The main event of Wrestle Kingdom 18 sees a match 18 years in the making for the champion, and a moment dreamed of for a lifetime for the challenger. Tetsuya Naito has had visions of bathing in the Tokyo Dome spotlight, the crowd chanting his name as he exits from the main event with head and championship held high, since he was a child. In 2020, he bet it all and won big, but his exultant rollcall and cry of ‘De Ja Pon!’ was cut off by KENTA. Since then, four years of struggle with injuries and the fates have brought him to this point, and an opportunity he has sacrificed nearly everything for, his own vision and long term quality of life included.

Champion SANADA has all that Naito lacks and vice versa- a balance that led both of them to IWGP Tag team Championship gold not that long ago. The credo of ‘to be the man, you have to beat the man’ is ingrained on the wrestler and fan psyche, but SANADA has proven the mantra to be only half true. SANADA has the world title having beaten the veritable last boss of professional wrestling in Kazuchika Okada to take it. Indeed, he has carried the top prize in professional wrestling around the world before cheering fans for nine months, an opportunity that Naito has never been able to seize. Yet in the mind of the masses, the champion is not ‘The Man’. As fans and pundits have questioned SANADA’s ability to check all the boxes in and out of the ring as a leading force in professional wrestling, SANADA has doubted himself, but tonight sees the chance to lay all the doubts to rest. Whatever may happen, the winner will truly be the driving force for professional wrestling at large, and complete a decades long destiny.




The most hotly anticipated rematch in professional wrestling sees Kazuchika Okada and Bryan Danielson head to head in a battle fueled by revenge. For Okada, losing to the American Dragon, and indeed via his first submission loss in seven years at Forbidden Door is something the Rainmaker can not easily get past. For Danielson, a broken arm sustained that night in Toronto, combined with a Rainmaker incurred fractured orbital in an AEW Dynamite tag bout has taken months off of what he has said will be his last year as a full time professional wrestler. Two men who have come to represent Strong Style, albeit in different forms, more than anyone in the US and Japan will square off in the Tokyo Dome once more, but who will have the upper hand- or arm?




An inaugural IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion will be crowned when Will Ospreay, Jon Moxley and David Finlay face off in a three way bout. After Ospreay defended the IWGP United States and United Kingdom Championships against Shota Umino at Power Struggle, a face to face with Jon Moxley made it seem as if the two would settle business that stemmed from a controversial finish to their one and only singles match in the spring of 2022. Yet instead it would be David Finlay intervening with a massive sledgehammer, destroying the two title belts and the work that Ospreay had done to advance them on the world stage.

The Global Championship will indicate NJPW’s presence upon that world stage- where the world flocks to fight the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, the Global Champion will go out to fight the world. Ospreay has fit that bill in 2023, and Moxley’s global presence has been keenly felt over the years as well. Will the self proclaimed Rebel Savior Finlay take this chance to instantly shoot himself into the international spotlight?




One of the most storied junior heavyweight rivalries of the decade lies between Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado. One man driven to be the face of the junior heavyweight wrestling landscape against another who never desired that spotlight, but has grown within it, the two share a 2-2-1 record full of memorable battles. Desperado’s unintentional unmasking at Best of the Super Jr. 27, a time limit draw the next year, a Tokyo Dome defence for Despe tempered by another BOSJ final defeat months later, all have seen the two bring a competitive drive out of one another.

It’s a competitive history that began in earnest in the 2018 Best of the Super Jr., but be it injury or be it the pandemic, Hiromu and Desperado have yet to have a true marquee match on a big stage with a full cheering crowd until January 4 2024. Whether this new environment will bring an air of finality to this rivalry for now, or will trigger a whole new chapter remains to be seen, but a partisan crowd split between two of the very best in the modern era is certain to be a highlight of Wrestle Kingdom 18.




We have become very used to setting our watches on a change of hands for the IWGP Tag Team Championships every January 4 for the last decade. More often than not, excepting a blip in 2017 during a three way, that has meant the World Tag League winners taking the gold. So what happens when the World Tag League winners are the IWGP Champions? Bishamon have defied convention by being the first ever threepeating WTL winners as well as the first set of champions to win the annual tournament. Able to pick their own shot, they nominated the team that beat them on the first night of the campaign before they leveled the score at the final. STRONG Tag Champions Hikuleo and El Phantasmo might be a fresh team, coming together in August, but their run as STRONG Tag Champions through the autumn and winter has been nothing short of impressive. Now they seek to win a rubber match for all the gold.




When Tama Tonga began his third reign with the NEVER Openweight Championship at Destruction in Ryogoku, he was clear, not just in the violent form he won the title from David Finlay, but in his actions afterward about the vision he wanted for himself as champion. Quickly calling out Shingo Takagi for closure following a draw during the G1, Tama was intent on showing himself as a fighting champion in the ‘BMF’ mould that Shingo had maintained during the pandemic, a vision of himself as champion he was unable to show in brief reigns cut short by outside challengers.

Yet while Tama rolled the dice on a hard hitting defence against the Dragon, he paid the price, falling at V0 to Shingo in a gripping bout in Las Vegas. Shingo publicly declared a hit list of people that he wants to face in his own third NEVER reign, but the Guerrilla of Destiny was quick to jump the line and request a rematch for the gold before that list of Shingo’s can be put into action. In what is sure to be an intense battle, will it be fourth time lucky for Tama for a sustained reign as the NEVER Openweight Champion, or will Takagi make his second defence in the Tokyo Dome?




Ever since Ren Narita turned on Shota Umino and joined HOUSE OF TORTURE, frustration has only continued to mount as Umino has tried and failed to get his hands on his former friend long enough to hit the Death Rider. As H.O.T have continued to get between the two, it became clear that Umino could not enact the vengeance he felt he deserved unless he had some backup. That backup came from Pro-Wrestling NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya, who himself has been embroiled in a feud with EVIL that has stretched between the two promotions. After the two young stars join forces at NOAH’s New Year card January 2 for an elimination bout, they tag once again, two on two in theory, under the ceiling of the Big Egg.




Fated rivals from day one in their respective careers, Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura wrestle one on one for the first time since April 2021 in a special singles match.

Their first 21 encounters resulted in a string of ten minute draws, and when they had the benefit of experience and more time alloted to them, Uemura and Tsuji traded wins as Young Lions. But as excursions beckoned, Tsuji seemed to be a step ahead, eventually reaching a 15-10-22 record.

Both took their own separate paths in excursion and returned in contrasting form, Tsuji adding spectacle to his offensive arsenal while Uemura solidified already impressive fundamentals. Tsuji’s showiness expressed itself in an instant desire to wrestle in main event spots, while for Uemura, Wrestle Kingdom will be his first singles match since return from excursion.

The points of comparison are numerous, but the one that Tsuji feels he has proven is that he’s the better hand than Uemura. A tag victory over Just Five Guys at Power Struggle had the exclamation point of Tsuji hurling Uemura outside the ring in as dismissive a form as possible, while criticising that Uemura’s red colour scheme and long hair was stealing from his own look. Now they finally go head to head, will it be Tsuji solidifying his advantage, or will Uemura make a huge statement on the biggest of stages?




One year ago, Zack Sabre Jr. became the first NJPW World TV Champion, and has held the title ever since. 16 defences has set him as comfortably the winningest champion of the modern era in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, and as he looks to continue that reign into 2024, he’ll come up against Hiroshi Tanahashi.

The Ace is a different proposition to the youth oriented image that the World TV title was first introduced as, but with his own proven and at one time record breaking track record, he’s a fitting test for Sabre as he tries to complete a year as champ. The classical ideologies of both men should create a work of art in this title affair, but with only 15 minutes on the clock, can Tanahashi get the job done?




Ever since Drilla Moloney turned his back on the United Empire to join forces with Clark Connors and BULLET CLUB War Dogs, Catch 2/2 have been looking for redemption, and always unable to attain it. A loss of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag titles at Independence Day was followed with another defeat during Sup[er Junior Tag League. TJP and Francesco Akira did go on to win that tournament, and declared to their adversaries that ‘Catch 2/2 would never die’ but the champions put that to a gruesome test December 22.

After a vicious first ever coffin match on December 22, TJP’s status in this match is in doubt. Will he be able to compete in the Tokyo Dome and bring his team to victory, or will this be a victory by forfeit for the champions?

www.njpw1972.com/166667

Having shamelessly copied the entire NJPW1972 article because their graphics and write-ups are fantastic, allow me to contribute my own view.

First things first, this is the worst Wrestle Kingdom card in many years. It doesn't have that grandiose, extra special feel that Wrestle Kingdom should have. Not a bad card by any means, but this is a Dominion level card at best.

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These feelings come mostly from the main event, the coldest WK main event in a long time, and the culmination of an experiment that NJPW started early in 2023. SANADA, a wrestler with plenty of crowd support but who never breached the top of the card, had the rocket strapped. He won the New Japan Cup, leaving Los Ingobernables de Japón mid tournament after defeating none other than Tetsuya Naito. He then vanquished Okada to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. This was undoubtedly an exciting time. I have long been a detractor of SANADA, but this shift in his approach, his willingness to talk more and a more focused, less lackadaisical in-ring style made me enthusiastic about NJPW's choice of the new top guy. However his booking did him no favours, as he was constantly positioned against midcard talent, and generally did not feel as important as the likes of Okada and Ospreay. While he did go undefeated in the G1, this came with an asterisk as he was in a block with newcomers and debutants, avoiding anyone who would be a true threat. He was even outshined in his own block by far more exciting performances by the likes of Gabe Kidd, Yota Tsuji, ShHota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya. He was eliminated in the quarterfinals by EVIL, starting a long feud with House of Torture that further derailed his momentum.

Although Naito and SANADA have a lot of shared history, the build hasn't been anything special. The most compelling aspect of the story is Naito's quest to finally fulfil his dream of closing the show at the Tokyo Dome, a retread of the storyline from 2020. Meanwhile, what's SANADA's story? Well, his quest is merely to prove he's not a paper champion, a quest that is doomed to fail. SANADA's entire reign feels like a means to an end for Naito's story. The only consolation for SANADA is that his IWGP Championship reign is not as terrible and as transparently short-sighted as EVIL's.

The Naito victory and celebration will be glorious. Let's at least hope they can wrestle a great match to get us there.

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Okada vs Danielson is clearly special, but hampered by the fact that this is an obvious "Okada gets his win back" match, a replay of last year's WK where Okada defeated Jay White after losing to him at Dominion 2022. Nevertheless, it should be an excellent match, a lot better than their first encounter in June.

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Ospreay vs Moxley vs Finlay. Well let's get the obvious out of the way: Finlay had nothing to do so was shoehorned into the Ospreay vs Moxley match, which would have been a much more special and more fitting match for WK. However I don't hate Finlay's presence. I am one of the few people in the IWC who actually likes Finlay as the savage leader of Bullet Club, so I'm interested to see how he will fare against the two most unstoppable wrestlers of 2023. I expect Finlay takes the fall, and AEW gets the marquee Ospreay vs Moxley in the future, perhaps at All Out 2.

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Hiromu vs Desperado. Although I got bored of Hiromu a couple of years ago, even I can't deny the rivalry with Desperado is the gift that keeps on giving. It really is the Okada vs Tanahashi of the Junior Division, a dramatic and storied rivalry that almost transcends the division and the junior belt. I'm excited.

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Tag Championship match. Like always, I don't care much for this championship, but I do applaud the booking effort into making this match as special as possible. Having the IWGP Tag Champions Bishamon win the World Tag League and choosing their opponents for a rubber match is pretty interesting booking. The double title match adds extra stakes.

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Tama Tonga vs Shingo Takagi. Reading the blurb from NJPW1972, I realise I have missed almost all of this feud. And I don't care. I thought Tonga was the champion, but it looks like Takagi took the championship in Los Angeles, in a show I must have missed.

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Shota/Kiyomiya vs EVIL/Narita. As much disdain as the world has for House of Torture, they are an extremely effective heel act, and in fact I think the booking of this feud has been fantastic. The World Tag League saw Ren Narita team with his rival Shota Umino, in a long con that led to Narita betraying Shota in the final block match when they faced EVIL and Yujiro.

At around the same time House of Torture stirred up a rivalry with NOAH's Kaito Kiyomiya and Ryohei Oiwa. This led to House of Torture invading NOAH to destroy Kiyomiya in his own promotion. Shota Umino then formed an alliance with Kiyomiya to take down the villains. Pretty cool stuff. In fact, before these teams meet at Wrestle Kingdom, they will face off in a 10-man tag in NOAH's New Year show. Honestly one of my favourite matches on the card.

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Yota Tsuji vs Yuya Uemaru. A match with a neat story going back to their young lion days, a simple but effective story for an undercard match, shining some spotlight on the future stars.

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Tanahashi vs Zack. My second biggest problem with the card - besides the main event - is the world's best wrestler, Zack Sabre Jr, booked against Tanahashi. What a waste. Of course Zack would be defending his TV title at Wrestle Kingdom, but let's just say I would have preferred almost anybody else. Why not Shibata? Damn that would have been awesome. Especially if Shibata were still ROH Pure Champion. Well anyway it gets Tanahashi in a semi-prominent role on the card, which is of course a requirement. What scares me the most is that Tanahashi might actually win.

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Junior Tag Match. A heated rivalry that all started when Drilla Maloney turned on United Empire to join Clark Connors and Bullet Club War Dogs. The booking took a bizarre twist when both teams agreed to wrestle a casket match on December 22, a match where TJP got locked in the casket. So the story heading into the Tokyo Dome is...will TJP make it? Why not just have the casket match at Wrestle Kingdom?

Imagine Gedo goes full Gedo and SANADA retains. The Tokyo Dome might actually burn. There is no reason to watch the main event other than to hear the roll call afterwards.

I have to give it to SANADA, he has done well and I absolutely dig his look since he left LIJ and became champ. He looks like the absolute units of the late 80’s/early 90’s that were chiseled from marble and didn’t need any flashy attire because their presence was enough. He looks amazing. Just wish his matches delivered.

Finlay probably wins the Global title but it would make sense if Mox took it then Ospreay/United Empire feuded with Mox/BCC in AEW for a bit. Not sure that happens though.

I think ZSJ will finally lose the TV title. Not much to say about that. I wish ROH had more success and eyeballs because it would be perfect for ZSJ to have spent a few months stateside issuing open challenges before dropping the belt but whatever. Is what it is.

I am weirdly looking forward to Uemura vs Tsuji. I think that might be a show stealer.

Is NJPW as cold in Japan as it has been stateside?

Brilliant summary of the build-up to WK 18 Emperor. It makes me engaged enough to consider buying the show.

Dec 27, 2023 5:31:32 GMT KJ said:

Is NJPW as cold in Japan as it has been stateside?

I can't really speak as to how well the promotion is being received, except to say the crowds seem as busy and as enthusiastic as ever. SANADA's crowd response is notably less than other top guys.

I'll no doubt check out the few matches that have my interest, those of course being...

Sanada vs. Naito
Okada vs. Danielson
Takahashi vs. Desperado
Tanahashi vs. ZSJ

This year alone, I've watched more New Japan, than any other year, and I'm looking to continue that going into 2024.

NJPW's YouTube channel is releasing video interviews of some of the wrestlers and they're fascinating. I'll start at the top. SANADA vs Naito.



One of my main issues with SANADA is that he's not relatable. I don't feel anything for the guy, there's nothing to latch onto. A big part of that is his ultra-stoic nature. He doesn't speak much, and he doesn't have a whole lot of personality in the ring either. He's improved in that respect, but only slightly. He's started talking more, as is his duty, as the top wrestler in the company. SANADA's interview is quite illuminating. Turns out he has a lot to say, he just chooses not to say it most of the time. The interview also touches on SANADA and Naito's long history which is pretty interesting.



Naito speaks about his motivation, which is not to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, but to win the main event of the Tokyo Dome and do his signature roll call to the tens of thousands in attendance. I always found this a strange motivation, but it does fit with Naito's character, especially when you consider he was always against the merging of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, so he has no attachment to the current world championship. Regardless of his kayfabe motivations, a wrestler not caring about the championship he fights for is bizarre, to say the least, although he does later mention that he would like to wrestle against Hiromu as champion.

More interesting is his comments on SANADA. He buries his former ally, using words harsher than I have chosen, but expressing similar sentiments. "I hate to say it, but there's nothing big about him. People look at the two of us and don't know which is champion. That's how little his presence feels. [...] I feel he's nowhere near my level." Is Naito wrong?

Sounds like he's looking for his *points to sign* WM Moment. Not that the IWGP changes hands constantly or anything, but for a long term star like him who has done it before that kinda is the last accolade. I do consider it one because milestone events get looked back on. Having your moments on lesser shows does take away from your value in the conversation imo. I've always love the lore behind these big match motivations though. There's so much more to these guys than meme gifs of him tossing belts into the air would have you suggest.

It is interesting him calling LIJ "Naito and Friends" since that is usually how stables operate.

I'll post more thoughts later but LOL @ him sitting on some cone in a suit on the beach to do this. Like what?

Dec 27, 2023 23:14:48 GMT @ness said:

It is interesting him calling LIJ "Naito and Friends" since that is usually how stables operate.

The subtext behind that is that LIJ have always presented themselves as a group with no leader, a loosely-connected family who largely do their own thing but come together in multi-man tags. SANADA disagrees with that, claiming that it's all about Naito, which is one of the reasons he changed faction.

That also ties into how SANADA behaves in Just Five Guys. Although he's the champion and face of the company, he doesn't hesitate to give the shine to his teammates when they close the show on the microphone. For instance on the last show, J5G won the main event, then SANADA mentions that it's DOUKI's birthday and invited him into the ring. DOUKI didn't even wrestle in that match but he was at ringside.

Moving onto the Global Championship Triple Threat.







I like all three videos, and I also like how different they are. Finlay cuts a promo, Ospreay gives a sportsperson interview, and Moxley lies somewhere in the middle.

Finally, the Brian Danielson interview.



I'm expecting an Okada interview but none has been posted, so maybe it will never happen.

Anyone else think Moxley’s appearance in this match confirm he’ll lose in the Continental Classic finals?

Dec 30, 2023 1:41:14 GMT KJ said:

Anyone else think Moxley’s appearance in this match confirm he’ll lose in the Continental Classic finals?

Definitely. And even if he wasn't going to Japan this week I probably would have assumed he was losing simply because this tournament was designed to put Eddie Kingston over and give him his hometown title win in New York.

I was annoyed at first but it actually makes sense that Moxley won the triple threat now because Kingston going over Jay White or Swerve Strickland would have been a bad idea. All 3 of those guys have lots of momentum going into 2024 and losing a big title match to close out the year would be a set back.

If the plan is to give Eddie his moment you stick with that and have Moxley do the deed, and honestly if that wasn't the plan all along and Moxley wins then I will lose my god damn mind. Giving it to Moxley over Swerve or Jay White would be some of the dumbest shit I will ever see in a wrestling ring.

Finally, the Okada interview! On a boat!



He has a lot of interesting things to say about Brian Danielson, Wrestle Kingdom, and pro-wrestling as a whole. Also
featuring the brilliant quote, "Honestly, I don't think of myself as the best in the world. But there isn't anyone better than me."

Dec 25, 2023 16:22:35 GMT Emperor said:

First things first, this is the worst Wrestle Kingdom card in many years. It doesn't have that grandiose, extra special feel that Wrestle Kingdom should have. Not a bad card by any means, but this is a Dominion level card at best.

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

These feelings come mostly from the main event, the coldest WK main event in a long time, and the culmination of an experiment that NJPW started early in 2023. SANADA, a wrestler with plenty of crowd support but who never breached the top of the card, had the rocket strapped. He won the New Japan Cup, leaving Los Ingobernables de Japón mid tournament after defeating none other than Tetsuya Naito. He then vanquished Okada to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. This was undoubtedly an exciting time. I have long been a detractor of SANADA, but this shift in his approach, his willingness to talk more and a more focused, less lackadaisical in-ring style made me enthusiastic about NJPW's choice of the new top guy. However his booking did him no favours, as he was constantly positioned against midcard talent, and generally did not feel as important as the likes of Okada and Ospreay. While he did go undefeated in the G1, this came with an asterisk as he was in a block with newcomers and debutants, avoiding anyone who would be a true threat. He was even outshined in his own block by far more exciting performances by the likes of Gabe Kidd, Yota Tsuji, ShHota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya. He was eliminated in the quarterfinals by EVIL, starting a long feud with House of Torture that further derailed his momentum.

Although Naito and SANADA have a lot of shared history, the build hasn't been anything special. The most compelling aspect of the story is Naito's quest to finally fulfil his dream of closing the show at the Tokyo Dome, a retread of the storyline from 2020. Meanwhile, what's SANADA's story? Well, his quest is merely to prove he's not a paper champion, a quest that is doomed to fail. SANADA's entire reign feels like a means to an end for Naito's story. The only consolation for SANADA is that his IWGP Championship reign is not as terrible and as transparently short-sighted as EVIL's.

The Naito victory and celebration will be glorious. Let's at least hope they can wrestle a great match to get us there.

This seems to be the crux of your issue with this year's WK and I am a bit shocked to hear it. Everything you say is true - SANADA has been booked against nobodies all year long, but I don't think it affects the build into WK all that much. It has still been an exciting championship reign and the matches have mostly been entertaining, even if the other excellent A Block contenders overshadowed him in the G1. Yeah, he had no real challenge yet. But this is the first big challenge to his world title status. This is the moment we've been waiting for. The big moment where he faces off against Naito and shows the world if he belongs in this top spot. If the only complaint is that time passed between him earning the title and the excitement happening, meh. Who cares? It's all the same. I am a patient man. That's all in the past. The magic is happening now! And I am very excited.

I honestly was expecting a SANADA win before reading your post. You make a fair point that it could indeed be a means to an end for Naito, but I think it's far from the foregone conclusion you're treating it as. A SANADA win is well within the realm of possibility. I am hoping for it as well. Obviously Naito is the better wrestler and personality, but I like the shake-up SANADA brings and definitely want to see him go up against some more top guys for the title instead of the babies he has faced so far. There's still lots of room to go with it without retreading some old Naito rivalries. And he will be more cemented and exciting than ever if he takes down Naito.

Won’t get to sit down and watch the show until next week probably but I saw what I needed to see.

LOS INNNNNNNGOBERNABLES

DE

JA

PON!!!!

Ospreay’s entrance was dope too

Also Nick & Ryan Nemeth popping up of all people was wild. Did not expect that at all.

It's always crazy once you remember it's the 4th the show is over because fuck it we'll do it live while ya'll is sleeping. Never can get used to it not following the typical western marquee event.

Just checking results and seems to be what you'd expect.

Also Hiromu, it's time to move on bruddah. Sure you can win another junior/super j cup... but at this point?

I expect Hiromu to have a big year if he can stay healthy. Could even see him getting far in the G1. This has to be his breakthrough year into the heavyweight scene otherwise what are we doing here.

Will be interesting how he proceeds, given his LIJ brother now has the title and probably will for a long time. Hiromu wants to move up and might have to go through Naito to get there.

So how was Okada/Danielson?

Jan 5, 2024 21:23:21 GMT KJ said:

So how was Okada/Danielson?

Danielson broke Okada's arm just like he said he would. It was one of the most brutal events in the history of wrestling. Not content to just break it, Danielson smiled wickedly as he ripped the entire arm off Okada's body and began to beat Okada with Okada's own arm. Okada then regenerated his arm and won the match anyway.

You had me until the ending thinking you were making it up, but that's usually how these New Japan mains end so...

Francesco Akira and TJP def. Clark Connors and Drilla Maloney (9:38)

The two teams had a Casket match just before Christmas. TJP was the unlucky wrestler to get buried, and in an interesting twist for a Casket match, they rolled with TJP being gone and unable to make it to Wrestle Kingdom. An obvious ruse, but it did ask an interesting question of how his return would be presented.

The answer: a twist on Finn Balor's alter ego. TJP emerged in a monstrous mask, presenting himself as The Aswang, a Filpino demon.

I'd wager this is the most Baker thing to happen in the entire show, but I'm getting Mr. Kennedy "too corny even for me" vibes. Anyway, this demon gimmick is almost killed from the start when he is presented as TJP instead of The Aswang Give credit where credit is due, Connors and Maloney sell the outfit appropriately, lending it some credibility.

The match is the kind of hundred-miles-an-hour junior tag sprint that has become the standard opener for Wrestle Kingdom. Nothing amazing, nor is it meant to be, just a high energy match to get the crowd warmed up. In that it is completely successful. The Aswang TJP mostly wrestled as himself with a couple of odd mannerisms sprinkled in. The Aswang received the brunt of the War Dogs' offense, but since he is now a demon he is able to kick out after finisher after finisher after finisher. The match then reaches its natural conclusion with Catch-22 finally overcoming their perpetual rivals of 2023.

In my view The Aswang was a dud, but I can't fault them for bringing something different to the table on the biggest show of the year. I wonder if Demon TJP is here to stay?

Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Zack Sabre Jr. (8:53)

An interesting stat brought up by commentary is that ZSJ is 3-0 in singles matches at the Tokyo Dome. Hulk Hogan is 4-0.

Zack was complimentary of Tanahashi in the press conference, declaring that he is a Wrestle Kingdom-caliber opponent. I am less annoyed about this use of ZSJ as I was before. There's no space for Zack at the top of the card, and he does hold what is effectively a midcard belt, so all things considered Tanahashi is the best opponent he could have hoped for. In terms of star power, not in ring ability.

Even this latter point is not as bad as I expected. We all know about Tanahashi's broken down body, showcased to North America in that infamous performance against MJF in AEW, but I have noticed that in the latter half of 2023 his sporadic in-ring appearances have been far more fluid. I imagine that's because he took a lot of time off, not participating in World Tag League and no doubt politicking to become The President.

The result is that Tanahashi vs Zack was actually quite good, but in an unusual twist, the match peaked in the first five minutes. It started with some fantastic chain wrestling, where Zack dominated, but Tanahashi managedto hit three Twist and Shouts in a row and went for an early kill with Slingblade and High Fly Flow. It very nearly worked, but Zack got his knees up and the match went on. The rest of the match was lacklustre in comparison. The match concluded with an endless sequence of rollup reversals, but Tanahashi got the last laugh as he managed to hold Zack's shoulders to the mat.

Of course a disappointing result, but not a surprising one. Of course The President would book himself to win a championship at the Tokyo Dome. In all seriousness, I don't object to the booking decision. A forced 15 minute time limit is ideal for Tanahashi. As for Zack, he has done a fantastic job in establishing a new championship, but he has always been bigger than it, so he needed to get rid of that dead weight and move on to winning the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Hiroshi Tanahashi is the President of NJPW and the new World Television Champion. However, much like Zack Sabre Jr. is not Hulk Hogan, Tanahashi is STILL Not My Ace.

Yuya Uemura def. Yota Tsuji (10:57)

2024 will be the year that the youngsters star to rise, and it begins with this showcase of recently returned young lions. Yota Tsuji is no stranger to the big stage, debuting six months ago in the main event of Dominion. However his results have not lived up to his booking, so he has organically slipped down the card. Uemura was Tsuji's young lion rival, returning from excursion two months ago and immediately targeting his old foe.

The opening minutes of the match showed that Tsuji had no nerves in comparison to his opponent. Tsuji dominated with his limitless plethora of offensive moves. Uemura slowly but surely fought back into the match, using his sound fundamental wrestling moves such as the Ricky The Dragon armdrag, a stark contrast to Tsuji's flashiness. In the end Uemura showed his class, connecting with several beautiful suplexes, the final bridging arm trap suplex securing the pin.

Both wrestlers declared that this isn't over, promising a years long rivalry, much like the two young wrestlers in our next contest.

Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya vs EVIL and Ren Narita (7:06)

The more time passes the more I respect the decision to stick Narita in House of Torture. Obviously HoT is here to say, and they desperately need beefing up, because Yujiro Takahashi is an extremely weak second-in-command. Narita isn't a great fit, but I'd argue Narita isn't a great fit anywhere that requires him to show an ounce of personality. I can live with him attempting to mimic SHO's psychotic personality.

A few days ago in NOAH, the focus was on Kiyomiya, who triumphed over both Yujiro and EVIL to ensure his team's victory in a Survivor Series style elimination match. In the Tokyo Dome it's Shota's turn. Shooter entered on a motorbike, riding it through the huge arena. The first special entrance of the evening. Good job sir.

The trend continued in the match. We barely saw Kiyomiya, the match was a lot of shenanigans and ended with a Shota battling Narita and the rest of HoT by himself. The numbers proved too much. Narita used a foreign object then hit the Double Cross (X-Factor) to score another victory over his rival. Lame match.

Shingo Takagi vs Tama Tonga (13:46)

A NJPW show requires at least one smash mouth match, and here it is. I was tempted to skip this match but I'm glad I didn't because it was very good indeed. They took a few minutes to really get going but once they got warmed up they had me and the crowd in the palms of their hands. The slugfest ended in Tama Tonga's favour. The Gun Stun didn't keep Shingo down, but the Double Underhook Piledriver sure did. I was shocked to learn the match only went 13 minutes. It felt longer, in a good way.

El Phantasmo and Hikuleo def. Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI (9:47)

The rematch of the World Tag League finals which went over 40 minutes. You'd think that if it took that long for one of these teams to beat the other, they'd never have a match under 20 minutes, right? Wrong. I couldn't believe how short this match was. It was fine, but there wasn't time to build any real drama, and it ended almost as quickly as it begun.

The most interesting part of the entire segment was Dolph Ziggler Nick Nemeth and Dolph Ziggler's brother Ryan Nemeth sat at ringside. Not interesting for me personally, I chuckled when I saw them, but interesting in a general wrestling sense. Ziggler doesn't seem the type to work for NJPW, but I guess it's happening. We'll see Dolph get his hands dirty later.

El Desperado def. Hiromu Takahashi (14:21)

Another match I expected to go above 20 minutes. These two wrestlers have had some absolute wars in the past, and this one was looking no different, Desperado launching himself through the middle rope to jumpstart the match during the champion's entrance. The fast start meant we got a lot of content crammed into fourteen minutes. While the match was good, once again it didn't feel particularly special.

Interlude

Last year's G1 Climax was certainly improved by reducing the time limit from 30 minutes to 20 minutes. The matches were a lot more concise, no feeling out process, straight to the action. It made for a more exciting and less gruelling format, for both the audience and for  the wrestlers. However it was a mistake to bring this booking philosophy to Wrestle Kingdom. 15 minutes or less is not enough time to conclude your epic rivalries of the year. The tag championship and junior championship matches got especially short-changed.

Fortunately the final three matches of the card did have that big time feel, starting even before the bell rang.

David Finlay def. Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley (22:17)

David Finlay's entrance, standard. Moxley's entrance, standard apart from his anime-inspired headgear, which did not suit him at all. Will Ospreay got the hero's welcome. A quite musical interlude built up to the first notes of his beloved song "Elevated". Ospreay got a deafening reaction, more over than everyone that came before him combined. The "Ospreay! Ospreay!" chants were loud on my TV, they must have been defeaning in the Dome.

In previous day's press conference Ospreay and Moxley openly agreed to a five minute ceasefire to eliminate David Finlay, the man who in their opinion doesn't belong yet forced his way into the match. Both men kept their word, leading to a delightful first four minutes where Finlay got his ass whooped all around the arena. Yes, I said four minutes. At the four minute mark Finlay was double powerbombed through a table. His two opponents decided that enough is enough and started their one-on-one contest a minute ahead of schedule.

Ospreay and Moxley had a fun sprint, Moxley wrestling outside of his comfort zone and doing a great job, before the inevitable happened: Finlay recovered and took control, to the jeers of the crowd. Better to be hated than to be ignored. The triple threat exceeded the 20 minute mark. The remaining 15 minutes was an exciting mixture of triple threat mayhem, weapons, blood (Moxley's - did you need to ask?) and a genuinely unexpected run in from Finlay's minions, Gabe Kidd and Alex Coughlin. It wasn't long before they were taken out. Alex Coughlin was turned into a table.

The finish had a lot of great sequences and false finishes, all three men had chances to win. Ospreay hit Moxley with Stormbreaker, only for Finlay to sneak on Ospreay and catch him with a surprise Into Oblivion, the smoothest he's ever executed. To my surprise, Ospreay kicked out! The Bullet Club leader did not lose his cool. A poorly-executed curb stomp led to a brand new finisher: imagine the fusion of a Gordbuster and a Go 2 Sleep. It looked damn good and knocked Ospreay out for a monumental victory, giving Finlay a much needed boost in credibility in addition to the championship gold. After the match the new champion got in Nick Nemeth's face leading to a brawl.

The match was not perfect: it was tainted by a handful of contrived spots that sounded better on paper than in the squared circle. Overall, an excellent match, by far the match of the night up to now. But our next contest will surely have something to say about that...

Kazuchika Okada def. Brian Danielson (23:24)

Okada and Danielson's first encounter in June showed that it's not always guaranteed that magic will happen if you stick two phenomenal wrestlers in the ring without any context or build whatsoever. The match was memorable because of the finish, Danielson submitting Okada, and a freak accident leading to Danielson breaking his arm, providing the fuel that was essential for this return match. Danielson claims that Okada cost him three months of his career (broken arm and an orbital bone injury). He promised to break Okada's arm. Okada dared him to do it, and that even if he succeeded, Okada would win anyway.

The Rainmaker emerged from the ramp with new gear. But not just any old gear. A plain looking white robe burst into colour after being exposed to UV light. A neat magic trick. The question is: is it more expensive than Jericho's light up jacket?

Okada and Danielson took this story and, as you would expect, they worked magic. Okada outwrestled Danielson at the beginning and got the early advantage, but an ambitious charging attack at ringside was expertly countered. Danielson had his opening, and he took it with force, violently assaulting Okada's right arm as promised.

The match developed from there, Okada wrestling with a hurt arm but staying in the fight. Later in the match Danielson trapped Okada in the same hold that Okada submitted to at Forbidden Door. On this occasion Okada gritted his teeth and survived, making it to the ropes after suffering for a long time. The finish, regrettably, felt pretty flat. It lacked the signature drama and tension of an Okada finish and mirrored their previous match in June, with Danielson reduced to spamming Busaiku Knee strikes and not doing much else. Somehow Okada muddled through it all and scored with the Rainmaker for the decisive victory. After the match both men showed HUGE JAPANESE RESPECT.

Tetsuya Naito def. SANADA (25:42)

Okada got a big reaction. Ospreay got a huge reaction. Naito enters and gets an otherworldly reaction. Which is what you want from the main event of your biggest show. The crowd are clamouring for a Naito victory. Next up, the champion, SANADA. To say his reaction is "crickets" would be cruel, but it's not far off. The crowd is quiet. They pop a bit when his name is announced, but this is the Naito show. Lionheart thought that SANADA could win this match. With this crowd, imagine what a travesty that would be. I said it before the show, this is Naito's story. SANADA may be the champion, but he's just along for the ride.

The opening minutes see SANADA comfortably outwrestled. Although his face is perpetually stoic, SANADA seems unsettled by the moment, as evidenced when he tries to flip from the apron to the ring to taunt Naito but fumbles it. He didn't fall over, he just didn't get the usual spring he usually gets, so the whole gesture fell flat.

I watched the match a couple of hours ago and I don't remember much except the bad stuff. Wreddit says that Naito got knocked loopy, but what I saw was SANADA clearly nursing some type of shoulder injury, unable to raise his arm completely. Whatever happened, what followed was an unfortunate sequence of stumbles, fumbles and botches. The main one being Naito unable to execute Destino because SANADA couldn't lift him up properly. So for a couple of minutes the flow of the match was ruined. Fortunately they brought it back together at the end and built a compelling finishing stretch from the ground up. Naito hit SANADA with his own finisher, Deadfall, then hit a picture perfect Destino for a historic victory.

Do we get the Tokyo Dome roll call that has been promised for years and years? It doesn't seem likely when EVIL and Dick Togo hit the ring, EVIL bragging that he's robbed Naito of his moment. SANADA wallops EVIL with a Shining Wizard out of nowhere, House of Torture are removed from the building, and Naito gets his roll call. But not before Naito graciously thanks SANADA, leading to the former champion breaking down into tears on the ramp.

You might wonder what the point of all that was? I think I get it. Naito's roll call is all about him naming the members of Los Ingobernables De Japón. That whole segment was a way to get former members EVIL and SANADA featured in the post-match. It has the added bonus of giving SANADA a much needed babyface rub. Smart booking.

Naito does the roll call, a moment more important to him than winning the championship. The crowd screams "LOS INGOBERNABBLLLEEESSS....DE JAPÓN!" Everyone is happy. A great ending to a lacklustre Wrestle Kingdom.

Francesco Akira and TJP def. Clark Connors and Drilla Maloney (9:38)

The two teams had a Casket match just before Christmas. Emperor complained about this, but little did he know that it was required for TJP to transform into a FUCKING ZOMBIE DEMON.

Anyway, for some unbeknownst reason The Aswang is announced as TJP. But this does almost nothing to affect the gimmick or match because we all know wrestling is real and that TJP has actually transformed into a demon. Connors and Maloney shit their pants appropriately, lending the monster some credibility as a wrestler, but this is short lived when they decide to stop running and use actual wrestling moves on it, effectively beating the shit out of it.

Nothing amazing, nor is it meant to be, just a high energy match with a fucking demon to get the crowd warmed up. In that it is completely successful.

Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Zack Sabre Jr. (8:53)

President Ace AKA Old Man uses a cheap roll-up to become the new champion of "really quick matches meant for younger and agile talent". I can't wait to see this turn out not terrible in any way.

Yuya Uemura def. Yota Tsuji (10:57)

Tsuji is awesome and has a ton of dominating, awesome looking moves. An unusually large amount of which revolve around a curb stomp and doing a curb stomp in different ways. He even chains a curb stomp together into a different looking curb stomp combo in every single match.

He is treated like a beast and even has a pin over Will Ospreay in a tag match, but still somehow loses every match. As expected of everyone who doesn't have Okada's "skip the pay your dues decade" cheat code.

In the end Uemura showed his class, connecting with several slightly above average looking suplexes, one of which pins Tsuji despite him seeming incredibly fresh.

Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya vs EVIL and Ren Narita (7:06)

A 2 on 5 brawl of chaos where almost zero actual wrestling happens, making me miraculously now approve of Ren Narita in the house of torture. A man renowned for kicking ass with real wrestling fits perfectly in the stable where you're not allowed to wrestle. Because everyone loves lame matches with zero wrestling.

To top it off, English commentary actually calls one of the moves "Dick on dick contact" which tells you everything you need to know about this match.

Shingo Takagi vs Tama Tonga (13:46)

Tama won the NEVER Openweight title a month ago and declared he was never going to lose it. He then lost it on the first defense to Shingo Takagi. Shingo claimed he was now going to elevate the status of the title and hold it for a very long time. He then lost it on the first defense back to Tama Tonga. The end result is that both men are liars and the title is now even more prestigious for having switched hands an additional 2 times. Great match though.

El Phantasmo and Hikuleo def. Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI (9:47)

El Phantasmo is quite possibly the best talent that NJPW has, especially now that Ospreay is leaving. Speaking of Ospreay, ELP had a GOAT match with Ospreay in the G1 a few months ago to determine who would advance from their block. Will Ospreay declared after the match that he wants to fight ELP forever because it was such an incredible match. He then ensured he will fight him much less by leaving NJPW a few months later. I am saddened by this because they have a long history of good matches. ELP even defeated Ospreay on his debut tournament upon joining NJPW in the Best of the Super Juniors 2019 back when they were both juniors, but of course Ospreay quickly left him in the dust and ascended to greatness. The real story of WK though is that ELP is finally going places and won his first real title, even if it is the terribly booked tag titles. He also got his first huge WK win, which is not insignificant over popular gatekeepers Go-chan and Yo-chan. And it's always nice when the definitive stereotype of "two wrestlers randomly thrown together" team Bishamon loses the titles.

Hikuleo doing something that doesn't completely waste the fact that he is responsible for defeating Jay White in a Loser Leaves Japan match is also nice.

El Desperado def. Hiromu Takahashi (14:21)

While the match was good, it didn't feel particularly special. Too short and, if given time, they could have outdone the final three matches. It is laughable that Naito said he is excited for the match and wants to see which title match lasts in people's hearts the longest.

David Finlay def. Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley (22:17)

David Finlay no-sells getting hit by two death riders seconds apart and is on his feet to steal the match 10 seconds later. He fails and yet is completely together and continues the match as if nothing happened. Until he actually does steal the match a minute later on the next move seconds after being hit by another finisher or something. All without selling a single moment of injury anywhere. David Finlay, the only man in this match who actually works for New Japan and who was almost certainly going to win proves that he can't sell at all but that it doesn't matter because he is the leader of Bullet Club. And VICIOUS!

Kazuchika Okada def. Brian Danielson (23:24)

Danielson broke Okada's arm just like he said he would. It was one of the most brutal events in the history of wrestling. Not content to just break it, Danielson smiled wickedly as he ripped the entire arm off Okada's body and began to beat Okada with Okada's own arm. Okada then regenerated his arm and won the match anyway.

A perfect match that only could have been topped by Ospreay in a real match or Omega being on the show.

Tetsuya Naito def. SANADA (25:42)

Lionheart thought that SANADA could win this match, but apparently that would be a travesty because a fan favorite shouldn't ever lose a match. SANADA is just along for the ride of being the top champion in the company for almost a year and is in no way actually important whatsoever.

SANADA fails to do a flip taunt as the match starts because he is so shaken to be on the biggest stage against Real Important Wrestler Naito (despite beating him in their last 2 singles matches), in the most amazing display of dramatic flourish that the world has ever seen. The awkward emotion of the match is set in this genuinely incredible swift act of storytelling.

Tryhard eagle-eyed connoisseurs of wrestling then noticed Naito getting knocked loopy and SANADA apparently not being able to raise his arm completely, which had almost zero impact on the match and no normal fan cared about it in the slightest or noticed at all. Then, what followed was an unfortunate sequence of stumbles, fumbles and botches. The only one being Naito unable to execute Destino because SANADA couldn't lift him up properly, which was a nice shakeup and added to the story in a good way when SANADA was able to kick out of it. So for a couple of minutes the flow of the match was ruined for negative critics who complain about every spot. Fortunately they continued giving an excellent match when Naito hit SANADA with his own finisher and then a real destino, which looked even better after the last one failed so hard.

EVIL then almost ruined the night for everyone with his mere appearance, but luckily SANADA kneed him in the face in a really cool spot that ended with SANADA crying because he was so happy to be in the main event with Best Buddy Naito. You probably don't wonder what the point of all that was because it was obvious and made both men look awesome. Smart booking.

Naito does the roll call, a moment more important to him than winning the championship. The crowd screams "LOS INGOBERNABBLLLEEESSS....DE JAPÓN!" Everyone is happy. A great ending to a lacklustre Wrestle Kingdom.

When Emperor forgets to log out.

Slandering myself is the best way to get some NJPW conversation going. Now I'm going to argue with myself.

Jan 7, 2024 4:51:39 GMT Lionheart said:

President Ace AKA Old Man uses a cheap roll-up to become the new champion of "really quick matches meant for younger and agile talent". I can't wait to see this turn out not terrible in any way.

A strange attempt to discredit me. You must be getting the TV Championship confused with the Junior Heavyweight Championship. Quick matches, yes, but there's nothing particularly young or agile about Zack Sabre Jr. or the majority of his challengers. Obviously shorter, less intense matches would benefit Tanhashi more than long matches.

Jan 7, 2024 4:51:39 GMT Lionheart said:

A 2 on 5 brawl of chaos where almost zero actual wrestling happens, making me miraculously now approve of Ren Narita in the house of torture. A man renowned for kicking ass with real wrestling fits perfectly in the stable where you're not allowed to wrestle. Because everyone loves lame matches with zero wrestling.

To top it off, English commentary actually calls one of the moves "Dick on dick contact" which tells you everything you need to know about this match.

I'm no longer bitter about House of Torture. I accept their role in NJPW. They are the best heat magnets in wrestling and their matches can be dumb fun. Not always, but sometimes. SHO's run in the 2022 BOSJ is a great of example of how to use House of Torture, as comic relief buffoons. "Dick on dick contact" is another great example.

I would not describe Ren Narita as "a man renowned for kicking ass with real wrestling". That description does not fit Narita any more than almost everyone else on the roster. Narita has no character. He's a blank slate. At least how he has at least some sense of purpose, which he did not have with Strong Style. If he remained there for the rest of his career, like EVIL and Yujiro, that would be a mistake, but it's not a terrible place for him to be in the short term and add some spice to his rivalry with Shota.

Jan 7, 2024 4:51:39 GMT Lionheart said:

And it's always nice when the definitive stereotype of "two wrestlers randomly thrown together" team Bishamon loses the titles.

It's interesting you claim Bishamon are thrown together. Goto and Yoshi-Hashi have been stablemates in CHAOS for years. They were allies long before they made their tag team official. That's as organic as it gets. I know you don't like them, neither do I, but let's not get carried away.

Not everyone in NJPW can be "great singles wrestler", which is what you seem to think the company should be. Goto and Yoshi-Hashi aren't great singles wrestlers, but they make a pretty effective tag team. It's a good place for them to be.

Do you think Hikuleo and El Phantasmo aren't randomly thrown together?

Jan 7, 2024 4:51:39 GMT Lionheart said:

Lionheart thought that SANADA could win this match, but apparently that would be a travesty because a fan favorite shouldn't ever lose a match. SANADA is just along for the ride of being the top champion in the company for almost a year and is in no way actually important whatsoever.

There's almost never a good reason for the fan favourite to lose in the main event of your biggest show, especially when the fan favourite's opponent not being over at all. I see you exaggerating my position about SANADA in an attempt to ridicule me, but that's the gist of it, yes.

Jan 7, 2024 4:51:39 GMT Lionheart said:

Tryhard eagle-eyed connoisseurs of wrestling then noticed Naito getting knocked loopy and SANADA apparently not being able to raise his arm completely, which had almost zero impact on the match and no normal fan cared about it in the slightest or noticed at all.

I didn't have to try very hard to see what's right in front of me. Are you going to say you didn't notice that? Give me a break. In the end it didn't have much impact on the match because they recovered well, like professionals, but it is the part of the match that stuck out in my mind. I enjoyed the match but it wasn't memorable in the same way Okada vs Danielson was, or even the Global Championship three way.

I hate it when I talk back to myself slandering me. This cannot stand unreslandered.

Jan 7, 2024 14:42:11 GMT Emperor said:

A strange attempt to discredit me. You must be getting the TV Championship confused with the Junior Heavyweight Championship. Quick matches, yes, but there's nothing particularly young or agile about Zack Sabre Jr. or the majority of his challengers. Obviously shorter, less intense matches would benefit Tanhashi more than long matches.

I don't even recall what you said about this. It was just a general comment. NOT EVERYTHING IS ABOUT YOU, ME!

You probably forgot, but that was announced as the purpose of the title live on the show when the title was announced. This covers it somewhat:

www.njpw1972.com/133206

"Every title match will be contested with a 15 minute time limit, encouraging a rapid style in the ring. Ohbari suggested that he would also like to see the younger wrestlers on the roster compete for the title...Mihira echoed Ohbari’s hopes that with the new challenge and new title, a new star may be born"

Behold, our newest young star! Tanahashi!

Jan 7, 2024 14:42:11 GMT Emperor said:

I'm no longer bitter about House of Torture. I accept their role in NJPW. They are the best heat magnets in wrestling and their matches can be dumb fun. Not always, but sometimes. SHO's run in the 2022 BOSJ is a great of example of how to use House of Torture, as comic relief buffoons. "Dick on dick contact" is another great example.

I would not describe Ren Narita as "a man renowned for kicking ass with real wrestling". That description does not fit Narita any more than almost everyone else on the roster. Narita has no character. He's a blank slate. At least how he has at least some sense of purpose, which he did not have with Strong Style. If he remained there for the rest of his career, like EVIL and Yujiro, that would be a mistake, but it's not a terrible place for him to be in the short term and add some spice to his rivalry with Shota.

I too accept that House of Torture...exists. And that EVIL used to consistently put on decent to great matches. He now consistently puts on shitty matches with a solidly entertaining one mixed in now and then. The same goes for everyone in House of Torture. It really is a black hole devoid of quality matches, which Narita had a lot of promise for having otherwise.

Narita isn't about kicking ass with real wrestling? He is a Shibata clone. That is the definition of Shibata. Ren debuted wrestling and looking exactly like Shibata. He was called the son of Strong Style specifically to indicate that he is Shibata's spiritual successor. He got put in a new stable with the sole purpose of emblemizing that as his sole purpose for existing with the stable being called Strong Style. He made the finals of the TV title championship out of the gate with the raw power of wrestling being the entire story behind it. I'm not sure why you are acting like this is not a thing. Even if didn't work on you for whatever reason, it was at least the intent. I was very excited about him. He was by far the best young lion when he graduated and went on excursion already.

It's a shame they ended up doing the least with him between the musketeers and he kind of faded into the background a bit. So you are right that maybe a change is good. And you are absolutely correct about it being a good call if he is indeed there for a short time. But stable changes are rare, especially for someone who just switched. Time will tell.

Jan 7, 2024 14:42:11 GMT Emperor said:

It's interesting you claim Bishamon are thrown together. Goto and Yoshi-Hashi have been stablemates in CHAOS for years. They were allies long before they made their tag team official. That's as organic as it gets. I know you don't like them, neither do I, but let's not get carried away.

Not everyone in NJPW can be "great singles wrestler", which is what you seem to think the company should be. Goto and Yoshi-Hashi aren't great singles wrestlers, but they make a pretty effective tag team. It's a good place for them to be.

Do you think Hikuleo and El Phantasmo aren't randomly thrown together?

You know as well as I that stables in NJPW are loosely connected at best. By that same logic, Okada and Goto could have just as easily been the team because they are long time stablemates. Or Okada and Yano. What do all these have in common? They are still random thrown together non-teams.

I actually very much enjoy Goto as a singles competitor and I was starting to get into Yoshi-Hashi matches as well now that he started picking up singles wins. Before he started using the destroyer anyway. But their single careers have vanished and so too has all of my interest in them. They aren't bad singles competitors. It is their teamwork and team-moves that are bad, as well as their super cringe promo style they have developed together as a team. They already had the least interesting characters / gimmicks and needed to be carried a bit, so putting them together was the worst decision imaginable. Their wrestling ability still made me a fan, but it's tough to see that between the inane "peekaboo" style surprise kicks they now pretty much do exclusively as a team.

That is all a bit off-topic though. "Pretty effective tag team" is pretty meaningless when they could have thrown any two people together and got the same or better results. I'm not sure where me thinking everyone should be a great singles wrestler is coming from. I actually love the tag division and have been very interested in it over the years. GoD was great in it before they became boring singles wrestlers. Dangerous Tekkers was freakin' amazing. Naito/SANADA was even good despite sort of being thrown together. I just take offense to a clearly negatively compatible team in Bishamon just being given titles as some sort of loyalty payment because they didn't want to give them any singles momentum and then have them called the greatest team in the world repeatedly when they clearly aren't. And have only been teaming for a very short time when they started calling them that. It just reeks of obvious bullshit through and through. The whole thing is insulting.

If they were able to bring back real times like Aussie Open, GoD, Roppongi 3K, even the boring TMDK folks and mix them in with actual quality booking against some of the more natural yet still a bit random team-ups like TAICHI/SANADA, Bishamon's existence wouldn't even be worth a salt and they would be completely outclassed as far as tag wrestling goes across the board.

We both know NJPW doesn't give the slightest actual fuck about the tag division. Just look at the usual World Tag League teams. They don't even bother to give half the competitors an actual heavyweight as a partner; it's a complete joke. Usually only 1-2 teams have the slightest chance of winning and it's pretty random which random team-ups win each year. Until they just started giving it to Bishamon every single year to try and iron in that they are actually a team anyway.

Jan 7, 2024 14:42:11 GMT Emperor said:

There's almost never a good reason for the fan favourite to lose in the main event of your biggest show, especially when the fan favourite's opponent not being over at all. I see you exaggerating my position about SANADA in an attempt to ridicule me, but that's the gist of it, yes.

Not being "over at all" is ridiculously harsh. You know SANADA has always been a fan favorite and received a very high amount of cheers. They just didn't cheer him over the by-far most popular person in the entire company. Thinking that booking boils down to "most fan favoritest wins the biggest show every year" is a ridiculous oversimplification. In fact, you could even say that is a recipe for disaster when the big stars leave without rubbing off any star power to others. Not that I know what the best booking would always be either or that this should have been a SANADA win, but the point is it's a lot more complicated and acting like it was the definitive right choice on some higher booking level is silly.

Jan 7, 2024 14:42:11 GMT Emperor said:

I didn't have to try very hard to see what's right in front of me. Are you going to say you didn't notice that? Give me a break. In the end it didn't have much impact on the match because they recovered well, like professionals, but it is the part of the match that stuck out in my mind. I enjoyed the match but it wasn't memorable in the same way Okada vs Danielson was, or even the Global Championship three way.

I didn't notice it at all. I also didn't notice anything wrong with his arm on New Year's Dash while specifically looking for it after reading your post. He seemed healthy as a horse the entire match on both nights. I'm not sure why a part of the match that didn't have much impact on the match is the part of the match that stuck out in your mind. I thought the match was very memorable. I loved it. SANADA really come off like a big star for the first time and delivered fantastically. All while really building into the story that he wasn't quite ready for the biggest stage even after all this time and showing as nervous and emotional. Culminating in him still being a badass good guy by taking out EVIL.

It was the only part of WK aside from Okada/Danielson that felt WK-worthy. I'm sure not going to remember some random triple threat where the winner was almost definitively known before the match where the ending happened exactly as expected over that.

Only one way to settle this. Wrestle Kingdom 19 co-main event is set: Emperor vs Lionheart in a Slander Match.

Jan 7, 2024 17:49:07 GMT Lionheart said:

Narita isn't about kicking ass with real wrestling? He is a Shibata clone. That is the definition of Shibata. Ren debuted wrestling and looking exactly like Shibata. He was called the son of Strong Style specifically to indicate that he is Shibata's spiritual successor. He got put in a new stable with the sole purpose of emblemizing that as his sole purpose for existing with the stable being called Strong Style. He made the finals of the TV title championship out of the gate with the raw power of wrestling being the entire story behind it. I'm not sure why you are acting like this is not a thing. Even if didn't work on you for whatever reason, it was at least the intent. I was very excited about him. He was by far the best young lion when he graduated and went on excursion already.

It's a shame they ended up doing the least with him between the musketeers and he kind of faded into the background a bit. So you are right that maybe a change is good. And you are absolutely correct about it being a good call if he is indeed there for a short time. But stable changes are rare, especially for someone who just switched. Time will tell.

You are correct. That was the original vision for Ren Narita, a pure wrestler, but I feel that got lost along the way, in my mind if nobody elses. He did start off strong in the TV title tournament, but after that it went downhill. The "Strong Style" stable didn't work out, those three wrestlers never seemed comfortable together. Narita wasn't getting any results. In kayfabe, he's frustrated, what he's doing isn't working, so he comes up with this long plan to join House of Torture at the expense of Shota Umino.

My hope is this all leads to a redemption arc where he faces Shibata himself, and loses, leading him to realise that pure wrestling is the best wrestling.

Jan 7, 2024 15:52:31 GMT Lionheart said:

You know as well as I that stables in NJPW are loosely connected at best. By that same logic, Okada and Goto could have just as easily been the team because they are long time stablemates. Or Okada and Yano. What do all these have in common? They are still random thrown together non-teams.

...

If they were able to bring back real times like Aussie Open, GoD, Roppongi 3K, even the boring TMDK folks and mix them in with actual quality booking against some of the more natural yet still a bit random team-ups like TAICHI/SANADA, Bishamon's existence wouldn't even be worth a salt and they would be completely outclassed as far as tag wrestling goes across the board.

We both know NJPW doesn't give the slightest actual fuck about the tag division. Just look at the usual World Tag League teams. They don't even bother to give half the competitors an actual heavyweight as a partner; it's a complete joke. Usually only 1-2 teams have the slightest chance of winning and it's pretty random which random team-ups win each year. Until they just started giving it to Bishamon every single year to try and iron in that they are actually a team anyway.

I honestly don't know how you define a "thrown together" tag team and how you define a "real team". You're just using these terms to slander Bishamon because you don't like them. I agree that Bishamon's initial push was kinda forced, but if a tag team is pushed and succeeds and they roll with that, don't they stop being a "thrown together non-team"? That's exactly what happened with Dangerous Tekkers, and is happening now with ELP/Hikuleo.

Jan 7, 2024 15:52:31 GMT Lionheart said:

Not being "over at all" is ridiculously harsh. You know SANADA has always been a fan favorite and received a very high amount of cheers. They just didn't cheer him over the by-far most popular person in the entire company.

SANADA has been a fan favourite yes, but he was more over as the perpetually chasing upper midcarder than he is now. You look at the big marquee WK matchups, Okada vs Tanahashi, Okada vs Kenny, Okada vs Naito, both guys get huge reactions. One may be the "fan favourite" (in these situation usually both guys are) but both wrestlers get huge reactions. I did not get that feeling from SANADA. His reaction paled in comparison to Naito.

Jan 7, 2024 15:52:31 GMT Lionheart said:

Thinking that booking boils down to "most fan favoritest wins the biggest show every year" is a ridiculous oversimplification.

Not really. It's simple and it's effective. Wrestlemania almost always ends with the babyface winning the main event. In NJPW it's not as simple because a lot of these big matches are not clearly defined as face vs heel. But last year, Okada beat heel Jay White in the main event. You don't send the crowd home unhappy on such a big show unless there's a brilliant reason for it.

Jan 7, 2024 15:52:31 GMT Lionheart said:

It was the only part of WK aside from Okada/Danielson that felt WK-worthy. I'm sure not going to remember some random triple threat where the winner was almost definitively known before the match where the ending happened exactly as expected over that.

To me Naito winning was far more of a foregone conclusion than Finlay winning. But we might as well drop this, you liked the main event more and I liked the triple threat more. There's nothing more to say.

Emperor is right. I can behind an Aswang gimmick.

Watched Tanahashi/ZSJ on Emp's recommendation after I buried Tana/Taguchi from the next night in the Match Review thread. Tana/Sabre was a nice little technical match with an anticlimactic finish. When did Tanahashi start doing a Master of the Rollup gimmick?