Wrestling Discussion Thread II

Wrestle Kingdom – it's New Japan Pro Wrestling's biggest show of the year. It's their WrestleMania equivalent where storylines that have building for months reach their climax and where dream matches are put on show for the 40,000 plus in attendance along with the hundreds of thousands watching around the world. Basically, it's a big deal.

Pre-Show: Never Six-Man Tag Team Number One Contenders Gauntlet

This has been a staple of the last few Wrestle Kingdoms and served as a way to get most of the roster onto the main card, but NJPW decided to make a slot on the main card something to be truly earned this year and pushed this back to the preshow, replacing another big multi-man Rumble match. The winner of this match will get a shot at the Bullet Club team of G.O.D. and Taiji Ishimori, the current six-man champions, at New Year's Dash on the day after Wrestle Kingdom.

None of the teams have any serious beef with one another, but let's run through each team individually:

Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb and David Finlay: Nagata was originally meant to be off the show entirely, but an injury sustained by Cobb's tag team partner Michael Elgin resulted in Nagata maintaining a 25 year streak of making an appearance on January 4th. This team as a whole is a bit of a hodge podge of NJPW midcarders, so I wouldn't expect them to win. I'm sure Cobb will impress with his strength and athleticism, though!

The Elite (Hangman Page, Yujiro Takahashi and Marty Scurll): You may have heard of these guys. The Elite's popularity has been bolstered considerably by their YouTube series “Being the Elite” and their huge All In show last September, but the scarcity of spaces on the main card means that even a few members of this faction find themselves relegated to the gauntlet match. These guys should put in a strong showing considering how Marty amuses the crowd with his comedy spots and with how well 2018 has went for the Hangman, but I think they'll ultimately come up short.

Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Beretta and Chuckie T): This team will be one to watch, however it won't be from Hirooki Goto. Goto's absence from the main card is indicative of his waning popularity – once poised just outside the top four performers in New Japan, he spent 2018 in the midcard battling over the NEVER Openweight Championship. No, the reason this team will have eyes on them is because of the strained relationship between Best Friends, Beretta and Chuckie T. Chuckie T spent the previous tour, World Tag League, having seemingly psychotic episodes in which he'd snap on his opponents and start destroying them with chairs and other weapons, much to the bemusement and frustration of his tag team partner, Beretta. That tension is still unresolved, so I'd expect Chuckie to get violent in the gauntlet match and perhaps cause a DQ for his team.

Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.): This is the team to beat, in my humble opinion. Minoru Suzuki's absence from the main card is surprising considering that he played a pretty big role in the early part of 2018 for NJPW, carrying the Intercontinental Title during that time. KES, Archer and Smith, had a strong showing in World Tag League as well. In the match itself, I'd expect them to brutalise all but the biggest members of the opposing teams. I'd expect this team of bruisers and sadists to take home the win in the end – they deserve it, considering the strong year that Suzuki-Gun had in 2018.

Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe and Toru Yano: On paper, this is a bizarre team. Taguchi is known for his comedy bits and tends to fraternise more with the likes of David Finlay than Makabe or Yano. Makabe spends most of his team in the tag-team Great Bash Heel with his long time tag-team partner Tomoaki Honma and was expected to join this gauntlet with Honma and Makabe's World Tag League partner, Toa Henare. And Yano... well, he's in Chaos, so it's puzzling why he's with these two.

Well, this stems from the last few shows of the year where Makabe formed an alliance with Yano to try and combat Bullet Club. Makabe and Yano were together as a tag-team named Most Violent Players many moons ago before Yano turned on Makabe to join Chaos. There's some history between these two, but whether it's a temporary alliance formed purely to battle Bullet Club or a revival of an old tag-team remains to be seen. Considering their reason for teaming is to take down Bullet Club, there's a storyline reason for why this team is in with a real shout of winning the gauntlet. ...I still don't know why Taguchi is there, though.

Onwards to the main card!

Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Ospreay – NEVER Openweight Championship Match

Oh boy. I feel very sorry for whoever has to follow this dream match.

The roots of this match took hold back in September during a series of tag matches which saw Ospreay and Ibushi on opposing sides. Ospreay was clearly impressed by Ibushi during these tag matches, stating “give me Ibushi” in his post-match promos. The road began to become clearer when Ospreay picked up a win over then NEVER Openweight Champion Taichi during a tag match, earning him an opportunity to take the championship from the Holy Emperor. Sadly, an injury sidelined Ospreay until the end of the year, and his opportunity went to Chaos stablemate Goto, who recaptured the belt instead.

But all was not lost for the dream match. Goto turned his attention to Ibushi, and after some brilliant mindgames from the Fierce Warrior, the match was set between Ibushi and Goto at the World Tag League finals. On the same night, Ospreay found himself with another opportunity for matching up with Ibushi as he was squared off against Taichi in a NEVER Openweight Number One Contenders match. Ospreay and Ibushi were both victorious – the dream match was on.

From the brief previews we've seen in the run-up to the Tokyo Dome match, this will no doubt be a show stealing performance from this pair. The build has centred around each wrestler trying to outdo the other with incredible feats of athleticism and some jaw-dropping acrobatics. I'd expect this to blow everybody's minds and for a million .GIFs to appear on Twitter highlighting the death defying flips and moves we'll see in this match. I expect Ibushi to retain, but this should spell the start of Ospreay's transition to the heavyweight division and should confirm future battles for him with NJPW's elite wrestlers.

Suzuki-Gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO and YOH) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI and Shingo Takagi) – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match

Back in October, the Junior Tag division was the focal point for NJPW thanks to the Junior Tag League and the opportunity for a title match at WK13 for the belts. Suzuki-Gun have had one the longest ever reigns with the championships, capturing them in the spring and holding onto the belts since then thanks to their dubious actions and Kanemaru's trademark bottle of whiskey stinging the eyes of his foes on many an occasion. Roppongi 3K have fallen afoul of Suzuki-Gun during several matches this year, coming close to capturing the titles but ultimately failing. LIJ reshuffled their roster due to Hiromu Takahashi's unfortunate injury in the summer, pulling in their newest member Shingo Takagi who had recently departed rival promotion Dragon Gate.

The final of the Junior Tag League saw these three teams squaring off thanks to a three-way tie in points at the top of the league table. SHO and YOH picked up the win over the champions in the final, earning themselves a shot at Suzuki-Gun one more time at WK13. But, Roppongi 3K's road to victory was marred by a loss to BUSHI and Shingo in the league itself, causing NJPW to book a rematch for this three-way match – this time, at the Dome for the championships.

I'd be very surprised if Suzuki-Gun held onto their championships considering the length of their run with them so far. I'd also be surprised if Roppongi 3K picked up the win, albeit not as much as if Suzuki-Gun won. They've been in the Jr. Tag championship picture for all of 2018 – I think it's time for some new blood in the title picture. I believe LIJ will take home the gold in what should be a strong night for the faction. Keep an eye on Shingo and SHO in this match as both those guys look poised to have an impressive 2019.

Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - RPW British Heavyweight Championship match

Both these guys have had a fantastic 2018 and I'm sure both these guys would love to kick off 2019 on the right foot with a win in a high profile singles match for a prize that the two have been battling over for nearly a year.

ZSJ moved into the upper echelons of NJPW in 2018 by winning the New Japan Cup in the spring, submitting Naito, Ibushi, SANADA and Tanahashi in the process. He then went on to finish joint top of his block in the G1 Climax, scoring a submission victory over Ishii along the way, and missing out on the finals by way of a tiebreaker. Ishii had a similarly strong showing in tournaments this year. He beat every singles champion in his block in the G1 Climax including a huge upset over IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega, which earned him an ultimately unsuccessful shot at the top championship. He barely missed out on a spot in the World Tag League finals teaming with Chaos stablemate Toru Yano, but impressed nonetheless in the tournament. Both men have clearly earned their spot on the Wrestle Kingdom.

The prize in question that they will be fighting over is the top championship in NJPW's British partner promotion, Revolution Pro Wrestling. Ishii is in the middle of his second reign, winning the belt during Wrestlemania weekend from his WK13 opponent, ZSJ. Ishii only held onto the belt for a spell as he'd end up losing it to ZSJ's boss, the menacing Minoru Suzuki. Suzuki and Ishii have since warred over the belt for the latter half of 2018, but with Ishii finally seeing off Suzuki, ZSJ has stepped back out from the shadows, invoking his rematch clause against Ishii.

Both wrestlers are very different stylistically, with ZSJ exhibiting technical mastery through a seemingly endless array of submission holds and Ishii choosing to bludgeon his way through the opposition by living up to his Stone Pitbull moniker, tenaciously slugging it out with strikes and brutal lariats. This really could go either way, but I reckon there's big things to come for ZSJ in 2019, so I predicate he'll start the year off right with the RPW British Heavyweight Championship in hand and yet another victory over Ishii.

Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) (c) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL and SANADA) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) – IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match

A triple threat showdown between the three teams which dominated the tag team division in 2018 seems like a fitting start to 2019, but it's a start tinged with a little bit of controversy.

Let's start at the beginning – at last year's Wrestle Kingdom, LIJ saw off the Suzuki-Gun team of the Killer Elite Squad and started their first reign as tag champs. Their reign came to an abrupt halt in June as newly christened heavyweights The Young Bucks rose to the challenge and captured the championships at Dominion, proving their tag team dominance was not only reserved for the Junior Tag division.

Fast forward to September, which saw G.O.D. seize the belts from the Bucks as part of the bitter Bullet Club disintegration between The BCOGs and The Elite. Since then, G.O.D. highlighted their tag team strength by reaching the finals of World Tag League, picking up a win over LIJ along the way, but ultimately fell short to LIJ in their rematch in the World Tag League finals. LIJ had booked their ticket to Wrestle Kingdom and with the score set at 1-1, LIJ and the Guerillas looked to settle it all at the Tokyo Dome.

However, the Young Bucks had a different plan for the Tokyo Dome. Citing their 2-0 record over LIJ and their lack of a rematch against the Guerillas, the Bucks sought to insert themselves into the match. In his post-match promo following his World Tag League victory, EVIL stated that he'd happily take on the Bucks in a three-way championship bout, so naturally the match was on the cards.

Some New Japan fans expressed their dissatisfaction at the Bucks inserting themselves into the match after their noticeable absence from the World Tag League this year, feeling they hadn't earned their shot in the same way as EVIL and SANADA. I think that it's a good way to freshen up the tag team match as we've seen all three teams face off over 2018 already, plus the Bucks do have a leg to stand on in regards to their tag team accomplishments this year. Having said that, I'm expecting EVIL and SANADA to start off this year in the same way as the last – with the tag team championships in hand.

Cody (c) vs. Juice Robinson – IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Match

One is pro wrestling royalty – the son of a son of a plumber and has been a champion in every promotion he's fought in. The other is a plucky and fiery fan favourite who has clawed his way up from the New Japan Dojo and is looking to recapture the US Championship from the very man he lost it to.

Juice Robinson spent 2017 and the first half of 2018 as a plucky underdog – he'd pick up a few wins  here and there but he'd always come up short in the big championship matches. His luck finally seemed to be turning around when he rolled up Jay White for the US Championship back in July. However, a lackluster performance in the G1 Climax – thanks in part to a lingering hand injury - was swiftly followed up by a crushing defeat from Cody in a tag match, who threw down the challenge for the US Championship.

Unlike Juice, Cody had been accruing wins and adulation wherever he went – he had a lengthy reign with the ROH World Championship, he spent early 2018 as a thorn in Kenny Omega's side and won the NWA Worlds Heavyweight Championship at the inaugral All In event. The story was simple – Cody is championship material and Juice still had some work to do. As such, Cody rolled up Juice and took away the US Championship in Juice's first defense.

This wasn't the end of the road for Juice, however. Juice found himself in a defacto Number One Contenders bout for the US Championship following Cody's scheduled title defense against Beretta being called off due to an unfortunate injury suffered by the champion. And as fate had it, Juice picked up the victory and threw down the gauntlet against Cody. During a strong World Tag League performance alongside David Finlay, Juice called out Cody's lack of fighting spirit, comparing how Juice battled through injury in the G1 to Cody missing his title defense against Beretta.

Now, Juice has a chance to reclaim what was once his and prove that he is indeed championship material. Cody won't make it easy for Juice – expect interference from Cody's doting wife, Brandi Rhodes. I think Juice will seize the day, however. Another loss to Cody will send Juice spiralling down the card and he's got too much natural talent to have that fate befall him. This time, it won't be with a roll-up, but with a Pulp Friction and a one-two-three in the middle of the Dome.

KUSHIDA (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match

Potential match of the night contender, right here.

The junior ace, KUSHIDA, rose to the mantle of champion for an amazing sixth time this autumn following Hiromu Takahashi's tragic neck injury and consequent relinquishing of the Junior Championship. The ever dependable KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI and Marty Scurll in a tournament to prove his continuing status of the top Junior Heavyweight in NJPW. Yet, with most of the Junior division involved in either chasing the Junior Tag championships or focusing on other prizes such as Ospreay gunning for the NEVER Openweight championship, who would take on KUSHIDA at the Tokyo Dome?

During a Junior Tag League bout, Ishimori pinned KUSHIDA and in a post-match promo asked fans to ponder on what that could mean for Wrestle Kingdom. As Junior Tag League continued, Ishimori suffered an ankle injury and did not take part in the final matches of the tour, which crucially included a multi-man tag match in which Ishimori would have found himself once again facing KUSHIDA. With KUSHIDA focusing his attention away from Ishimori, the villanous Bone Soldier proved why he was head hunted by Bullet Club, leaping into the ring and striking KUSHIDA with his crutches, allowing Bullet Club to pick up the victory.

With his injury revealed to be nothing more than a ruse to lull KUSHIDA into a false sense of security, the match was made official for Wrestle Kingdom. KUSHIDA has found himself pinned countless times by Ishimori and the rest of Bullet Club in the preliminary tag matches on the run up to Wrestle Kingdom, which doesn't bode well for the Time Splitter. I believe Ishimori will cement a strong first year in Bullet Club with a victory at the Dome, furthering his dominance over KUSHIDA.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White

This is the only match at Wrestle Kingdom to not have a championship on the line, but it's arguably got bigger stakes than most of the other matches on the card.

Jay White has had a meteoric rise in 2018, aided in no small part by his alignment with Okada's CHAOS faction in early 2018. White believed allying himself with an established faction would lead him to championship gold and victory over Kenny Omega and the Bullet Club and his confidence was not misplaced. Only several months removed from his return from excursion, Jay White found himself with a pinfall victory over one of New Japan's top stars and with a championship to boot.

Meanwhile, Okada's seemingly perennial reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion was toppled by Omega at June's Dominion show. His invincible Rainmaker persona wavered following this loss – he changed his theme song to be more erratic than his previous theme, he dyed his golden hair to a bloody red colour and replaced his regal coats and gold chains with... balloons adorned with smiley faces. The biggest sign of Okada's breakdown was him splitting from long time manager and advisor, Gedo. The Rainmaker had changed into something else and with that metamorphosis came the first signs of cracks in CHAOS.

A G1 win for White over Okada and an unsuccessful G1 campaign for the Rainmaker led to Switchblade Jay White questioning Okada's leadership skills. Jay White claimed that it was his CHAOS now, not Okada's. Following another high profile loss for Okada – this time for the Tokyo Dome main event contract against Tanahashi – White's patience reached its breaking point. He turned on Okada, attacking him in vicious fashion after Okada's loss to Tanahashi. He grabbed a steel chair from outside the ring, but before he could unleash fury upon Okada, Gedo rushed to the ring and stopped White from attacking Gedo's former prodigy.

This wasn't to be a glorious reunion for Okada and Gedo. With one swing of the chair, Gedo severed ties with CHAOS and Okada for good, heralding Jay White as the future of New Japan. Gedo returned to his cheating ways, helping Jay White in an ultimately unsuccessful attempt at seizing the main event contract from Tanahashi. Jay White even found himself a new faction with Bullet Club choosing the Switchblade as their new ace following their split from Omega and the rest of the Elite. Despite losing out on a shot at the Tokyo Dome main event, Jay White made it his mission to take Bullet Club to new heights and to destroy the Rainmaker and CHAOS once and for all.

The Bullet Club under Jay White have proven to be a force to be reckoned with, remaining undefeated against the superteam of Okada and Tanahashi, serving to grow Jay White's already impressively large list of wins for 2018 and fuel his growing ego. This match is the most important bout for the Switchblade to date, however. A win over Okada in a high-profile match at the Tokyo Dome cements his position as one of New Japan's top performers and could even lead to an IWGP Heavyweight Championship shot sooner than later. Okada needs to win to prove to the world that he is still the Rainmaker and to also show that CHAOS is able to stand up against the rejuventated Bullet Club.

Back when Okada invited Jay White into CHAOS, the Switchblade stated that one day he would come for Okada. I believe with that day finally upon us, Jay White joins the upper echelon of NJPW with a huge victory over Okada at the Dome. I can see Jay White challenging for the championship in early 2019... but more on that in a bit.

Chris Jericho (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito – IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match

At last year's Wrestle Kingdom, Naito and Jericho exchanged barbs as to whose match would be viewed at the real main event. Jericho claimed his bout with Omega was pulling an international audience unlike anything New Japan had seen before, whereas Naito believed that his bout with Okada was the main event as not only was it closing out the show, it was for the top championship in New Japan and had domestic fans in a frenzy to potentially see Naito dethrone Okada.

With both men in losing efforts at Wrestle Kingdom 12, an incensed Jericho attacked Naito the following night at New Year's Dash... and then disappeared for several months. With speculation brewing that Jericho might be finished with NJPW, Naito spent the first half of the year without any clear direction. He captured the Intercontinental Championship, but it didn't seem as though he even wanted the belt. He wouldn't wear it to the ring and treated it with utter disdain. It was an afterthought to Naito, but an opportunity for Jericho. Jericho struck once again and this time with purpose – to become Intercontinental Champion.

And he did just that. In a violent affair at Dominion, Naito was brutalised by Jericho and lost in a rather convincing bout, losing the championship he never really wanted in the first place. Jericho's next defence came months later against Naito's stablemate, EVIL. Naito left EVIL and Jericho to their own devices during this time, but following a post-match beat down from Jericho after successfully defending his title, Naito refocused his attention on Y2J.

Naito has spent the winter firing jabs at Jericho's presentation in New Japan, mentioning that he doesn't believe a superstar like Chris Jericho would resort to cheap parodies of Naito's merchandise or wear tacky make-up to the ring. Jericho fired back with physical attacks on Naito at the tail end of 2018, proving that he's anything but tranquilo.

It's not been a super strong build for this match which isn't too surprising due to Jericho's few appearances, but I still expect a solid match from these two. I'd imagine the action to go all around the ring and utilise weapons galore, but I think the victory will go to Tetsuya Naito in the end to cap off a victorious night for LIJ.

Kenny Omega (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match

It's not just the championship on the line in this one – for Omega and Tanahashi, this is a battle to decide the future of New Japan Pro Wrestling itself.

Omega's road to the Dome was made clear thanks to a historic victory over Okada in an instant classic back at Dominion. Even despite gargantuan efforts from Ishii, Cody and then both Cody and Ibushi in a three-way, Omega held onto the title to book his ticket to the main event. His championship victories have proven to be an anchor in a tumultuous year for the Cleaner. He lost his US Championship to start off 2018 on a horrible foot. He found himself squaring off against friends in a series of tag matches alongside Kota Ibushi against Cody, Hangman Page and The Young Bucks. Bullet Club crumbled under his leadership and has only recently found stability as two disparate units in Bullet Club and The Elite. And to cap it off his dream of facing long time confidant and partner Kota Ibushi at the Tokyo Dome was scuppered at the G1 Finals.

Tanahashi was the man who put a stop to the dream of seeing the Golden Lovers face off at Wrestle Kingdom, but his road to the Dome was an arduous and bumpy trail. Tanahashi began 2018 plagued with injury, resulting in Minoru Suzuki capturing Tanahashi's Intercontinental Championship. A loss to Zack Sabre Jr. in the New Japan Cup finals was followed by a loss against Okada in an IWGP Championship match – a loss which saw Okada overtake Tanahashi's record for consecutive successful title defenses. The summer saw the Ace in what could essentially be dubbed as exhibition matches, leading many to wonder if the Ace's time in the spotlight was at its end. The Ace clearly thought differently. Dropping points only to Jay White and in a draw with Okada, Tanahashi topped his block at the G1 Climax and proved to the world that he was still the Once in a Century Talent by beating Ibushi in the final. If there was any doubt about the Ace's right to face Omega, victories over Okada and White soon put an end to the doubters.

The match was official. As soon as the main event was drawn up, the war of words between champion and challenger ensued. At a fundamental level, both men hate each other. Omega sees Tanahashi as a relic from a past era of New Japan and believes that if Tanahashi were to lead NJPW forward in 2019, then any hope of global expansion would be put to an end. Omega finds Tanahashi outdated and boring – he even went as far to say that he “feels nothing” watching a Tanahashi match. Conversely, Tanahashi is outraged by Omega's wrestling style. To Tanahashi, how Omega wrestles is not the New Japan way. He found himself utterly bemused by how Omega would use weapons and tables against those he claimed were his friends during the three-way bout against Cody and Ibushi, which in itself went against the traditional one on one title matches that fans are used to seeing. There's a right way to wrestle according to Tanahashi and Omega's explosive style isn't the Strong Style that Tanahashi believes NJPW should be showing the world.

It's a very interesting build as this is a matter of ideologies as opposed to a bitter, personal rivalry. Omega's Elite faction has prided itself on how it will “Change the World” and Omega believes he's the man to do so through stories about love and through his fast-paced and exhilarating bouts. Tanahashi, the man who led NJPW from its worst period to the glory days of today, believes that the slower paced but equally gripping Strong Style is how New Japan will continue to grow.

Whether you find yourself enthralled by a Tanahashi match or an Omega match, this will be a must-watch match. As for the victor, this is honestly the toughest match to call on the card – Omega's contract is up for renewal very shortly, which raises questions on his future with New Japan, but his reign doesn't feel like it's reached its finale quite yet. I believe Omega will retain at the Dome and continue to Change the World in 2019.

Predictions:

Suzuki-Gun for the Gauntlet Match
Ibushi over Ospreay
LIJ for the Jr Tag match
ZSJ over Ishii
LIJ for the Heavyweight Tag Match
Juice over Cody
Ishimori over KUSHIDA
White over Okada
Naito over Jericho
Omega over Tanahashi

I've not watched WK13 as it was spoiled for me, so haven't been in any rush but do see I got 8/10 right in my predictions. Why I went for KUSHIDA is I didn't think they'd switch all the belts and this seemed the least likely to be switched,