I figured now was as good a time as any to post the thread. In one week we will be watching one of the greatest wrestling events to ever happen, and I can’t fucking wait.

Chris Jericho announced on Instagram today that if Hiroshi Tanahashi beats him next weekend, he will receive an AEW Championship title shot. So it’s official, and if Tanahashi wins I’m going to mark the fuck out. BREAK DOWN THE WALL, ACE!

Full card and some backstory on the event: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestle_Kingdom_14

Pretty freaking insane card. Title vs title main events is gonna be crazy. Super excited to see STARDOM is opening the show. The Moxley texas death match should be a whole lot of fun too. End of an era with Liger retiring. This is what Wrestlemania should be. Which is pretty sad to think about when you realize that the WWE is like four times the size of the NJPW one.

Dec 29, 2019 4:55:53 GMT c said:

Pretty freaking insane card. Title vs title main events is gonna be crazy. Super excited to see STARDOM is opening the show. The Moxley texas death match should be a whole lot of fun too. End of an era with Liger retiring. This is what Wrestlemania should be. Which is pretty sad to think about when you realize that the WWE is like four times the size of the NJPW one.

It’s fucking stupid that Wrestlemania isn’t a whole weekend event.

Takeover Friday
Split Mania over Saturday and Sunday and sell weekend passes.
Raw Monday

People would buy Friday-Monday Takeover/Mania/Raw tickets. Sell packages with flights and hotels included. Make partnerships with airlines and hotels and give the fans shit for buying the packages. Imagine getting on a plane and everyone has a controller and you’re all playing WWE2K LAN matches. Or you watch Fighting With My Family together and get a t-shirt or some shit. Then you get to your hotel and there’s a six pack of Steve Austin IPA in your fridge and a Wrestlemania banner hanging over your bed.

With the brand split they could even do Raw one night and Smackdown the other night. Or split it evenly. Or whatever. Their roster is massive and it’s so fucking obvious.

Anyway this isn’t about them haha. Nice rant.

...

Hiromu & Dragon Lee getting Liger’s last match is an underrated story from the weekend. I think that’s really special.

Also like c said, Moxley vs Archer should be amazing. I’m really looking forward to it.

Wondering if Tanahashi does win if this maybe opens up the AEW/NJPW relationship enough to have guys borrowed with one another and maybe get Omega in very small spurts if there's mutual interest despite the recent bad blood.

My problem with WM is not that it is a one day thing, as Takeover makes it a two day event as well, but nothing on WM feels as big as some of the stuff on WK. The matches just seem to have more meaning than the stuff WWE puts on WM.



Also the NJPW and AEW work relationship is supposed to be open already.

The matches just seem to have more meaning than the stuff WWE puts on WM.

Because NJPW doesn't have a multi-billion dollar television deal that demands them to put together a quality television product each week. It makes it easy to put together these cards, especially when the guys can go all out on the major shows. Fair play to NJPW to make the most of that advantage but it's apples to oranges as far as booking demands are concerned.

Moxley vs Archer is going to be insane. The winner faces Juice Robinson on January 5th. No idea what they are going to do with this. I could see Moxley winning to get him in two high profile matches, but if they don't plan to keep the belt on him, I don't really see the point.

I would love Archer to retain the belt in two successive nights. Archer is awesome and NJPW have underappreciated him for so long. Sadly, that's why I think the trend will continue.

Don't have particularly high expectations for Tanahashi vs Jericho, but seeing Tanahashi in AEW would be pretty insane. Tanahashi wins, then Jericho gets his win back in AEW.

The main attraction is the double title match. I can't wait for Naito to win it all and finally leave a Tokyo Dome as King of the Mountain.

Dec 29, 2019 12:04:46 GMT Emperor said:

The main attraction is the double title match. I can't wait for Naito to win it all and finally leave a Tokyo Dome as King of the Mountain.

Man you're really gonna be pissed when it ends up being White.

I also hope the "Texas Death Match" is just a cool sounding name for a hardcore brawl rather than that being the actual stip. Always thought the added pin into the LMS part made it way lamer. Don't get me wrong LMS are already annoying the way they do the counts, but an added step just makes it all the more tedious. Wiki says 10-count/TKO, so I hope that means they aren't doing the pin part.

Jay White winning everything is the second best outcome, so I'd only be slightly pissed.

I honestly don’t see any other outcome than Naito winning both belts. Also, I think Tana will beat Jericho & hopefully he actually does get an AEW title match somewhere down the line.

Dec 29, 2019 16:36:22 GMT SM said:

I honestly don’t see any other outcome than Naito winning both belts. Also, I think Tana will beat Jericho & hopefully he actually does get an AEW title match somewhere down the line.

Hope you're right, but I remember thinking the same thing two years ago so I'm not willing to get my hopes up.

Dec 29, 2019 16:38:05 GMT @ness said:

Dec 29, 2019 16:36:22 GMT SM said:

I honestly don’t see any other outcome than Naito winning both belts. Also, I think Tana will beat Jericho & hopefully he actually does get an AEW title match somewhere down the line.

Hope you're right, but I remember thinking the same thing two years ago so I'm not willing to get my hopes up.

I’m not even a Naito fan, but it just has to happen this time.

Dec 29, 2019 12:04:46 GMT Emperor said:

Moxley vs Archer is going to be insane. The winner faces Juice Robinson on January 5th. No idea what they are going to do with this. I could see Moxley winning to get him in two high profile matches, but if they don't plan to keep the belt on him, I don't really see the point.

I would love Archer to retain the belt in two successive nights. Archer is awesome and NJPW have underappreciated him for so long. Sadly, that's why I think the trend will continue.

Don't have particularly high expectations for Tanahashi vs Jericho, but seeing Tanahashi in AEW would be pretty insane. Tanahashi wins, then Jericho gets his win back in AEW.

The main attraction is the double title match. I can't wait for Naito to win it all and finally leave a Tokyo Dome as King of the Mountain.

Moxley lost the NJPWUS Belt on bullshit due to the severe weather conditions not allowing safe travel over so I wonder if they put the belt back on him. 

Dec 29, 2019 16:36:22 GMT SM said:

I honestly don’t see any other outcome than Naito winning both belts. Also, I think Tana will beat Jericho & hopefully he actually does get an AEW title match somewhere down the line.

*laughs in Gedo*

...

I’m with Blindy. I don’t think Moxley would have lost the US title yet had it not been for the missed show, and was probably going to drop it at WK to Archer. Archer got his title run early because of that and now they’re going to put the title back on Mox for a while.

As for Tana/Jericho, I have to wonder if this is a scheme by AEW to force NJPW’s hand. Now the ball is in their court, and AEW look like the good guys. They’re using NJPW’s own tactics against them (you pin the champ, you get a shot) and now it’s up to them to decide how things proceed.

Either you book our champ to beat your Ace or you have to have your Ace fighting for our title. It’s win-win for AEW whether NJPW plays ball or not.

I think Mox dropped the belt more because NJPW was hedging on if they would work with AEW or not. With RoH starting to lose influence no shock to see him return.

Jan 2, 2020 4:45:10 GMT c said:

I think Mox dropped the belt more because NJPW was hedging on if they would work with AEW or not. With RoH starting to lose influence no shock to see him return.

I'm not so sure. Mox always had an NJPW contract. If I remember correctly he signed a separate contract with them (or was at least in talks with them) before he signed his AEW contract. I think he was always going to be at WK14. He's too big a name/draw to worry about relationships and such, like Jericho. He's on that next level and can do what he wants.

I really think it was a fluke he dropped the title because of travel issues and he'd be walking into this weekend still the champ if it weren't for that.

🤯

Got up this morning and immediately threw on WK. I won’t lie, I skipped to Mox/Archer and watched from there. I guess I should watch Liger’s match but I’m more interested in seeing his last one tomorrow and seeing what they do for him.

Mox and Archer tried to kill one another. As was expected. Loved the table spot they did. Archer almost got impaled.

Hiromu/Ospreay wasn’t as great as I thought it might be but they still had some excellent spots and got pretty creative. Glad Hiromu is back on top. Maybe this is finally Ospreay’s heavyweight push?

Naito/White wasn’t anything spectacular but I still enjoyed it. White is such a dick. I’m really interested in seeing dickhead Jay White vs pissed off Kota Ibushi tomorrow.

Ibushi/Okada delivered yet again. These two can do no wrong. I loved the stiffness and Ibushi trying to get over that hump that is Champion Okada. Okada’s entrance was nuts. The offence both men got in was nuts. Ibushi’s last second V Trigger was nuts. Hell yeah.

I know NJPW isn’t known for this but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ibushi interferes tomorrow night and hands Naito the win. Ibushi going heel just feels like the next logical step after last night.

Holy shit I totally forgot it was that day. I watched fucking AEW on the day of Wrestle Kingdom. I won't be in this thread for a while.

Jan 4, 2020 21:28:40 GMT Emperor said:

Holy shit I totally forgot it was that day. I watched fucking AEW on the day of Wrestle Kingdom. I won't be in this thread for a while.

No lie I thought it started today for some reason. When I was going to bed last night I saw a tweet about it starting in a few hours and I was like “oh nice!” and got all excited about waking up today :lol:

Fujiwara, Sano and Liger together in the ring is pretty chilling.

ZSJ vs Sanada was a whole lot of fun.  One of the best technical matches I seen in awhile.

And now Mox and Juice with one of the funner matches I seen in awhile.  Mox and the ref's interactions are hilarious.  And HOLY SHIT crazy match set up for Mox.  Will leave it spoiler free for now, but fuck...

Goto vs KENTA was a match I guess.  Did not feel it all.  Decent finish though.

White vs Ibushi was an overbooked mess.  Great match outside of the WWE nonsense but I find watching Ibushi really hard since he has no regard for protecting his head or neck.  Seen a few people over the years work like him and it usually does not end well.

Jericho vs Tanahashi was everything you would expect.  Not a fan of the finish but fun match.

And we done.  Naito vs Okada is what you expect it to be.  Early MOTY candidate for sure.  Great story, class main event styled match and really got people into it.  

Another year and WK looks to be the show to beat.  Gonna be really hard to deliver a complete show better than this one.

Bout time.

Day one complete.

Jan 4, 2020 17:16:38 GMT RT said:

Got up this morning and immediately threw on WK. I won’t lie, I skipped to Mox/Archer and watched from there. I guess I should watch Liger’s match but I’m more interested in seeing his last one tomorrow and seeing what they do for him.

It was barely a match, but a nice showcase for many legends who were featured in Liger's career. Hear Chris Charlton talk during the intros of all the wrestlers. It's gold and worth more than the match itself.

FinJuice vs Guerrillas of Destiny was about as good as you'd expect, namely a **1/2 routine tag team match, the kind of which GoD have been putting on for years. It's cool that there's a new team in the division, but Juice Robinson and David Finlay are never going to set the world on fire.

Archer vs Moxley was disappointing, but still a nice spectacle and a solid advancement on the hardcore brawls the Japanese audience were introduced to via Chris Jericho.

Ospreay vs Takahashi was even more disappointing. Good match, but one of the worst of Ospreay's most recent Junior Heavyweight Championship run. It had some phenomenal spots but was otherwise nothing to write home about. At least the right man won.

Couldn't disagree with RT more about White/Naito. It was spectacular, five stars and MOTN by a huge distance. Pretty much everything was great about this match, but the one thing I want to point out is the limb work. White did serious damage to Naito's leg, and by god, it actually had a significant impact on the match. Naito's usual counters and offense didn't work at all because of his bum leg, but he still managed to fight on in a believable way and win the match. To me that is far more heroic than being impervious to injury and hitting all your super athletic moves with a broken leg (I'm looking at you, Okada). Anyway, rant over. Naito put on one of the best babyface performances I've seen in a long time.

I'd say Okada/Ibushi exceeded expectations, but my expectations were not very high because I'm generally let down by Ibushi in big match situations. It certainly had an epic feel and some big moments, but as a whole it's one of the weaker Tokyo Dome main events and one of the weaker Okada title defenses. The finishing sequence was great, Okada basically saying "fuck you I'm the best" to Ibushi's shocking last minute flurry.

Feel like day 2 absolutely smoked day 1.

streamable.com/b3olv

He wants Ibushi next I read.

AEW and NJPW allying is huge money for all involved.  

Emperor, RT, What are the must-watch matches. I will probably only watch four or five given the way life is atm, and ZSJ/Sanada will be one of them because ZSJ is my guy - but what else is can’t miss?

Jan 6, 2020 19:02:47 GMT PB said:

Emperor, RT, What are the must-watch matches. I will probably only watch four or five given the way life is atm, and ZSJ/Sanada will be one of them because ZSJ is my guy - but what else is can’t miss?

My top 3 matches from each night are...

Night 1 - Okada/Ibushi, Naito/White, Takahashi/Ospreay
Night 2 - Okada/Naito, Jericho/Tanahashi, Ibushi/White

I haven’t watched New Year’s Dash yet but I’ve read that EVIL & Takagi vs Goto & Ishii is fucking awesome and must see.

Day 2 had the much better card, with no filler, but no matches topped Naito/White.

Liger's last match was actually pretty good. It's worth watching the Liger/Takahashi encounters. In fact, that's what most of this match was. Sano and Dragon Lee were there for sentimental reasons, I guess. The end of a legend. To be honest, it felt pretty unremarkable given that the greatest Junior Heavyweight of all time is retiring, but I guess Japan is less pomp and circumstance than the West.

Junior Tag Team Championship match was OK. Seemed a bit too easy for Sho and Yoh considering how strong Ishimori and ELP have been booked, but whatever. Great spot with the cups.

ZSJ vs SANADA was fantastic. These two have unbelievable chemistry and they got to show it at the Tokyo Dome with some mindblowing technical wrestling and rollup sequences the ref couldn't keep up with.

Moxley vs Robinson wasn't particularly good.

KENTA vs Goto was the token smash mouth strong style match, and it was a very good instance of that match type, but it still feels somewhat inferior to the kind of matches Ishii, Suzuki, Shibata and even Goto have been putting on in recent years.

Ibushi vs White was stupidly entertaining. I really don't understand what goes through Ibushi's head sometimes. There were moments in both his Tokyo Dome matches where he was literally no selling everything like he was made of steel. Then it's just forgotten about two minutes later. White had to cheat a ton to win, but it was entertaining cheating, and if Ibushi is going to work his matches in a way that only an army tank or Okada can beat him, well then Jay White did what he had to do.

Tanahashi vs Jericho was very good. Both men are well past their primes. They're getting on. But they have decades of experience, and know how to work around their limitations. This was a great cool down match between two hot work rate matches, and I'm even inclined to say it was the second best match of the night. The match was put together well, had some good dramatic spots, and a slightly surprising outcome.

As for the main event...

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS


NAAIIIIITTTOOOOOOOOOOO






YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS