed and left to Muto’s entrance theme in the post match. The IWGP Jr. Title was on the line next in a 4-way. This was something of a disappointment I feel, but still a great match. It was certainly all-action, but I don’t know, something just wasn’t clicking for me in this for a while. They all worked hard and hit the crazy multiman spots throughout, and Hiromu and Despy had a really great exchange later on. Things really picked up at the end, when Wato went on a tear, scoring numerous believable near falls with his Recietemente Crucifix Bomb, and had the 26,085 in the Dome believing he could pull off the miracle here. He scored another brilliant near fall when he hit a massive Everest German on Hiromu, but the miracle wasn’t to be as Takahashi escaped a Dragon Tiger Suplex, and hit Time Bomb II on Wato to regain his beloved Belt-San in 16:43. During this match it was announced that Naito and the LIJ guys got into a heated exchange backstage with Kenoh’s KONGO faction from NOAH, which is super interesting.

Things were kicked up a notch in the next match, and it finally felt like a classic Wrestle Kingdom show, as Will Ospreay defended his US Title against Kenny Omega in a dream match. This was just outstanding, and ended up being a completely different style to what I’d anticipated. This was a heated, super stiff, bloody war. Omega (complete with added Don Callis) returned to NJPW for the first time in 4 years, to take out the man who “took his spot”, and Ospreay, who came out as the Ariel Assassin of old, was there to beat the hell out of the guy who abandoned the company 4 years ago. This was a classic grudge match, and featured some insane action that was sometimes hard to watch. There were moments I actually feared someone was going to get seriously hurt, but thankfully that didn’t happen. Omega, who worked totally as the heel here, worked over Ospreay’s famously injured neck and back, including landing a double stomp off the apron onto Ospreay’s back whilst a table was draped over it, which culminated in him bleeding from the back. Ospreay fought back with stiff punches which caused omega’s right eye to swell shut, hitting a brainbuster on the upturned table, and then a big Skytwister Press to the floor. Kenny removed the corner pad, exposing the buckles, which both guys took bumps into. Things got crazy as Will went for a Spanish Fly, but Omega countered it into a top rope DDT onto the exposed buckle, which was insane, and Ospreay juiced heavily from the head. After teasing a countout, Kenny hit the Terminator Dive and a Cactus Jack Piledriver in the ring for a near fall. Omega began obliterating him with Snap Dragon’s and V-Triggers, before hitting a horrifying Croyt’s Wrath from the top. Ospreay hit a couple of stiff looking Hidden Blade’s to put Omega down, and scored a great near fall with a Springboard Oscutter. After a Styles Clash, Ospreay got another near fall with another Hidden Blade. However, Kenny escaped a Storm Breaker, hit a Tanahashi straigh jacket suplex, then followed that up with Kamigoye after a defiant Ospreay spat at him. Omega then hit the One Winged Angel to win the US Belt for a second time, and end this classic war at 34:38. Fantastic stuff, and I certainly hope there’s more to come here.

Then it was time for the second half of the Double Main Event. Rare is the day that I think to myself “Okada’s going to have a tough time following that”, but today was that day. Realistically, it was never going to happen, and as much as I love both White and Okada, the build to this match did nothing for me, and I’ve just seen enough of them. Regardless, this was still an excellent match, complete with all the intricate counters and big spots we’ve come to expect from an Okada main event. But I must admit it took a long time getting there. Okada, who was wearing Inoki inspired garb, broke out a huge senton atomico off the top to the floor on both Jay and Gedo, the big dropkick, and hit the sit-out Tombstone, followed by a Rainmaker, but Jay caught him in a Blade Runner, which is exactly how he beat Okada for the World Title at Dominion, but this time Okada kicked out to a big pop. This ultimately was White’s downfall, as the story was that he started to lose it after Okada kicked out of his finish. Jay tried a Rainmaker-inspired Blade Runner, however the challenger countered and hit a big Rainmaker, but the champion got a shoulder up at 2.99. After a dramatic forearm exchange, Okada connected with a ripcord Enzugiri, hit the champion with his own Blade Runner, then followed up with Tiger Flowsion, and a definitive Rainmaker to regain the World Championship at the 33:03 mark.

The post match saw an interesting moment where White at first refused to give up the belt, then they had a brief staredown, before Jay was dragged for the Dome despondent by Gedo. Shingo Takagi then came out, rightly pointing out that he never did a rematch after losing the belt a year ago, and threw his proverbial hat in the ring as Okada’s first challenger, which was accepted. And in an ultimately fitting move, a show that was dedicated to the late Antonio Inoki ended with the modern day Inoki victorious, and sending everyone home happy with the “Ichi, Ni, San, Daaaah!” catchphrase. All in all, this was easily the best Dome show since 2020, and it very much felt like a return to greatness for New Japan. A must watch.

NDT

[danwhobrowses]

Wrestle Kingdom 17 Quick Thoughts

So it's January which means Wrestle Kingdom day, singular this time though having strangely swapped mentality with WWE on forgoing a 2-Day main PPV

Nevertheless, we'll see what the show has to offer, I'm not gonna go in full depth like previous ones, just general thoughts I had during the show

Spoilers for those who didn't wanna know

I must admit I hate the KOPW Ranbo, it often just feels like the 'this is all the talent we don't have anything for right now' rumble and then you have to watch the likes of KENTA, Cobb, Great O Khan, Shingo Takagi, Ishii fight for it. There's some bright spots for comedy like ELP eliminating someone via a nipple cripple but overall it is something I could do without

Junior Tag Title was fun, but I probably would not have had the opener with cheering officially back end in a heel win via roll-up

I am also fuming that NJPW only gave KAIRI and Tam 6 minutes, sure there'd be aftermath but given how past Exhibition and Dark matches for Stardom went longer it's a huge disservice that the first Title Match (for the IWGP Women's Championship made to establish a stronger relation between Stardom and NJPW) is also Stardom's shortest entry in Wrestle Kingdom

Mercedes had a great look side for the fire hair which looked weird at angles, honestly I think her debut could've been done better; she was geared up but didn't wrestle, she botched that Gory Special/DDT move (which through experience watching the Tay-KO from Tay Melo is not easy to synchronize anyway) and her promo was a tad on the basic side, not bad but below expectation

FTR losing already felt like writing on the wall given how they dropped the ROH and AAA tag titles already, it was a decent match and Bishamon are a great tag team but we could've gone with a more refreshing choice, shame to hear that FTR had travel issues too

I will say though that dropping their titles is not 'clear indication' that they're going to WWE, they've had a busy as hell year so now they can rest up, Dax has noted that he's closer to the end of his career than the middle so they may prefer a lighter schedule, I've said it before but just because Triple H is doing okay in WWE does not mean every ex-WWE member is frothing to come back

ZSJ won the gingerbread biscuit title to nobody's surprise, but him replacing JONAH in TMDK is a strong choice

Makes me wonder who else will join now that Suzuki-Gun is no more, Archer and Despy are TMDK material but I could also see them in Bullet Club, a huge curveball would be Despy to LIJ

I actually really liked the Muta six-man, it had a good pace and showcase which still allowed Mutoh to shine, but in the end they used it to put over the younger talent by having Shooter get the pin

LIJ vs Kongoh has the potential to slap hard again, I did panic when they were saying 'backstage altercation' that there would be some shoot activity going on, flashbacks of All Out had me worried

I like Hiromu, but this win really started to grind on the 'nothing changes' critique I get every time I watch WK; the title always makes its way back to him, we did well to get people behind Master Wato and his Crucifix Hip Toss thing is actually pretty cool, but again we do need fresher faces in the title picture

Kenny out with the Sephiroth gear was cool but then Ospreay whipped out Elevated just when I was thinking 'I miss Will's old theme'

To nobody's surprise, the match was among the best, probably the best, it did start out like an Omega showcase but after the table spot it came to life, the ending was great as well; Ospreay bloody and defiant and Kenny using an absolutely brutal Kamigoye and OWA to win

You're best to bet on Death Triangle winning the best of 7 in AEW now that Kenny's US champion

*sigh* Okada's great we get it but god damn why does it always end with Okada winning? Jay's great too you know? Honestly I think Gedo needs help. Shingo challenges next but we all know this won't really end well for him.

It just never changes, I can go back to WK11 - when the era of the Rainmaker had its last WK defense before losing to Kenny at Dominion - and since then Okada had only lost twice at Wrestle Kingdom, and that was WK13 to Jay, right on the end of his red dye balloon phase, and WK14's Double Gold Dash - where he had beaten Ibushi for the world title on Day 1 just to lose correctly to Naito on Day 2.

It goes deeper too; since WK11 Hiromu has been in 6 out of 7 Junior Heavyweight title matches, he's only lost twice (to Despy at 16 and Ospreay at 12). Bishamon are 2 for 2 in winning the tag titles at WK having beaten Dangerous Tekkers last year, you have to go back to WK13 for Ospreay's last singles win (at least this time the United Empire wasn't swept this time), WK14 since Jay's last win (and it was a consolation win since he lost the IC title in the Double Gold Dash). Even just comparing to WK16 there are similarities in booking.

A lot of the time I watch Wrestle Kingdom and compare where wrestlers are now compared to last year, and each time I find that the ones I liked last year fall down while the ones who can take losses to put people over remain on top, of course there are exceptions - Master Wato and Shota Umino for instance - but most of the time it ends this way

The show was okay, I feel like a lot of things could've been better, if they did 2 days they'd have had more time for other things as well

[gdwessel]

Road to Wrestle Grand Slam Night 3 - 5/25/2021; Now Taichi, Jay White, David Finlay Revealed As Positive For COVID-19; Ren Narita + Rocky Romero on AEW Dark: Elevation 5/24/2021 With RPG Vice Reunion!; Some Words On Ospreay And Other Rumors

Days Of Thunder + Strong Style History Present: Collision In Korea

The tour continued today, with a show you can see now on NJPWWorld. - 5/25/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Chase Owens [Bullet Club] d. Yota Tsuji (Package Driver, 8:34)

Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG] v. Yujiro Takahashi & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club] (Sabre > Yujiro, Barry From Eastenders, 9:44)

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] d. Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato (Tonga > Wato, Magic Killer, 12:44)

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI [Los Ingobernables] d. Hirooki Goto [CHAOS], Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS], YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] & Ryusuke Taguchi (Takagi > Taguchi, Made In Japan, 17:11)

Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi d. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire] (Ibushi > O-Khan, Kamigoye, 15:53)

Ibushi restated he wants a singles match against Cobb. Dominion seems likely. Naito and Ishii got into it once more. ZSJ has YET ANOTHER finisher with a wacky name.

In the wake of Kazuchika Okada’s revelation that he tested positive for COVID-19, Tokyo Sports ran a piece that now Taichi (Taichiro Maki) has confirmed he too was positive for the coronavirus, coming down with fever after wrestling in Fukuoka. Taichi said in the piece that he spent his time playing PS5 but is now back in training. Taichi appeared on commentary at yesterday’s show which, erm, that’s kind of a brave move, hope it works out for them.

It’s also been revealed that Jay White and David Finlay Jr. both tested positive, however that came from a statement by Finlay’s father, former WCW/WWE wrestler and trainer David “Fit’ Finlay in an appearance on the Stories With Briscoe And Bradshaw podcast. According to Fit, White and Finlay were both on their way out when their positive tests came back, and were told to quarantine at the New Japan Dojo, rather than at a government sponsored hotel. If this is the root of some of the dissatisfaction by the non-Japanese wrestlers, I can pretty well see that. If I was told I can go home, and then I couldn’t when I was already travelling, either because of a positive COVID-19 test, or because NJPW decided last second to runs shows in May, I’d be seriously pissed off too. However, this is hearsay, even if it is from one of the people involved’s father. Whatever the case, we hope everyone involved will be OK. Taichi certainly seemed to be yesterday.

Last night on AEW's Monday-night YouTube show Dark: Elevation (which is very pre-taped), we got two matches at the top of the card featuring NJPW talents via the so-called "Forbidden Door." In the semi-main, Ren Narita defeated Royce Isaacs in a back-and-forth affair with Narita getting the win with Narita Special #4. In the main event, Rocky Romero beat the much bigger JD Drake of the Wingmen with a flash La Magistral cradle. Afterwards, the rest of the Wingmen attempted a beatdown of Romero, but was saved by Chuck Taylor, Kris Statlander, Orange Cassidy and TRENT BARETTA. A magic moment was had as Rocky and Trent reunited, the old Roppongi Vice theme playing whilst doing the jumping high five shtick for the first time in... a long time. Rocky was then part of the Best Friends group hug, because, as they say, you got to give the people what they want. There is still a lot of chatter about Will Ospreay, the reasons why he left Japan to go back to the UK, the legitimacy of his injuries, and the unrest among the non-Japanese talents in NJPW right now. What's really infuriating is hiding a lot of this behind paywalls and paid podcasts in the name of Sk00pz! Quite a bit of this is speculation on both Ospreay's mental health and personal life at the moment (i.e. the OsCutter to Bea Priestley was the in-ring way of writing her out as they have split as a couple now). None of which is, frankly, any of our concern, no matter what other shitty things Ospreay has done or said. Regardless of what we all collectively think of William Ospreay, and the situation with vacating the IWGP World Heavyweight title, he doesn't even rank in the Top 5 (Bottom 5?) All-Time Worst IWGP Heavyweight Title Reigns, and is not even the worst one of the last five years. Recency bias is a thing, sure, and things are not great creatively (although? These last two shows? Not bad!). 

There are rumblings of a mass exodus of non-Japanese wrestlers in January, either until quarantine procedures end, or just going elsewhere. But then, there always is. Not four months ago the internet was convinced Jay White was heading to AEW or NXT. Minoru Suzuki was a lock to start with Pro Wrestling NOAH in January 2020. Kenny Omega was going to be a surprise entrant into the Royal Rumble 2017. None of these things ever happened. We're not even in June; let's worry about January closer to the date eh? The last of the three Korakuen Hall shows is tomorrow. - 5/26/2021, Tokyo Korakuen Hall (NJPWWorld)

Yota Tsuji v. Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables]

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Master Wato v. Yujiro Takahashi, Chase Owens & Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI [SZKG] v. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club]

Kota Ibushi & Tomoaki Honma v. Jeff Cobb & Great O-Khan [United Empire]

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI [CHAOS] v. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables]

Days Of Thunder + Strong Style History Present: Collision In Korea

[naritaren]

Wrestle Kingdom Predictions

Alrighty, here we go! Ryohei Oiwa vs. Boltin Oleg - Oiwa probably. It's got a 3 minute time limit so who knows. Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima and Togi Makabe vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, Minoru Suzuki and Tiger Mask - Suzuki's team will take this. Catch 2/2 (TJP and Akira) vs LiYoh (Yoh and Lio Rush) - LiYoh Kairi v Tam Nakano - Kairi wins and Sasha Banks challenges after FTR vs Bishamon (Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) - Bishamon. FTR is dropping belts for a reason. Say good bye to these. ZSJ vs Ren Narita - ZSJ finally gets singles gold (pls) Karl Anderson vs Tama Tonga - Tama wins this or I'll fly to Japan myself and shank Gedo Keiji Muto, Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shota Umino vs LIJ - LIJ is losing here. I think Sanada eats the pin from Shota Taiji Ishimori vs. El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Master Wato - El Desperado. (pls) Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega - Kenny wins this one. I suspect nooj wants a belt in America on American tv and if FTR doesn't have the belts, Kenny can have this one. Okada vs Jay White - Okada wins and we start running back Okada vs Ospreay.

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Kingdom 17 preview

Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada - White is the fifth IWGP world champion, making his third defense since winning the title from Okada on June 12. Okada won the G1 Climax tournament to earn this rematch.

Okada recruited White into his CHAOS faction in 2018, but within a few months White betrayed him and took over Bullet Club. Since then, White has been a thorn in Okada's side that he can't quite remove. For all his accolades and accomplishments, Okada is 1-4 against White in one-on-one matches, and White is the kind of pecker that will remind you at every opportunity.

I'm not counting on seeing the best match either of these guys can deliver. White's performances at Wrestle Kingdom in 2020 and 2021 were effective for getting heel heat but nearly put me to sleep with all the stalling and shenanigans. I though the June 12 match was better, but the bottom line is I've seen this match five times already and I don't feel like there's anything new to cover.

It's basic Booking 101 to have the top babyface beat the top heel to regain the world title to close the biggest show of the year. Of course, that simple logic has burned me before when it comes to Jay White--that 4-1 record against Okada says it all. It's almost unthinkable that a non-Japanese wrestler (especially a heel) could win in the main event at Wrestle Kingdom. But White's career is full of moments where I didn't think they'd go there but they did anyway. If nothing else, they've got me believing he doesn't have to lose, which is good enough. I always bet on Okada, but I wouldn't bet the farm this time.

Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega - This is Ospreay's fifth defense of the IWGP United States title. Omega is making his first appearance in New Japan since leaving the promotion in January 2019 to become an executive vice-president in AEW. Since then Ospreay has been staking his claim to being Omega's replacement as the top gaijin in the promotion. Needless to say, a lot has changed since their previous singles encounter, at a PWG show in 2015.

Both men started planting seeds for this back in the summer, with passive-aggressive comments and T-shirts and what-not. They finally squared off in October, in an AEW trios match; after Omega's team won, Ospreay's team laid them out in a vicious beatdown.

In theory the hype for this match is supposed to be two of this generation's best in-ring workers tearing it up on the big stage. In practice, all the buzz is just about Omega returning to New Japan, and the Kota Ibushi shirt he was wearing last week in AEW. I get where people want another chapter in the Golden Lovers saga, but Omega has been constantly throwing out teases for that for years, so no one hint can give us a timetable for when it'll go down.

In most promotions I think a returning megastar has to win his first match back, 99 times out of a hundred. In New Japan, I'm not as confident. They're comfortable telling stories where a guy loses his return match, to illustrate that he's not quite warmed up yet, or that he hasn't acclimated to facing the best in the world again. On the other hand, Ospreay's US title reign feels like it's run its course, and we're probably due for a new champion. Moving the belt to Omega would be a clear sign that he'll stick around for more NJPW dates, and I can see where the promotion wants to send that message loud and clear.

Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Master Wato - This is a four-way for Ishimori's IWGP junior heavyweight title, so the first man to score a fall on any opponent will be the champion. Ishimori won the title from Desperado on May 11, and successfully defended it against Hiromu on June 12. KUSHIDA returned for a title chase, but that got derailed due to illness. Master Wato subbed for Kushida and pinned Ishimori in a non-title match on October 10. You'd expect this to set up a one-on-one rematch for the belt, but no one actually cares about Wato, so Despy and Hiromu interjected themselves, making it a four-way.

I assume the long-term direction is to get Kushida back in the title picture, but I don't know if it matters which guy is champion when that happens. The safe bet in a four-way title match is to pick the defending champion or the heel to retain. Ishimori is both, so it's looking good for him.

Keiji Mutoh & Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino vs. Tetsuya Naito & SANADA & BUSHI - Mutoh, who just turned 60, will be retiring on a NOAH show in February, so this is his final match in NJPW. Note that this is just his standard regular guy gimmick, as opposed to his Great Muta character, that made his final NJPW appearance a couple of months ago.

There isn't much of a story here for the other five guys in the match. Tanahashi, Naito, and Sanada ought to have something more important going on at Wrestle Kingdom, but they don't, so here they are. It's a great spot for Umino, however, as he's surrounded by bigger names and under a bigger spotlight for it. Bushi is lucky this match needed a sixth guy, or he'd be in the prelim battle royale.

Unless Mutoh is going to do the job on his way out, I would expect Tanahashi to pin Bushi to end this one.

Karl Anderson vs. Tama Tonga - Anderson won the NEVER openweight title from Tama on June 12, so this is the rematch, even though Anderson signed with WWE months ago. Anderson's WWE deal caused him to pull out of a title defense against Tonga's brother Hikuleo, which got rescheduled to December 14. Anderson beat Hikuleo and then got into it with Tonga, so here we are.

I have to think this is Anderson's last night in New Japan, and dropping the belt to Tama is merely a formality at this point. I sort of expected the same thing with the December 14 bout, but it makes sense for Anderson to want a Wrestle Kingdom payday if he can get it. So I'm picking Tonga to win, but if that doesn't happen I'll be real intrigued with whatever they have planned next.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ren Narita - This is a tournament final to determine the first NJPW World television champion. (The name is a little confusing; the winner will not be the world TV champion of NJPW, but rather the TV champion of NJPW's streaming service, which is named NJPW World.) Per the rules of the new title, this match has a 15 minute time limit; it's not clear what happens to the belt if there's a time limit draw.

Narita is fresh off returning from his US excursion, and he's already scored a huge win against Tomohiro Ishii in this tournament. Beating Sabre in the Tokyo Dome for a new championship would establish him as a fast-rising superstar. But it's more plausible that New Japan will try to get him over with a tough loss so he can valiantly overcome the heartbreak.

Another wrinkle here is that this is Sabre's first match since his faction, Suzuki-gun, peacefully disbanded a couple of weeks ago. It's not clear yet what's next for the former members, but winning this TV title would be a big statement about Sabre's future. Something tells me that's the direction we're heading in here, and Sabre will win.

Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI - FTR (Dax and Cash) are the defending IWGP heavyweight tag team champions. Bishamon won the World Tag League tournament, which put them in line for this title shot. FTR have been on top of the world for most of the past year, but they're currently in a 0-4 slump that cost them the ROH and AAA tag team titles. The IWGP belts are the only gold they have left.

A title change seems inevitable. I'm sure New Japan liked having their tag title in a major US promotion for a few months, and FTR are thrilled to work the Tokyo Dome, but it's high time the belts come home. If FTR retains there's no telling when they'll be available for another title defense, and Goto and Yoshi are the strongest challengers available (at least until Tanga Loa returns to resume his team with Tama Tonga). I'm picking Bishamon to win, and the FTR losing streak to continue.

KAIRI vs. Tam Nakano - Kairi became the first IWGP women's champion on November 20; this is her first title defense. Western fans will know her best as Kairi Sane in WWE, where she held the NXT women's title. Nakano spent most of 2022 as the Wonder of Stardom champion (basically STARDOM's #2 singles belt), until she was defeated for it on December 29.

I don't have much info on Nakano except that New Japan's website says she has a kawaii aesthetic and an "intense predilection for violence," and she's promised "a special kind of hell" for Kairi here. Looking forward to that!

Obviously this match has been overshadowed by reports that Sasha Banks has exited WWE and will be at this show. If she's going to appear, the logical place to do it is after this match to challenge the winner. So it's a tough spot for these ladies, as most of the attention on this match will be people waiting just to find out if Banks will even be there. My guess is that Kairi will retain, and Kairi vs. Banks will be a big match down the line. But ideally, the layout of the match will keep us focused on the present, not the future.

Francesco Akira & TJP vs. Lio Rush & YOH - This is the first match on the main card, scheduled for 5pm JST (3am EST). Lio and Yoh won the Super Jr. Tag League tournament, putting them next in line for Catch 2/2's IWGP junior tag team championship. Yoh has been in this high pressure situation before with his ex-partner SHO, but he's only been teaming with Rush for a couple of months. Catch 2/2, on the other hand, have been teaming since Akira joined NJPW in June.

I could see this one going either way, but I'm leaning a bit towards doing a title change. There's a lot of storyline potential in having Yoh emerge from the Roppongi 3K breakup with a successful new team, while Sho has little to show for his betrayal.

Tatsumi Fujinami & Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask vs. Yuji Nagata & Satoshi Kojima & Togi Makabe - This is the Antonio Inoki memorial match, to honor the founder of New Japan, who passed away in October. It'll air before the main show at 4:20pm JST (2:20am EST).

Fujinami (68) was a teenager when he joined his trainer Inoki in leaving the JWA to start a new promotion. Suzuki (54) trained in New Japan's dojo in the 1980s, and wrestled Inoki as a young boy in 1989. Another key Inoki protege was Satoru Sayama (65), who became the original Tiger Mask in 1981; Yoshihiro Yamazaki (52), the fourth Tiger, appears here in his honor. Nagata (54), Kojima (52), and Makabe (50) were all around in the 1990s as Inoki's in-ring career drew to a close.

Aside from seeing the old-timers fight to commemorate Inoki, the most interesting thing going on here is long-time scoundrel Suzuki teaming with good guys like Fujinami and Tiger Mask. After the Suzuki-gun breakup, I'm curious if he'll settle into tag matches with the older guys in the undercard, or if he'll still be a giant dick and pick fights with everybody. I doubt we'll get a clear sense of that here, since the main idea will be to pay respects to Inoki. For similar reasons, I don't think it'll make much difference who wins the match.

New Japan Ranbo - This is a gauntlet battle royale billed as a "KOPW 2023 qualifier." Two men will start the match, and the remaining participants will enter one-by-one in timed intervals. Elimination can occur at any time via pinfall, submission, or exiting the ring over the top rope to the floor. The match ends once all but four participants have been eliminated; these finalists advance to a match on January 5 for the KOPW title belt.

No participants have been announced for the match, but I think we can assume any NJPW regular that isn't already booked could be in this. The biggest names to look for would be Shingo Takagi, EVIL, Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi, Jeff Cobb, Toru Yano, Juice Robinson, David Finlay, Kushida, Sho, and Kenta. Obviously there are many more wrestlers available, depending on whether they're in town that day, but you get the idea.

I assume someone halfway important will win the KOPW belt, but the other three finalists can be literally anyone, so this match is hard to predict. It's also hard to watch; New Japan's ranbos never seem as well planned or produced as WWE's Royal Rumble.

Ryohei Oiwa vs. Boltin Oleg - This is a three-minute exhibition match, scheduled for 3:20pm JST (1:20am EST), so I'm not even sure it will be broadcast on the live stream. Oiwa is currently a Young Lion who jobs in prelim matches during his training. Oleg is a standout amateur wrestler from Kazakhstan that New Japan made a big deal about recruiting a few months ago. So I guess this is meant as a showcase for Oleg, but the format makes it seem like they aren't sure he's ready for a full-fledged pro wrestling match. It's possible this will just go to the time limit, but I assume the point is for Oleg to win.

[mitsume]

the flavor text in watos omega factor profile made me MAD

[opinionatedwrestlingfan]

Standout matches of WK17 day 1

The women's match!!! So good BUT WAY TOO SHORT... Also Sasha Banks is there.

The IWGP JR Heavyweight 4 way match was phenomenal, Wato was SO CLOSE.

NJPW TV Championship match... Wow. Probably the best Strong Style™ match of the night imo

The NEVER match actually pulled my attention away from what I was doing cause it REALLY picks up. I hate both the good brothers so any match they're in is a snoozefest, but the story in this match was INCREDIBLY well done

Ok. Come on. Kenny Omega. Back in NJPW. Against Osprey... Come on. 7 STARS BABY