Kazuchika Okada's history with Bullet Club leaders is prolific. AJ Styles defeated Okada in his debut NJPW match to capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Kenny Omega and Okada's history is well-known, arguably Okada's greatest rival. Jay White, on the other hand, is a huge thorn in Okada's side. White has an unprecedented 4-1 record over Okada.

Okada's only victory over White was in Madison Square Garden in 2019, capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in the process. White returned the favour at Dominion 2022, returning after a long absence to take the belt from Okada.

Okada has been carrying the legacy of NJPW and its founder Antonio Inoki on his shoulders as he’s battled through the 50th Anniversary year of 2022, and now will pit his fighting spirit against that of the devious and resourceful IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.




Will Ospreay will defend the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Kenny Omega. With his eye catching style in the ring, controversial character outside of it, and ruthless killer instinct, Ospreay was always bound to meet comparisons to Kenny Omega ever since 'The Cleaner' departed NJPW to help found All Elite Wrestling.

Some biting comments in the media only added fuel to those fires, and direct physicality would follow when the United Empire faced the Elite in AEW's tournament to crown their first trios champions. A surprise video message from Omega and a fast confirmation from Ospreay quickly laid the framework for what will doubtless be the most anticipated match on the Tokyo Dome card for many, and may be the most anticipated matchup on any card for 2023. Just who deserves the label of 'Best Bout Machine', and as the IWGP US title only continues to raise in status, who leaves with the belt? On a night truly worthy of having double main event status, Omega and Ospreay will both fight to be the lasting memory of this most memorable of events. 




The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship will be on the line when Taiji Ishimori defends against Master Wato, Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado in a four way match. After Ishimori won the junior title at Dontaku on May 1, and defended against Hiromu in Korakuen after Best of the Super Jr., the Bone Soldier appeared to set himself out as the 'big one' in a junior heavyweight 'big three' consisting of himself, Desperado and Hiromu.

Desperado and Hiromu are eager to climb back to the top of the mountain, but Master Wato may be the most driven of all, desiring to prove himself as worthy among the 'big three' who continue to belittle his ability, despite having a recent singles victory over the champion.




As Keiji Muto brings an iconic near 40 year career to a close in February, his last match in New Japan Pro-Wrestling sees a very fitting six man tag. Muto's influence on Hiroshi Tanahashi is impossible to deny when talking about either the Ace or the Genius, and 13 years removed from the Tokyo Dome IWGP Championship match that finally saw Tanahashi defeat Muto on the grand stage to take his place as Ace, the two team up on January 4.

As Hiroshi Tanahashi became Hiroshi Tanahashi under the spell of 'Muto-ism' though, it seems hard to deny that a spirit of 'Tanahashi-ism' beats within the Roughneck, Shota Umino. Umino’s electric charisma and presence make the young man an irresistible prospect for the future to come, and a past, present and future team that makes for an impressive trio. 

Opposite them, Los Ingobernables De Japon have all had their own connections to Keiji Muto. Tetsuya Naito's pre-LIJ years would see him earmarked the 'Stardust Genius', and the branding was apropros for a man who grew up buying a ticket to watch Muto thrill audiences across the country. In 2012, that led to Naito challenging Keiji Muto to a special singles match inside the Tokyo Dome; while Muto was impossible to overcome that night, he heads into 2023 with the benefit of experience, a renewed drive, and his own ungovernable charisma. 

Meanwhile BUSHI and SANADA's paths in pro-wrestling had their start in an All Japan Pro-Wrestling with Muto as president. SANADA in particular wears his Muto influence on his sleeve, his past seeing him follow Muto from AJPW into Wrestle-1 before landing in NJPW in 2017. It's an eclectic cast of characters in this final walk down the ramp for Keiji Muto in NJPW, and one that closes a deeply significant chapter while providing a glimpse into the next. 




Good riddance, Karl Anderson.




The final of the tournament to crown the inaugural NJPW World TV Championship. Given the participants, this is the best possible pairing.

Zack Sabre Jr. is a technical wizard, his capabilities as a singles wrestler well-known. Yet singles gold has evaded him in his six years with the company. ZSJ desperately wants to taste NJPW gold, and this is a great opportunity. Standing across from him is Ren Narita, who recently returned from excursion and blasted through the tournament, establishing himself as a dominant force with victories against Ishii, Toru Yano and SANADA.

Don't let the time limit and low placement on the card fool you, this could be match of the night.




AEW fans' reason to tune into Wrestle Kingdom.




@aaron's reason to tune into Wrestle Kingdom.

Emperor has tagged me! I've been summoned to a scary New Japan thread! The tag was almost at the end so I read through all the other stuff!

I thought NJPW was...



What's going on?!

I also thought Lio Rush had quit wrestling. What's going on?!?!

Hiromu Takahashi looks very cool. He can be my fav NJPW wrestler.

Jay White's belt looks like the Divas championship. He's pointing to his head like Luther.

Does Karl Anderson suddenly become a different wrestler when he lands in Japan or is it just one of those "everyone is better in Japan" things like when people used to say A-Train was amazing?

Do these shows go on and on for hours?

Is Mauro Ranallo involved?

Don't forget about the possible involvement of Mercedes on the show. That'll get her fans on board to watch.

Jan 2, 2023 20:56:02 GMT @aaron said:

The tag was almost at the end so I read through all the other stuff!

Jan 2, 2023 20:56:02 GMT @aaron said:

What's going on?!

You're witnessing history being created in front of your very eyes. Witness the first ever women's match on NJPW soil! There was a crossover NJPW Stardom show recently in which Kairi was crowned as the new IWGP Women's Champion. This is her first championship defense.

Jan 2, 2023 20:56:02 GMT @aaron said:

I also thought Lio Rush had quit wrestling. What's going on?!?!

The activities of Lio Rush are a mystery to me as well.

Jan 2, 2023 20:56:02 GMT @aaron said:

Hiromu Takahashi looks very cool. He can be my fav NJPW wrestler.

He does look very cool. He has a fascinating personality too.

Jan 2, 2023 20:56:02 GMT @aaron said:

Jay White's belt looks like the Divas championship. He's pointing to his head like Luther.

That belt has a controversial design, and an even more controversial origin story, but I like it.

Jan 2, 2023 20:56:02 GMT @aaron said:

Does Karl Anderson suddenly become a different wrestler when he lands in Japan or is it just one of those "everyone is better in Japan" things like when people used to say A-Train was amazing?

Karl Anderson is a different wrestler in Japan, because he's forced to work decent length singles matches instead of tag matches, but he still kinda sucks.

Jan 2, 2023 20:56:02 GMT @aaron said:

Do these shows go on and on for hours?

This show is NJPW's Wrestlemania, so yes. I imagine it will be about five hours long, including the preshow.

Jan 2, 2023 20:56:02 GMT @aaron said:

Is Mauro Ranallo involved?

No.

Jan 2, 2023 21:11:54 GMT CM Punk'd said:

Don't forget about the possible involvement of Mercedes on the show. That'll get her fans on board to watch.

The former Sasha Banks. I did forget about that, or more accurately, I wasn't aware of it. Well, I can make an educated guess on where she will show up.

K then, I’m probably gonna watch it!

Not definitely. But probably!

That's more than I could have ever hoped for. Enjoy the show!

Thanks for getting this up, Emperor.

Anyways, I'll def have to check out some of the show, especially Okada/White, Omega/Ospreay, and the women's match (partly cause of Kairi, partly because of the Sasha rumours.)

You forgot about the rambo. The most important match of the year.

The most important match of the year, the New Japan Rambo! For the company's most prestigious title, the KING of pro wrestling! Minoru Suzuki is the king of pro wrestling at all times, but one other lucky person gets the opportunity to also be as long as they hold this title at the end of the year. It makes perfect sense. Don't hate.

FEATURING

Almost Certainly Toru Yano
Probably Shingo Takagi
Shingo's Son, El Phantasmo
Someone From AEW
Someone From TNA
Possibly Another Person from AEW or TNA
Someone from ROH?
Bad Luck Fale
Chase Owens
Nobody Important

The participants are not announced, but these are very educated predictions.



The other match that Emperor forgot! Oiwa is a young lion who is really impressive so far. Possibly one of my favorite young lions. He has cool long hair. And he is fighting some guy that just debuted as a young lion that I do not care about. Probably no one cares about. He is very ugly, but might be a good wrestler. I have skipped all of his matches so far, so I don't know. We will FIND OUT...AT THE EXCITING EVENT KNOWN AS WRESTLE KINGDOM 17.

The press conference segment for Ospreay / Omega was intense as Hell. I have never seen Ospreay that intense. It almost came off like a shoot promo if I didn't know any better. It was kind of scary. It felt like he intended to murder Omega in the ring. Brilliant acting from Ospreay, even if it was a little creepy. Maybe it WAS real and he actually hates Omega's guts?

MY PREDICTIONS

Rambo - Shingo Takagi or El Phantasmo win.
Oiwa beats other guy.
The 3 oldies beat the other 3 oldies.
Yoh Lio will defeat Francesco Akira & TJP (unfortunately)
LIJ defeat the retirement team.
Bishamon win (unfortunately)
Tama Tonga beats Machine Gun.
Narita becomes the first TV champion.
Ishimori retains.
Ospreay retains.
Jay White retains.

Good to see cheering/making noise has been allowed

Sasha/Mercedes Mone heel promo in English

Crowd:

😃 *claps politely* 😃

Glad FTR did the favours, our gimmick is we are good tag team wrestlers!

Well duh, you’ve been champions 🙄

Why is there no Zack Sabre SR?

It isn’t his real name so why add JR if he isn’t a junior to another wrestler?

Jan 4, 2023 9:03:53 GMT System said:

Glad FTR did the favours, our gimmick is we are good tag team wrestlers!

Well duh, you’ve been champions 🙄

Their gimmick is now that they lose all the time.

I’m free and can be in Sydney Feb 3rd 👀

I’m not an Omega hater but I get where people are coming from with these matches

Saw an awful promo earlier of Ospreay swearing and blabbering on about Covid restrictions while getting in Omega’s face so you expect this match is going to turn into a violent brawl instantly

So far it’s just the usual flip/reversal stuff.

I can’t remember who it was but someone had the same criticism of the Riddle/Rollins match

Definitely improved the course of the match up

Jan 4, 2023 10:45:05 GMT System said:

I’m not an Omega hater but I get where people are coming from with these matches

Saw an awful promo earlier of Ospreay swearing and blabbering on about Covid restrictions while getting in Omega’s face so you expect this match is going to turn into a violent brawl instantly

So far it’s just the usual flip/reversal stuff.

I can’t remember who it was but someone had the same criticism of the Riddle/Rollins match

Even forgetting about the psychology, Omega's whole shtick is that he's a nerd who also happens to be incredibly athletic. He can't help but goof off and act cartoony even during the most important moments of his career. It's a stylistic choice, but I can see why it would rub fans the wrong way. If Kenny isn't trying his best to win it, why should we care?

It's why on a subconcious level, Toru Yano matches tended to stick out in the G1. Sure, he's a giant goof but he was doing everything he could to win the match. Here it seems like Kenny is doing a bunch of tricks to service some dude in San Jose.

Without reading the thread because I haven’t watched any matches yet, I just wanted to say that people are overreacting to Mercedes debut. I’ve seen a lot of comments about it falling flat but obviously those people don’t watch the product aside from last night.

An audible gasp and a round of applause is the equivalent of Stone Cold Steve Austin returning in Texas. That’s about the best you’re going to get from an NJPW crowd these days. And the sound in Tokyo Dome almost never translates well to television. The stadium is huge and very wide.

Yeah maybe I sound like I’m trying to justify it but I don’t even like Sasha and I’m defending her here. When Kenny fucking Omega returned to challenge Will Ospreay it got the same reaction. Like people online are talking like they expected the crowd to start beating the shit out of each other with excitement. Sasha stans are the worst.

Her hair was cool though.

Just gonna post my thoughts as I watch the matches in no particular order (and I'm skipping some because obviously)

-Already posted my Mercedes thoughts but the women's match was fucking excellent. KAIRI is amazing.

-Keiji Mutoh's last match was about what I expected. Quick six-man tag with some big stars. Nothing special but a nice send off.

-Is Hiromu Takahashi ever going to escape the Jr Heavyweight division? I was surprised he won and expected Ishimori to retain. He's going to have some bangers though if he stays healthy this time (Hiromu vs KUSHIDA incoming). And Master Wato continues to impress. That elevated German he hit was fucking sick.

-He did it. The fucking crazy bastard actually did a Sephiroth cosplay for his entrance.

-ELEVAAAAATTEEEEEEED IS BACK WOOOOOOOO

I didn't know you like video games/FF RT!

Not sure how to get it or what it will cost but I just want a raw, unfiltered reaction from Jim Cornette of Kenny "The Cleaner" Omega vs Will Ospreay. Would be pure hilarity. He watched the Okada/Omega wars, I know he can do it...just a matter of does he really want to?

-this match is probably only half over and it’s already better than 90% of the matches Kenny Omega has had in AEW. A true return to his roots here. Amazing.

-Will Ospreay is not human.

-the “here’s Kenny!” through the hole in the table :lol:

-oh my god Ospreay looks like he was in a car accident

-OH MY GOD HE’S BREAKING THE TABLE WITH HIS FACE

Jan 4, 2023 18:15:16 GMT Blindy said:

I didn't know you like video games/FF RT!

Not sure how to get it or what it will cost but I just want a raw, unfiltered reaction from Jim Cornette of Kenny "The Cleaner" Omega vs Will Ospreay. Would be pure hilarity. He watched the Okada/Omega wars, I know he can do it...just a matter of does he really want to?

Everyone knows who Sephiroth is!

It goes without saying in regards to Cornette but this match should be right up his alley. If he doesn’t like it he’s even more full of shit than any of us could have imagined.

-Ospreay looks dead

-these guys might actually kill each other one day

-loved the double Hidden Blade that hit Omega in the back, then he stayed up and Ospreay swung back and caught him in the face. That was so cool. Never seen that before.

-STYLES CLASH! CROWD WENT CRAZY!

-Couldn’t hit the OWA and now Ospreay is back in it. How many times have we seen this before? That’s what you get for having such a convoluted finisher, Kenny!

-never mind he hit it :lol:

NEW CHAMP!!! FUCK YES I CAN’T BELIEVE IT!!

Rematch at Forbidden Door 2??

Mercedes debut was a bit awful from the Kriss Kross theme to the botch, but I did like her Is This It? hair.

Regardless, the possibilities for all the matches she can have in Japan have me invested in wrestling for the first time in over a year.

Seen everything but the last match.

----------------------------------

Surprised by how short the early matches were. Junior Tag, Women's, Heavyweight Tag. Seemed none of them went over 10 minutes. Not surprised at any of the results.

----------------------------------

Even ZSJ and Narita went at a blistering pace, they were wrestling fast even for the 15 minute time constraint. Fantastic match, the English commentators mentioned Shibata was grinning ear to ear. Of course he was. That's Shibata's wrestling done perfectly. I was nervous they'd give the win to Narita, which I wouldn't have minded, but my boy Zack did it. First singles gold in New Japan.

Then it all comes crashing down. After leaving the brotherhood that is Suzuki-gun, his next move is to join a random group with two jobbers who have barely been in the company. Commentary suggested they were old friends from NOAH. But I do not like it. Hey, at least he has a belt.

----------------------------------

Tama Tonga vs Karl Anderson happened.

----------------------------------

Keiji Mutoh's final match happened. Fan service for both the wrestlers and the fans. SANADA getting to hit all of Mutoh's moves against him was pretty cool.

----------------------------------

Junior Heavyweight four way was a lot of fun. All guys delivered. Shockingly, I was rooting for Master Wato. That goofy kid with the goofy pose has really earned my respect. Also love that, despite him taking the pinfall, he really shined at the end, having both Ishimori and Desperado both down for the three count before the pins were broken up.

Hiromu winning was the worst possible outcome. It's as tiresome as Charlotte Flair winning everything in WWE.

----------------------------------

Kenny Omega's entrance is a strong contender for MOTY. I marked so hard. One of the best songs from my favourite video game ever? Yes please. Ospreay had a great entrance as well but he already lost that battle.

Loved the match. I understand the usual criticisms about modern wrestling and Kenny Omega, but I couldn't fault the psychology of the match. The gist is that Kenny is cool, he and Don Callis have provoked Ospreay to a furious anger. The bell rings, Ospreay immediately goes for a running kick. Kenny calmly strolls out of the way and Ospreay realises he has to grapple. They get pretty violent shortly after that.

Some absolutely insane bumps. The execution of everything was fantastic. They went out there to wow the now-cheering crowd and they certainly succeeded. Kenny murdering Ospreay for 5 minutes straight was unexpected but compelling. A parallel to the Omega vs White match from a few years ago where Kenny did the same thing. White's response was to play dead and catch him with a flash counter, which went on to define his style. Ospreay took the traditional Japanese route and fired up real hard, channelling that fighting spirit. Loved everything about the finishing sequence apart from Ospreay using the Styles Clash. Old Bullet Club finishers being used in every match involving guys tangentially related to Bullet Club is getting old.

The actual finish was beautiful. Kamigoye (Kota Ibushi's finisher) into One Winged Angel.

Can't believe how different Kenny Omega is in NJPW compared to AEW. When he started wrestling in AEW and generally disappointing, I thought he had lost something. That's not the case. He just doesn't do American style wrestling very well (for me). His first NJPW match in years, proves why everyone calls him the Best Bout Machine.

Even though I wanted Ospreay to win, I'm optimistic that Kenny winning means he will work NJPW more.

----------------------------------

Jan 4, 2023 15:30:21 GMT RT said:

Without reading the thread because I haven’t watched any matches yet, I just wanted to say that people are overreacting to Mercedes debut. I’ve seen a lot of comments about it falling flat but obviously those people don’t watch the product aside from last night.

An audible gasp and a round of applause is the equivalent of Stone Cold Steve Austin returning in Texas. That’s about the best you’re going to get from an NJPW crowd these days. And the sound in Tokyo Dome almost never translates well to television. The stadium is huge and very wide.

Yeah maybe I sound like I’m trying to justify it but I don’t even like Sasha and I’m defending her here. When Kenny fucking Omega returned to challenge Will Ospreay it got the same reaction. Like people online are talking like they expected the crowd to start beating the shit out of each other with excitement. Sasha stans are the worst.

Her hair was cool though.

Don't know what was said about her reception but seemed solid enough to me. Her hair was super cool!

Jan 4, 2023 22:18:37 GMT @admin said:

Mercedes debut was a bit awful from the Kriss Kross theme to the botch, but I did like her Is This It? hair.

Regardless, the possibilities for all the matches she can have in Japan have me invested in wrestling for the first time in over a year.

Screw Chris Jericho, Sasha Banks is the real draw!

Don't know what's so awful about the theme, but yeah I have no idea what move she was trying to hit on Kairi. The promo was good though, that usual Boss attitude and she did a Jay White by giving herself a bunch of nicknames.

Jan 4, 2023 23:14:58 GMT Emperor said:

Screw Chris Jericho, Sasha Banks is the real draw!

It's CEO Time!