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NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 15 in Tokyo Dome Night 1 Review (Jan 4th 2020)
New Japan Rambo *1/2
BOSJ 27 vs. SJC 2020 IWGP Jr. Heavyweight No.1 Contenders Match: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo ****
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Guerrillas Of Destiny ***1/2
IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship Right To Challenge Match: KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima ***1/2+
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan ***1/2
Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay ****3/4
IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Double Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito (c/c) vs. Kota Ibushi ****1/2
Photos.
So the first night of WK15 is in the history books, held in front of a socially distanced crowd of 12,689, which is an amazing number given the state of the world at present (I’m in the UK and we can’t even have two people in the same room, so near 13,000 seems mind-blowing!). This is the biggest crowd to have seen a wrestling show in Japan since last years Dome shows, and the biggest major wrestling show held anywhere since March of last year, so it’s quite the achievement. In quick results from a very fun show:
Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, BUSHI and Toru Yano (who never even made it to the ring) were the “winners” of the annual Rambo and will face each other in a 4-way to determine the KOPW champion on tomorrows show. The Rambo was as it always is, which is very forgettable, very long, and not especially very good. After a Japanese Don King (who sings!) introduced Riki Choshu (a guy who, in this very building in 1998, squashed FOUR guys in a row in his “retirement” match), and his young grandson, to the masses for a nice opening, BOSJ winner Hiromu Takahashi pinned everyone’s favourite/most hated douchebag heel, the 2020 Super J Cup winner El Phanatsmo, in 17:46, when he turned CRII into a Frankensteiner and cradle. This was an excellent match that was a great way to start the show. Hiromu essentially played crash pad to ELP’s highflying moves, and seemed to be saving himself for the Ishimori match tomorrow, which he earned with this win.
Next up, the GOD won the IWGP Tag Titles for what must be the 476th time. The match was very good (once it got going), but at 19:18, it felt very long, and the finish and result were lamentable; after a ref bump and prerequisite Jado interference spot, Tama nailed Taichi with his own Iron Fingers From Hell, which allowed Loa to hit Apeshit and win the belts. Honestly, I could have done without this title change. The Guerrillas with the belts just feels like I’ve been transported back in time three or four years, and the Dangerous Tekkers felt both fresh, and like they were just getting going as champions. Whatever. After a video taped Jon Moxley promo, KENTA defended the U.S. Title Right To Challenge Briefcase against the legend that is Satoshi Kojima, in a very good little match. Obviously, Koji was a late replacement for the broken orbital boned Juice Robinson, and honestly, with all due respect to Juice, this was a much better match for it. Even though no one feasibly bought him winning, Kojima was on fire here, showing the world that he does indeed “still have it”, and drove the action throughout. It wasn’t to be though as KENTA retained the briefcase after a Go 2 Sleep at the 14:12 mark. So KENTA will challenge Moxley in the U.S. at some point, which should be a fun match.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated the returned-from-excursion Great-O-Khan in my least favourite match of the show. This was far from bad, but realistically, this was the match where I started to lag, as it just wasn’t all that interesting at times. The former Tomoyuki Oka has a very weird gimmick, and his offence is like something from a 1970s regional promotion in the U.S. He isn’t a bad worker, he’s very solid, but this wacky Mongolian gimmick, which I first clapped eyes on at a Rev Pro show what must have been 7 years ago now (it was three, but time has no meaning anymore), is going to need some serious revamping. Tanahashi was his usual great self here, carrying this beyond what it should by all rights have been, and had the babyface fire of a thousand babyfaces. After surviving O-Khan’s Claw based offensive manoeuvres, The Ace scored the win at 17:13 after hitting a High Fly Flow to the back, followed by one to the front, to get the winning three count.
From here the show picked up considerably. Okada sought revenge on former protege Will Ospreay, in a fantastic, dramatic outing, that would most likely have been a Tokyo Dome all-time-classic under regular conditions. This went 35:41, which sounds long, but felt half of that whilst watching. It told a great story, and the work from both guys was exceptional. This was less the inventive spot fest of their 2019 G1 classic, and instead was a stiff strike war. It was also the final point of Ospreay eschewing the Junior mantle, and becoming a full fledged heavyweight. Like most Okada matches, this really turned into something special in the last 10 minutes, after Ospreay hit a nasty Brainbuster through the timekeepers table, and stomped the bejesus out of Okada’s face, the newly crowned “Commonwealth Kingpin” escaped a Money Clip, hit Okada with a Tombstone, and his own Rainmaker for a great near fall. Okada dropkicked Will out of the air on a Super Oscutter attempt, which looked great, then turned a Storm Breaker attempt into a Fire Thunder Driver, and hit a stiff Rainmaker, for the first time in A YEAR, to score the win and seemingly awaken the Okada of old. Tremendous stuff here.
And the Double Title Main Event that followed had a lot to live up to, but was another excellent outing. Obviously, with the last few times these guys have squared off being borderline public executions, my heart was proverbially in my mouth on some of the spots here. With the notable exceptions of Ibushi taking a German Suplex on the ramp, which he of course landed square on top of his head for, an insane Frankensteiner off the apron, which saw Naito land very hard on the floor, Ibushi taking a reverse rana off the second rope, and both guys taking signature spots onto their heads, this was, on the whole, the “tamest” match these two have had against one another in maybe 5 or 6 years now. Ibushi hit Kamigoye for a great near fall, but misses a Phoenix Splash. Naito hits Destino, but Ibushi gets the shoulder up. Naito kicks out of another Kamigoye, then drops Ibushi on his head with Valentia, and goes for another Destino. Ibushi escapes and hits a wrist clutch V-Trigger, followed by a third, knee padless Kamigoye to FINALLY win the two top prizes in New Japan after 31:18 of great action. There was a really wacky bit, that only Ibushi could do, after the match, where he seemed to sell being in a “fugue state”, tried to pin Naito again after the match, and sold disbelief when Red Shoes explained to him that he’d won. Naito presented The Golden Star with both belts, then Ibushi’s opponent tomorrow, Jay White, came out in the post match, and cut a promo, promising Ibushi’s reign would only last 24 hours. Ibushi informed Jay that he is mistaken, and that Ibushi will indeed become a God. This was a show built around happy ending babyface wins (in the major bouts), and was a dose of positivity the world needs right now. Bring on Night 2 already.
NDT
#njpw#wrestle kingdom 15#review#njwk15#wk15#new japan pro wrestling#puroresu#wrestling#wrestling review
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what are your thoughts on Kenny as the champ ???
hmmmm. well, in all honesty, i havent actually watched that much njpw since he became champ. nothing to do with him being champ, life just got hectic as hell, lol. i think him winning the title was good because they had to pull the trigger on him at some point. i maaaaybe would have liked to see someone else take the title off okada but i dont think they really had the time to build someone other than kenny up to it adequately, and i think they wanted to get the title off okada before the g1. the match was amazing, of course.i dont think he should have had cody as his first defence, but i wasnt surprised that it was him. it was a u.s. show and njpw's booking in regards to their u.s. expansion has been...odd, to say the least. he had some amazing matches during the g1, of course. i think now that the g1 is over, though, is when he's really going to have to prove himself as a champion going into wrestle kingdom. we'll see, i guess. ask me post-wrestle kingdom and my tune may have changed, lol. :p
#njpw#kenny omega#post-g1 wrestle kingdom build-up is always interesting#its like the build to wrestlemania but without meltzer spoiling everything a year in advance lol#i think to really prove himself as a champ kenny needs a good story#because we know he can put on amazing matches but if you look at okada and tana their legendary reigns had more than that#they had the storytelling as well. just look at okada vs naito from last year#ibushi would be the obvious pick for that but kenny and tana have some really interesting history#if they put the effort in it could be at that same level#zackconac
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Post-G129 Press Conference: Ibushi Challenges Okada AND Naito for WK14, Full Super J-Cup, Royal Quest Lineups Announced; This Week’s NJPW on AXS
Last night/this morning, NJPW held their post-G1 Climax 29 press conference, which included statements from the winner, Kota Ibushi. Ibushi accepted the match contract at Wrestle Kingdom 14, to challenge Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He also said, he would take challenges from EVIL and the newest Bullet Club member, KENTA, as they beat Ibushi during G1.
He then blew the doors wide open on Tetsuya Naito’s chances of becoming a double champion, by challenging Naito to defend the IWGP Intercontinental Championship the next night, on 1/5/2020, assuming Ibushi wins the IWGP Heavyweight belt. So there you have it. The seeds are sown, as they’ve been seeding them since WK13 -- Naito and Ibushi both gunning to be double champions, and they are one of the only real feuds that has happened in NJPW in 2019.
So aren’t you all glad you had your nervous breakdown about Naito, Twitter? He now has a bigger window of opportunity than he would have had he WON G1 Climax.
Needless to say, this all depends on if NJPW actually do bite on this, however it’s all scripted, and you don’t tease a storyline all year long and not pay it off.
NJPW also finally announced the final three entrants into the Super J-Cup, as CHAOS members Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles (which happened while I was on my hiatus, at the Souther Showdown shows in Australia) and Bullet Club’s El Phantasmo. Sadly, as suspected, the only people outside the NJPW/ROH/CMLL sphere of interest are Amazing Red and *spits* TJP. Which, the wrestlers are OK? But one of the appeals of the previous Super J-Cups were the combinations of wrestlers from other companies beside the hosts (Remember, NJPW was not always the host of Super J-Cup: WAR, Michinoku Pro and Osaka Pro had hosted in other years, although NJPW did host the inaugural event as well as the last two before this one). Now the Super J-Cup is an NJPW-centric single elimination tournament. Which is... OK, I guess?, but nothing special, other than it being held in the USA.
The full lineups will be below. NJPW is also stating that on 8/25/2019 in LA, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White and Juice Robinson will be appearing on that show.
The full card for the Royal Quest show in London on 8/31/2019 was also announced. Four title matches feature on this show, including an IWGP Heavyweight title defense between Kazuchika Okada v. Minoru Suzuki, who directly pinned Okada in a tag match yesterday. I was hoping this would be for King of Pro Wrestling. However, given how much Suzuki has been in, and part of, RevPro the last year or so, this does make sense, and should be a popular match.
Also on the show, Hiroshi Tanahashi will make his second challenge for Zack Sabre Jr.’s RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight title in 2019, and hopefully not mess up his arm this time. The NEVER Openweight title will also be on defense, as Tomohiro Ishii will defend against KENTA, which should be hot and hard-hitting. Finally, the Guerillas of Destiny will face the challenge of the TBD winners of a currently ongoing RevPro tag tournament, as they also defend the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles.
Also on this show, Tetsuya Naito will face the man who dumped him out of G1 Climax 29, Jay White, in a tag match, in what is surely build for a forthcoming IWGP Intercontinental defense.
According to NJPWWorld, all four shows listed below will be on tape delay of some kind; they’d best not wait too long since Road to Destruction starts on 9/4/2019. It also seems strange they wouldn’t have Royal Quest live during a weekend where a lot of wrestling is going on, what with AEW’s ALL OUT event going out live, but later in the day.
Super J-Cup 2019 - 8/22/2019, Temple Theater, Tacoma, WA
Jushin Thunder Liger & Karl Fredericks v. Shota Umino & Ren Narita
Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Rocky Romero [CHAOS] v. Soberano Jr. [CMLL]
Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Clark Connors v.TJP [FREE]
Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Caristico [CMLL] v. BUSHI [Los Ingobernables]
Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Ryusuke Taguchi v. Jonathan Gresham [ROH]
Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] v. El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]
Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: YOH [CHAOS] v. Dragon Lee [CMLL]
Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: SHO [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]
Super J-Cup 2019 First Round: Will Ospreay [CHAOS] v. Amazing Red [FREE]
- 8/24/2019, SFSU Student Life Events Center, San Francisco, CA
Super J-Cup 2019 Quarterfinal: TBD
Super J-Cup 2019 Quarterfinal: TBD
Super J-Cup 2019 Quarterfinal: TBD
Super J-Cup 2019 Quarterfinal: TBD
More TBA
- 8/25/2019, Walter Pyramid, Long Beach, CA
Super J-Cup 2019 Semifinal: TBD
Super J-Cup 2019 Semifinal: TBD
Super J-Cup 2019 Final: TBD
More TBA
NJPW Royal Quest - 8/31/2019, Copper Box Arena, London
Ryusuke Taguchi, Shota Umino & Ren Narita v. Rocky Romero, SHO & YOH [CHAOS]
Kota Ibushi & Juice Robinson v. Yujiro Takahashi & Hikuleo [Bullet Club]
Will Ospreay & Robbie Eagles [CHAOS] v. Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo [Bullet Club]
Tetsuya Naito & SANADA [Los Ingobernables] v. Jay White & Chase Owens [Bullet Club]
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa [Bullet Club] (c) v. TBD
NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii [CHAOS] (c) v. KENTA [Bullet Club]
RevPro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. [SZKG] (c) v. Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] (c) v. Minoru Suzuki [SZKG]
Well we are off same-day coverage of the Saturday G1 Climax shows, for obvious reasons. This week, NJPW on AXS will feature the B Block finals from Tokyo Nippon Budokan this past Sunday, 8/11/2019. Including the match that made Wrestling Twitter melt down. Show starts at 9pm EDT / 8pm CDT, preceded by WOW Women of Wrestling.
This might be it for me the rest of this week, until Super J-Cup begins, barring anything newsworthy. We are planning to return with a podcast this weekend to wrap up the G1 29 cycle, with a lot of rants and raves, and to talk Super J-Cup and Royal Quest some too. Stay tuned.
#NJPW#new japan pro wrestling#G1 Climax#g129#kota ibushi#Kazuchika Okada#tetsuya naito#Super J-Cup#SJCup#Royal Quest#njpwroyalquest#njpw on axs#AXSTV#AXS
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Nice Sunday watching sweaty people beating up each other. I have yet to watch the rest of UFC 217′s card but GSP-Bisping was really good. Emotional, hard hitting, tactical. And after that it was Power Struggle time. As always i can’t be bothered with most of the undercard or 5vs5 match with Gedo so yeah.
In the finals of the 2017 Super Jr. Tag Tournament, Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) defeated Super 69 (ACH and Ryusuke Taguchi).
Fun match. They start early on with the usual sports anime comedy with Taguchi running from one ring post to another as Coach ACH spurs him. ACH himself seem fairly popular in Osaka. Amazing athlete and good worker, blends well with Taguchi’s silliness. As for RPG3K, they already look like veterans. Sho with a couple of great power spots. The story of the match was ACH’s rib injury that he sold with increased wight as the match went on. Roppongi double teamed him but he hit them with a huge comeback culminating in a great 450° splash on Yoh. Anyway the damage sustained is more than the one given and RPG3K are able to hit their finisher for the win. Huge push for the new aces of the Junior Tag division. 3 starz.
At the end of the match the Young Bucks challenge Roppongi for the belts at Wrestle Kingdom 12. Hype.
Minoru Suzuki (c) (with El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) defeated Toru Yano in a Bullrope deathmatch for the NEVER Openweight Championship.
Great video package introducing the blood fued between the two. Suzuki is more than eager to start the match but YTR, cunning as a fox, jumps him before the referee can tie him to the rope. Anyway Suzuki is able to subdue him and the ref ties Yano. From here on the first half of the match is a relentless beatdown by the former King of Pancrase and every time Yano tries to run or cheat the rope is in the way. Lots of creative use of the rope. But Suzuki is basically throwing around the guy for ten minutes. Also some random Suzuki-Gun interferences because why not. After quite some time YTR manages to expose a ringpost and throws Suzuki at it. A low blow and a powerbomb for a near fall as Taichi (who else) breaks the pin. Suzuki recovers and chokes Yano with the rope, then piledriver for the win.
It was a fun match! It wasn’t going to be good in the traditional sense so yeah, at least we got some entertainment out of it. On one hand i don’t enjoy seeing Suzuki in comedy matches given his age and who knows how many years/months of good work has ahead of him, but on the other his over the top character fits well such moments. 2.5 starz.
After the match the entire gang is beating up Yano - and the refs, and the ring crew, and the Young Lions - and Goto makes the save. So Goto-Suzuki at WK?
Marty Scurll defeated Will Ospreay (c) in a Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.
They start with the usual chain wrestling. I always enjoy it, but for whatever reason wasn’t making much for me this time. A lack of intensity. Marty is more over in Japan than i expected, lots of woop woop from the crowd. Still have to understand what’s supposed to be villainous about his character but yeah. They go outside but the crowd doesn’t seem to be really into it; they still pop for a few moves and any high quality combination - and there are quite a few - but Marty isn’t really able to get any heat. Cool flowing DDT by the Villain on the ring apron. So for the first two thirds the match feels just there but things pick up towards the end. Marty goes for the fingers and tortures Will. Back and forth as Ospreay hits a huge lariat and the Essex Detroyer but Scurll kicks out. A Shooting Star Press by Will while Marty is hanging on the third rope. Now the crowd is into the match. The champion goes for the OsCutter but Marty catches him in a rear choke, a couple of quick pin attempts and Scurll rolls up Ospreay for the win.
Wow. So the story between the two is that Ospreay is better but Marty always beats him for the gold. On one hand it kinda sucks that a two years chase for the belt ends in a ~30 days reign but, as would become clear soon after the match, it makes for an exciting story. Fun match but lacked intensity. Quite a letdown, i expected more from these two but still, good enough. 3 starz.
After the match Will is incredulous and starts complaining to the ref. Kushida comes out and asks a title match. Ospreay wants his rematch. Hiromu Takahashi also makes to the ring donning an helmet and a pair of gloves. Very smart considering what happened before. He’s finally able to talk on the mic and challenges Scurll. The crowd chants for Hiromu. Marty announces a Fatal Four Way at Wrestle Kingdom. Whooo. When used sparsely these stipulation matter a great deal.
Kenny Omega (c) (with Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated Beretta for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.
Kenny’s playing heel while clearly underestimating Beretta. But he’s on a mission. Hard hits from early on. Oddly enough they had a couple of table spots right at the beginning: first Omega suplexed Trent on the metallic legs of the table - looked nasty -, then he also hit the double stomp spot from Wrestle Kingdom 11, breaking the table in the process. The crowd is still cold but the intensity is on a different level from the match before. The story of the match is that Beretta is taking a classic babyface beating and there isn’t much back and forth aside for a couple of comebacks that warm up the crowd considerably. Beretta hits a huge top rope german, a single leg dropkick and a piledriver for a close count. Apron piledriver, then a tope but Omega ducks and Trent goes through another table, breaking it. Barely answers the 20 count. The beatdown from Kenny starts again and Beretta is selling a lot. Eats lots of snap dragon suplexes and V-Triggers. A second comeback from Trent with a lariat and his cradle neckbreaker for another near fall. Is basically a WWE style match with good selling and interesting moves. Another couple of near falls, OWA, 123, Kenny retains.
Good enough. My impression is that they’re trying to build Trent as a guy who can take a beating. Looking forward to his G1 debut next year. 3.5 starz.
After the match Omega asks for a challenger in both english and japanese. Crowds always pop for that. Surprisingly enough Chris Jericho answers the call se we’re getting there at WK. I wanted Ibushi but this is quite the dream match.
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
Osaka was really hot for Tanahashi. Fewer Ibushi chants than normal. The Ace starts displaying superior mat wrestling and every time Ibushi starts a comeback he cuts him off viciously, targeting his right knee. Reminded me of his Okada matches, with Tana playing the ageing fan favourite that has to resort to heel tactics to keep up with the new blood. And as a matter of fact he managed to turn some people in the crowd against him as the match went on, but even then the building was mostly in his favour. Lots of hard strikes and cool spots. Ibushi made a Nakamura spot - the apron-knee thing, i don’t know if it has a name - that got a huge reaction. Kota built a sequence with a frankensteiner from the top rope and the deadlift german while hanging of the ropes but missed the phoenix splash. Tana also missed the High Fly Flow. Tanahashi keept targeting Kota’s knee relentlessly but finally Ibushi’s had enough. Stiff palm strikes and even Red Shoes has to pull him away from the Ace. Ibushi keeps away the ref while punishing Tana with kicks. Now the match has really picked up. Ibushi hits a Last Ride for a close 2. Goes for another one but turns it into a phoenix plex but his knee gives up and the both fall to the ground. Kota goes for the Kamigoye but Tanahashi reverses it into a slingblade an then there’s the classic Ace sequence: slingblade, dragon suplex, two High Fly Flow for the win.
Great ending. Ibushi hugs Tana: he’s not at that level yet, but he’s close. Just a very good hard hitting match. 4.25 starz.
After the match Tanahashi puts over Ibushi telling him to come at him again in the future. After that starts playing with the crowd like the old times, with the air guitar and all that but SWITCHBLADE ARRIVES. It’s Jay White! Looking GREAT. I mean he’s very cute. Challenges Tana in both japanese and english, but the Ace tells him to go back to the cue, so White attacks him. Beats him up and hits the Shellshock. Good heel heat. So we’ll have them at WK. I don’t see Jay winning unless they want to push him like crazy from day one like they did with Okada but who knows. Also that would mean Tana’s losing two WK in a row. I mean there are lots of interesting things that could happen.
It was good!
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