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NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 *contains King of Pro-Wrestling 2019 SPOILERS*


The Natural

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Watched Kazuchika Okada/Kota Ibushi back and those punches Ibushi threw as he lost it were brutal. Ibushi was unfortunate Wrestle Kingdom wasn't the usual one date, 4th of January show as I believe he'd have walked out IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Tetsuya Naito would be waiting as the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion for his time to come as he was while Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega held the top prize.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi was the best match of Wrestle Kingdom 14 weekend then Will Ospreay/Hiromu Takahashi and Kazuchika Okada/Tetsuya Naito. Gave all three *****, I don't go over five.

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Speaking of waiting to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Kota Ibushi will definitely at some point unlike Minoru Suzuki and Tomohiro Ishii who I always wanted to get a reign with the top belt. Hirooki Goto certainly won't, nor should he now having lost every time.

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34 minutes ago, The Natural said:

Speaking of waiting to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, Kota Ibushi will definitely at some point unlike Minoru Suzuki and Tomohiro Ishii who I always wanted to get a reign with the top belt. Hirooki Goto certainly won't, nor should he now having lost every time.

I don't see Naito losing the title quickly, so I'll say Ibushi is champion as we close out 2020.

Edited by Nice Guy Eddie
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2 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

I don't see Naito losing the title quickly, so I'll say Ibushi is champion as we close out 2020.

I agree with that. Can't see it at Dominion so King of Pro-Wrestling. To me the big NJPW events are Wrestle Kingdom, The New Beginning, Best of the Super Jr, G1 Climax, Dominion and King of Pro-Wrestling.

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The amount of classics Kazuchika Okada matches made me attempt a top ten when you could do a top 20 or 30:

10. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. Invasion Attack 2013. *****

9. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay. G1 Climax 29. *****

8. Kazuchika Okada vs. Katsuyori Shibata. Sakura Genesis 2017. *****

7. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi. Wrestle Kingdom 14: Night 1. *****

6. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega. G1 Climax 27. *****

5. Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito. 40th Anniversary Show 2012. *****

4. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. King of Pro-Wrestling 2013. *****

3. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega. Wrestle Kingdom 11. *****

2. Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi. Wrestle Kingdom 10. *****

1. Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega. Dominion 2018. *****

Amazing back catalogue by the Rainmaker.

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2 hours ago, The Natural said:

I agree with that. Can't see it at Dominion so King of Pro-Wrestling. To me the big NJPW events are Wrestle Kingdom, The New Beginning, Best of the Super Jr, G1 Climax, Dominion and King of Pro-Wrestling.

It looks like there won't be King of Pro Wrestling this year because of the October G1.

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I find it hard to assess Okada wrt those greats whose careers are done or very nearly done. Undeniably a HOF career already and has probably done more for NJPW worldwide than Tanahashi. Athletically impressive, crisp,  and we've seen him grow up in front of our eyes (remember how awkward his promos used to be?) He's had some incredible matches for sure and I look forward to where he's going as much as I enjoy thinking about what he's done. The whole dance around the Rainmaker has largely changed how matches are laid out and end these days (I remember when NJPW matches seemed to finish with an almost uncontested run of moves ending with a finisher and that was it).

But I don't feel the same about him as I do or have done for Tanahashi, Shibata, or Kobashi. I find this a more reliable guide, ultimately.

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On 1/10/2020 at 10:49 PM, Brian Fowler said:

It looks like there won't be King of Pro Wrestling this year because of the October G1.

Why not just run King of Pro-Wrestling in August and run it out of Tokyo. The Summer Olympics really fuck things up.

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On 1/10/2020 at 7:38 PM, Web Conn said:

Himoru is still a mean spirited twerp, nice to see that if he out of LIJ he's still heel.

Liked your write-up on night 2 but unless I missed something post-WK I believe he's still with the group.  He was still part of the roll call Naito did at the end and I don't see why he wouldn't be with them.

And at this point in time I think I'm in the "Okada is the best ever" camp.  Heck, he's the only one that I would be very okay with being a first ballot WO HOFer as it'd take an epic downturn to offset the career he's had.

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New Years Dash:

First New Years Dash I've watched. The Fite Package was 50 bucks for all 3 events so I was like what the hell and ordered all 3 nights. If New Year Dash is the Raw after Mania to WK's Mania then it should be a fun watch.

Jushin Ligers Retirement Ceremony - This was classy. Liger in full regalia. All the babyface roster came out. I like that they honored Kayfabe and LIJ, Blizz & gun weren't out there. But Chaos and the rest of the roster was. Tanahashi was crying the entire time. Ligers wife and Kid were out there. Inoki looks good for 76 he dyes his hair but he looks better than Vince. When they were singing Ligers theme at the end his son knew every word, that was tight his kid is the biggest Liger fan. I'm getting teary eyed now typing this. I don't know there could have been abetter send off for Liger.

LA Dojo vs New Japan/Fale Dojo - Henare teamed with the LA boys on the 4th now he's teaming against them on the 6th. All righty then. Match was cool, solid opener. Young Lions match black boots black trunks, the basics not bad, pretty fun.

The 4 Jr Tag Match - Takahashi teamed with Busihi so he's still LIJ. I was curious about that. Throughout this match it was evident that 3K and Blizz still had issues unresolved from the night before. I liked this match, anyone could tag anyone and it led to some cool spots such as Desperado kicking the ropes into Bushi's balls and then tagging himself in. It was a fun Jr's match, fast paced, they built to everything, four teams a lot of spots got cut off. I like that when you think the big spots coming you're buzzing the crowds buzzing and then boom the goddamn heels come sin and break it up and you get pissed the crowd gets pissed it's such a fun time. 3K better pack a lunch cuz yes the pin was assisted by Bushi's mist, Desperado still got win for him and Kanemura, they're getting a title shot and they're both tough customers.

Bullet Club vs Kota, Tanahashi & FinJuice - I thought this match was really good. One of the positives of The Elite leaving New Japan is that Bullet Club has gone from the Cool Heel to being Rowdy Watch the World Burn Heel. Back to their group of foreigners banding together to cause hell roots. I chuckled as they were all fighting in the crowd, the entire match broke down and the man's on the PA system saying what I like to think is something along the lines of "gentleman please return to the ring". Chase pestering Kota the whole match to join Blizz It's poetic that he take the fall to Kota's Running Knee. Kota and Tana requesting a match for the straps, the crowd popped at the idea. Kota and Tana as a team is gonna be fun. How those guys are they'll want to earn the match and tag for awhile picking up some wins before they square off against FinJuice. Dominion I'll presume. 

 LIJ vs Chaos - A bunch of tough fuckers being tough fuckers. This was the tale of two matches almost, New Japan likes to do that when they are setting singles matches up by putting the advisories on different teams. In this case its Shingo vs Goto and Ishii vs Evil. They kind of kept it with Shingo and Goto & Ishii and Bushi. Rowdy and hard hitting, match broke down at one point with brawling ringside and in the crowd. completely unhinged thats may cup of tea. This being the Raw after Mania and all Shingo got the pin on Goto then challenged him for the Openweight title. I know Gedo loves to hot potato the secondary championships but I'd like to see Shingo come up short against Goto in Sapporo, he mentioned how Goto beating him in Kobe left a chip on his shoulder. His exact words were "I still have not forgiven you for Kobe." I think Shingo getting close to winning but not and having to chase for the title a little more and beat Goto at say Wrestling Dontaku. Shingo is a boss, he's a dark horse top star. He's been around forever, wrestle's his ass off and the crowd is behind him.

Suzuki-gun vs Chaos - Archer dropped that Young Lion cold. That was awesome, take that guy doing your job! Okada's jacket was cool as fuck. While we are talking about Okada the man wrestled 75 minutes in the past two nights and here he is in another match. He doesn't take the night off but it takes him a while to get going but once he gets going he goes. They set up two more angles in Okada vs Taichi and Sabre vs Ospreay, well 3 but i'll talk about Moxley vs Minoru in a moment. This is like the 2013 Raw after Mania. Sabre and Ospreay have one of the cooler opening sequences i've seen in a while, fast paced chain wrestling. Robbie took a beating, Minoru stretched the fuck out him and Archer big booted the fuck outta him, but Robbie persevered and had his moment in the sun there at the end. What a Suzuki-gun like ending of a DQ cuz Taichi shoves a ref, he wanted to beat the shit outta Okada the ref disagreed and Taichi shoved him. Ref should have mined his own business. Everthing has broken down all the babyfaces are incapacitated and then Moxley shows up and gives Minoru a taste of his own medicine. I dug the fuck outta the only man crazy enough to go toe to toe with Minoru fucking Suzuki ends up walking tall at the end of the day. That match is gonna be banana I can't wait. Minoru sold the hell out of I know its not the Dirty Deed anymore but I'm calling it the Dirty Deed cuz I cant remember the new name, crawling from the ring up the ramp.

Blizz Clizz vs LIJ - Kenta dance taunting the crowd was my favorite spot of the match. Sanada kicking the ropes into Gedos balls and Gedo taking a cartoony tree fall bump is a close second. This match was really good. If this wasn't right after WK i'd probably be a little more upset with the 14 minute match time but this was perfect. Jay and Kenta heel the fuck outta Naito and Sanada, action spills into crowd. We get an extended Naito-Kenta mini match and that New Beginning match is gonna be killer dude. I thought the finish was perfect i really did. Sanada has the ring IQ to be aware of a roll up opportunity as Jay sets up a SlingBlade, it happened so fast just goes to enforce the match can end at any time element of the show. Jay White letting out his frustrations with the outcome by low blowing Sanada was a nice touch. I have a feeling these two are gonna keep each other busy for part of the year as they bide their time until they challenge Naito for the title. I don't know how you book Sanada vs Naito as they are in the same faction you could have Sanada wins the G1 and we have a Triple H-Batista style turn at Power Struggle but in this case Sanada turns heel not face like Big Dave. And at Night 2 of WK next year Sanada beats Naito for the title. Or they could run another Royal Quest in late August, attendance was really good I could see another show but back to what i'm saying run Naito vs Jay White for the strap at Royal Quest have White go over, Sanada wins G1 wins strap at WK Naito attacks him in an act of jealous rage and you run with that. With these two teams theres no other way this could end other than the wild brawl that unfolded after the match. I can understand the argument of continuously ringing the bell to try to restore order is annoying but I think it adds to the anarchy that is taking place a bells ringing a four man riot is transpiring its a cool ascetic. Gedo wears his love for southern wrasslin on his sleeve White and Kenta cutting promos in the ring as the faces lay in a heap is pretty Horsemen 86. That crowd was pissed off as White cut his promo, New Japan has a top heel in Switchblade. They were angry at Kenta too, the best thing Kenta ever did was leave the WWE. He has a bright future in New Japan. The next couple years are gonna be fun to watch.

 

 

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The thing with Ibushi winning the belt is I don't think you should do it until you either KNOW you can't do the Omega match ever or that it's the right time. That's what makes 2020 fascinating. They can go out and get Omega to work dates whenever they want but things went omnishambles but Ibushi winning and then being confronted by Omega is such big box office.  

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I think Jay White v. Naito was better than Okada v. Ibushi.  Although that sequence when Ibushi got pissed off at Okada and just started beating the hell out of him was electric.  Wish there was more of that.  I'd be down for a whole match of that.  I think one of the English announcers said of Ibushi during that sequence "There's someone else in his body!"  That was cool.  

Still haven't watched much of day 2.  Enjoyed Ospreay v. Hiromu, and thought Archer v. Moxley over-delivered.  

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One thing that I forgot to mention earlier and that I really liked was the ending of Ibushi/White. I'm not sure if it was intentional or it just happened, but before White hit Ibushi with his finisher he stumbled a bit and for a moment it looked he they might drop to the mat, but White regained control and paused for a second, smiled and then hit his finisher. To me it looked like White basically saying "nah, don't get too excited, this is really how it ends".

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6 hours ago, Tromatagon said:

They're kind of missing the boat on a vacant, distant serial killer Ibushi run

Pure fantasy booking, but coming off the two big Ls I can totally see another disappointment or misstep leading to a (at least pseudo-)turn on Tanahashi and an extended run in that disassociated state.

Speaking of Ibushi/White, I still get chills thinking of the former hauling off on the latter in the G1 finale. Brutal, brutal stuff.

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FWIW, Meltzer went back and watched some of the top matches. Said nearly everything is about 1/4* higher than he initially had it except White/Naito being right where he put it and, more importantly, Goto/KENTA he bumped all the way up to ****1/4

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