New Japan Pro Wrestling: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10 Review
Location: Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan inside the Tokyo Dome
An event that began as Super Warriors in Tokyo Dome in 1992, has gone through a number of names over the years for New Japan Pro Wrestling. The Superbowl or Wrestlemania for New Japan was also named Wrestling World from 1999 to 2004, but since 2007, it has been named Wrestle Kingdom and with it came a rebuild of the promotion as well. Although the event has changed names many times, there have always been two constants, that it took place in the Tokyo Dome and that the event always occurred on January 4. Before tonight, 263 matches had taken place at the Tokyo Dome show, featuring 78 title matches and 33 title changes. Last year’s Wrestle Kingdom 9 was even shown in the United States on PPV and also saw the debut of New Japan World, NJPW’s streaming service available worldwide for the price 999 YEN. Last year’s event with the main event of Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada brought over 36,000 fans to the Dome. This year’s event features the same main event, albeit with the title around the waist of Okada this time. Can Wrestle Kingdom 10 eclipse the magnitude of the previous year’s show? I guess we will have to see.
Match 0: New Japan Rambo
Participants: Jushin Thunder Liger, Yoshiaki Fujiwara, Tiger Mask, Cheeseburger, Hiro Saito, YOSHI-HASHI, Mascara Dorada, Captain New Japan, Manabu Nakanishi, Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Ryusuke Taguchi, Shiro Koshinaka, King Tonga, Great Kabuki, Kazushi Sakuraba, Jado
Jado won this thing and it was fun to see some of the legends like Great Kabuki, Yoshiaki Fujiwara and the two surprises of Shiro Koshinaka and FREAKING Haku! (Also the father of Tama Tonga) as the newest member of the Bullet Club. This was straight out of the Wrestlemania 17 Gimmick Battle Royal playbook, especially with Great Kabuki being disqualified for using the mist. This was just fun and a nice way to waste 30 mins of the pre-show. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that Cheeseburger is just the best.
Match 1: IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship Match: (Champions) ReDragon (ROH) vs. Roppongi Vice (CHAOS) vs. Young Bucks (Bullet Club) vs. Matt Sydal & Ricochet
Winner AND NEW IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions: Young Bucks (After Bang for your Buck pinning Rocky Romero)
I still wish NJPW would have gone with a ReDragon vs. Sydal and Ricochet straight tag match, but at this point it seems like these four way tags are just a way to guarantee a good opening match and to get more guys on the card, which totally works for what they want. Young Bucks came out with Cody Hall, who would be very important to the result of this match. In fact, Cody Hall attacking everyone before the bell is how this one started off. Young Bucks controlled and were the major part of this match, as many of the big moves and even just certain holds were off of something they did. There were a few dives namely a big Tope Con Hilo by Beretta on everyone rather early, followed by a Crossbody by Rocky Romero on Sydal. Bobby Fish would get one as well, and the most entertaining one had to be Nick Jackson doing his own Tope Con Hilo while Kyle O’ Reilly had someone in the rope assisted armbar, and of course I can’t not mention the rather tame Super Kick party that happened around the five minute mark as well. The match turned on a Cody Hall interruption when he prevented Ricochet from doing a dive and then gave a Razor’s Edge to Ricochet onto everyone on the outside. While successful, it was still scary because he didn’t get much height on it and the guys had to literally hold Ricochet on the way down. Ricochet would later return the favor with a Shooting Star to the outside onto Cody Hall, which the height Ricochet got on that was ridiculous. There was also a crazy 8 man Suplex spot in this as well. Young Bucks would eventually steal a pin from a double Shooting Star Press by Sydal and Ricochet, hit More Bang For Your Buck, and get the win.
Overall, each team got some time to shine, although the champions probably had the least time in the match itself. This was a terrific way to start off the show, the crowd got more into it as it went on, the Cody Hall spot got some great heat and then the crowd was red hot once Rocky Romero hit the Forever Clotheslines. I’m also giving it an extra bump because they worked this more like a match and less like a total spotfest, which allowed for peaks and valleys and probably helped with the crowd getting more into it as well. For me, this was also better than last year’s opener. The Young Bucks win the Junior Tag Belts for the fourth time and let’s hope that New Japan can put some thought into these titles for once. There’s also a rumor out there that Rocky Romero may go to NXT as a trainer, if he does leave, I’ll be sad because his new team with Beretta has been great and he gets the crowd going in tag matches like no one else in this division. *** ¾ *
Match 2: NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship Match: The Briscoes (ROH) & Toru Yano (CHAOS) vs. Tama Tonga, Yujiro Takahashi, & Bad Luck Fale (Bullet Club)
Winners AND FIRST EVER NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions: The Briscoes & Toru Yano (After Yano distracted Fale with a chair shot and Briscoes hit Doomsday Device on Tama Tonga)
The Bullet Club would continue the theme from the previous match by attacking before the bell. This was surprisingly good and although The Briscoes never really did much with Yano at the same time, all of the separate parts came together to make one enjoyable whole of a match. Mark was featured early, then Yano had his turn using Bad Luck Fale and then Tama Tonga as perfect foils for his Break routine, the removing of the turnbuckle pad, and the YTR taunt maneuver as well. Jay was the prominent part in the end, with one moment of a typical Yano spot to factor into the finish. The match had the right mix of seriousness and Yano comedy that just worked. The Bullet Club members all played their part too, but this was much more of a showcase for the Briscoes than anything else. I think you could say they delivered on that for sure. However, the Tokyo Dome crowd didn’t really care, but then again the Dome is not the place to debut Gajin talent either. I do think The Briscoes could really add a lot to the tag team scene and get over with the crowds in Japan if they are given a long run with these belts. This also helps add a seriousness around Yano, which could help people stomach Yano’s act better as well. There are probably many people surprised the Bullet Club B team didn’t win here, but considering ROH has the two Japan shows coming up, the result here makes total sense. I give kudos to the Briscoes for working hard here and trying their best to get the crowd into it. On a side note, Yano looks really weird with without the blonde hair and white camo pants perhaps are not the best look for all of the Bullet Club members either.***
Match 3: ROH World Championship Match: (Champion) Jay Lethal w/ Truth Martini vs. Michael Elgin
Winner AND STILL ROH World Champion: Jay Lethal (After the Lethal Injection)
Michael Elgin had a terrific G1 Climax 25 and then followed that up by tagging with Hiroshi Tanahashi in the World Tag League and put on more great performances there as well. So, going into this there was heavy speculation that this would be Elgin’s crowning moment. However, he would be denied, not by Jay Lethal’s wrestling, but by Truth Martini and the book of truth. This works fine in Ring of Honor, but in New Japan it doesn’t. I’ll get to that later though. Elgin did all of the power spots he’s made his trademark in New Japan and the crowd ate up every single one of them, including a beautiful ONE ARM MILITARY PRESS. However, the crowd was absolutely quiet for Lethal unless he did something like the Lethal Combination or did a nice counter to one of Elgin’s spots. I’ll give Lethal credit for recovering from a botched Suicide Dive where he figured out the hard way that New Japan’s outside area is much smaller than ROH’s by missing Elgin and hitting the barricade and bending it. As awesome as it is that Truth Martini got the Book of Truth published in Japanese, seeing Lethal use it to knock down Elgin and then hit the Lethal Injection just left a sour taste in my mouth. It was not only a bad call for a finish, but it ended the match abruptly, and gave it this complete air of disappointment that a World Title match should never have. This is absolutely the wrong place for this finish, but I think as far as ROH is concerned this does a lot for Lethal as a character to get the win here.** ½ *
Match 4: IWGP Junior Heavweight Championship Match: (Champion) Kenny Omega (Bullet Club) w/ Young Bucks vs. KUSHIDA
Winner AND NEW IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion (KUSHIDA after countering One Winged Angel into a Roll-up)
After what was probably the bathroom break for many in the Dome during the previous match, all eyes were locked-in to this, the third match between these two since their feud started at Dominion in early July 2015. KUSHIDA bringing Ryusuke Taguchi with him as Doc Brown just made me smile. Then Kenny Omega had to top that with a Terminator inspired entrance. Omega is just a master entertainer folks. The match started with a Superkick party to poor Doc Brown and then led to another round of Bullet Club interference, as the Young Bucks helped Omega by holding the trash can so he could do his garbage can Moonsault onto KUSHIDA. After that, the Bucks played the Terminator theme song on the garbage cans, as Omega went for his Tope Con Hilo dive on the outside. Omega would even use his own wrist tape to choke KUSHIDA while the Bucks distracted the referee. This is why I’ve learned that you just have to take the bad with the good when it comes to Kenny Omega, because when Omega is on and actually wrestling there aren’t many that can touch him.
What was nice about this, is it featured a little bit of everything and it worked to tell a great story. Kenny Omega was using every dirty tactic possible and using it to his advantage. KUSHIDA would make a comeback using a few of his trademark spots like the Tope Con Hilo off the top rope to the outside and the Springboard Chop, but he also worked the arm a bit as well. But this match was a bit different because KUSHIDA took it a step further by hitting a Super Armbreaker off the top rope, which did a number on Omega’s arm. KUSHIDA also hit Omega with a WICKED Baseball Punch, after blocking an Omega knee, which I’m surprised didn’t knock Omega out of the Dome.
After Omega hit a great German Suplex, KUSHIDA outsmarted Omega and put in the Hoverboard Lock to counter the pin attempt. The Young Bucks tried to help Omega, but Taguchi came around and knocked both of the Bucks out with garbage can shots. Omega still gets out of the hold though and amazingly hits KUSHIDA with a ONE ARM Liger Bomb, but KUSHIDA kicked out. The finish was really well done because Omega had given KUSHIDA some pretty vicious knees before going for the One Winged Angel, the only way KUSHIDA was avoiding defeat was with that desperation roll-up that wound up winning the match. Who knows if we see a rematch again, but there’s a case to be made since Omega’s shoulder was clearly not pinned, but the referee didn’t see it. Either way, this was a pretty good match, maybe not the best one they’ve had, but I loved the story and especially getting to see Doc Brown gets his vengeance from earlier. See, this is where interference works and I had no problem with it, because it was a key to telling the story of the match. One where KUSHIDA had to do a little extra to make sure he got the Jr. Title back around his waist again. I just hope New Japan finally lets KUSHIDA be the ACE and builds an actual Jr. Division around him. *** ½ *
Match 5: IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: (Champions) Doc Gallows & Karl Anderson (Bullet Club) vs. (2015 World Tag League Winners) Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe (G-B-H)
Winners AND NEW IWGP Tag Team Champions: Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe (G-B-H) (after Honma hits Kokeshi off the top rope and Makabe follows with King Kong Knee Drop)
Sometimes with wrestling you can see your dream come true. This is what happened in this match for one Tomoaki Honma. Honma for years was just a loveable loser and never won a singles match. He won his first G1 match this year and since then it seems like Gedo finally saw the light and decided that it was time to do something with Honma. Honma won the World Tag League along with Makabe and you just had a feeling that this was destined to have the fairy tale ending. I have to give kudos to Karl Anderson for working his butt off in this match to make Honma look great, especially during their electric stretch near the end. A lot of this match featured Honma and Anderson and it was the best decision that could be made. Honma was terrific here in still being Honma at times, but also having much more confidence than in previous bouts. Makabe had to save Honma a few times and got a nice hot tag sequence giving a Double Lariat to Gallows and Anderson. Then giving a HUGE lariat to Gallows to basically knock him out. Anderson and Gallows had their moments and controlled portions of the match, which gave it this great flow of back and forth action, while also building to the ultimate crescendo of Honma and Makabe winning the Tag Titles. The Dome was going nuts at Honma winning his first ever championship in NJPW, which capped off the wonderful 2015 Honma had. I know I give Doc Gallows grief, but he actually put on a good performance here, showing passion we haven’t seen out of him in quite a while. This is the second time in a row that Guns and Gallows have lost the belts at Wrestle Kingdom. Honma and Makabe should bring a nice breath of fresh air to that entire Heavyweight Tag Team scene in the coming months. This was a wonderfully worked tag match from all involved, it finished off the Honma story, and now starts a new chapter perhaps for the Heavyweight Tag Team division. *** ½ *
Match 6: Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito (Los Igobernables) w/ BUSHI & EVIL
Winner: Hirooki Goto (after hitting Shouten-Kai on Naito)
The ending for this was a total surprise on a night that would be full of sure fire results, especially considering that Tetsuya Naito has been nothing short of superb since turning into this heel character. What I did like about the match is that they went at it from the bell and there wasn’t a bunch of the typical Naito stalling that you get in a lot of his matches. There was interference from EVIL and BUSHI that you would expect, but Goto took care of them and looked impressive in doing so. For as much as I liked that they didn’t just sell out Goto here and actually had him pick up a win, the match wasn’t anything special. The two men work well together, but it was all the typical spots you see from both guys and never got into a higher gear, which honestly considering what you get in the final three matches, perhaps a cool down match here was a nice change of pace. I know people are going to be upset that Naito didn’t win, but Naito doesn’t care if he loses, he was smiling when the match was over. Obviously, he has to get wins to continue to matter, but the Tokyo Dome crowd cheered for him when he was announced. I don’t think this hurts Naito at all, although his furry white mask maybe wasn’t the best decision. Let’s see if this win does anything for Goto, who is in desperate need of something new. *** ¼ *
Match 7: NEVER Openweight Championship Match: (Champion) Tomohiro Ishii (CHAOS) vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Winner AND NEW NEVER Openweight Champion: Katsuyori Shibata (After Hitting Ishii with the Penalty Kick)
I don’t think I still believe what I just witnessed here. I don’t know how these two men walked away on their own power. This was incredible, yet horrifying to watch at the same time. Two men that are all about pride, guts, and unabashed smash mouth wrestling just beat the crap out of each other for an entire match and although I cringed quite a few times, I loved every second of it. Tomohiro Ishii along with Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma defined the match archetype for the NEVER Title in 2015. Wrestling that was so brutal you couldn’t help but keep watching. Shibata and Ishii continued that trend here from the moment the bell rang they were slapping the crap out of each other, chopping each other, and trading STIFF kicks to the back. They went on to trade chops to the throat, face washes in the corner, and straight on headbutts that were so nasty you could hear their heads clashing into each other. As one of my co-hosts Paul on the W2M Podcast said “I am now convinced that Ishii is built out of cement.” After this match, I would have to agree. Both men took a pounding and kept going all the way up until the finish. I really don’t know if there are words to do this justice, but it was awesome. This is exactly what I wanted from this match and they delivered that in spades. Ishii is just a master at selling pain with his facial expressions, which is quite a contrast to that of Shibata who many times never changes his expression. This division fits what Shibata does perfectly, so Shibata winning his first singles championship here was totally the correct decision. This gives the division new life and a bevy of fresh match-ups for whoever dares challenge “The Wrestler.” Here’s your first Match of the Year contender of 2016. **** ½ *
Match 8: IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: (Champion) Shinsuke Nakamura (CHAOS) vs. AJ Styles (Bullet Club)
Winner AND STILL IWGP Intercontinental Champion: Shinsuke Nakamura (after hitting AJ Styles with two consecutive Boma-Ye’s)
This was absolutely fantastic. It may not have had the emotional pull that Nakamura’s match had last year with Ibushi, but that match also had a deeper story and there was some history between those two. This was all about an epic dream match between two equals and quite honestly, the IC belt was just the consolation prize for the winner at the end. There’s no doubt that Nakamura will go down as the greatest IWGP Intercontinental Champion and the major reason why the belt is seen as equal to the IWGP Heavyweight title. AJ Styles short run in NJPW has seen him become a huge draw and a major main event player for the company. The video package before the match outlined that other than in one match in 2008 and in a tag match at the 2015 World Tag League last month, these two have never faced each other in this setting, which is what gave the match all of the hype coming into tonight.
Personally, I felt that they delivered to expectations and then some. This felt truly special and was accentuated by the hilarious, yet also wonderful moment of AJ making the “shooting a bullet” gesture and Nakamura grabbing the imaginary bullet out of the air and eating it. They also both went for their finishers early, which let everyone know what we were going to get in the match. From there things got serious and the match didn’t let up, as AJ firmly established himself as the heel when he faked a back injury, Nakamura turned his back, and AJ attacked him. Nakamura would then work on AJ’s back for the rest of the match, which included a One Armed Backbreaker that looked quite devastating. AJ countered by going after one of Nakamura’s legs and also worked on the neck a bit too. AJ would counter a Boma-Ye in the corner into the Calf Killer, which Nakamura would then switch into the Armbar and AJ has to pull an Eye Rake to get out of it. AJ would at one point almost hit a Boma-Ye on Nakamura and then hit the 450 Splash for a wonderful near fall as well.
The work of both impact areas would come into play in the finish and put a wonderful bow on this classic match. AJ can’t hit Bloody Sunday, he goes for a Back Chop to Nakamura, but Nakamura counters it into a twisting Cross Armbreaker, then he moves it into a Triangle Choke, but AJ amazingly is able to counter with a ONE ARM Styles Clash for a big near fall. AJ hits Bloody Sunday and signals for a top tope Styles Clash, which is the way he defeated Naito last year at Wrestle Kingdom, but Nakamura is able to hit Landslide for another near fall. Nakamura immediately goes for two NASTY Boma-Ye’s in a row and winds up winning, but I think the fist bump between the two men afterwards said it all. This was about two warriors going out there and putting on a great match. They did that by using their strengths, using their intelligence studying each other, and it also provided something completely different from the previous match as well. Just a tip of the cap to these two men for showing everyone how to put on a performance, not wasting any movement, and giving everyone something to remember for this entire year. *****
Match 9: IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: (Champion) Kazuchika Okada (CHAOS) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Winner AND STILL IWGP Heavyweight Champion: Kazuchika Okada (After hitting Hiroshi Tanahashi with three consecutive Rainmaker Lariats)
I honestly don’t know where this ranks in the entire Okada vs. Tanahashi series, but what I do know is they SOMEHOW topped themselves again from last year. Yes, if you look at it from a technical perspective, the first 10 minutes were a bit wonky, but it also fit into the story of the men knowing each other to the absolute peak that you can know someone. This is a story that has been told throughout seven other matches and over years, not days, not months, but years. Each man at different points in their career in those matches. Last year you had an over-confident Okada against a Tanahashi that many wondered if he was starting to hit the twilight of his career, but he proved in that match and throughout the G1 Climax 25 that he is still the ACE. Okada’s story was one of redemption where he battled all the way back to the top and then cemented his place as a main event player, but he had one step left to achieve, beat Tanahashi at the Dome.
The major portion of the match was a great call back to last year with Tanahashi working both Okada’s legs with the Dragon Screw, with a High Fly Flow to the legs, it was all there, and although there were points where Okada didn’t sell it, whether due to an adrenaline rush, fighting spirit, or just because this really wasn’t about working holds. Okada was just driven to do anything he could to win and knew everything Tanahashi was going to throw at him, including both men using aerial stuff to really drive home the angst and desperation. Okada drove Tanahashi into the barricade on the outside and then hit a diving Crossbody into the crowd on Tanahashi. Tanahashi would strike back with a Sling Blade on the ring apron and a High Fly Flow to the outside too. The icing on the cake for all that was a Springboard Dropkick by Okada to Tanahashi almost going coast to coast.
Tanahashi had spent a lot of time after the G1 winning matches with the Texas Cloverleaf, which signified that Tanahashi was going to use that in his match with Okada again. As mentioned previously, Tanahashi kept working the legs with Dragon Screw’s, kicks to the legs, HFF’s to the legs. So, after Okada hit that long dropkick and Okada started to take control, it looked like the end was nigh for Tanahashi. However, he was able to wait for the right moment, block the Dropkick, and turn it into the Cloverleaf for a major moment. After this, the match went into high gear with a series of moves and counters that exemplified the extra determination that Okada had to win. Last year, when Okada hit the Rainmaker and Tana kicked out it was a dejected Okada that wilted. This time Tanahashi kicked out and although it still shocked Okada, he didn’t die inside. He kept going trying even to win with the High Fly Flow, but Tana kicked out of that too. Then it was Okada’s turn to take punishment and persevere, this time kicking out of the double High Fly Flow that did him in last year.
Okada would even go for a tested method he developed in 2015 to make sure you couldn’t escape his grasp for the Rainmaker, which was to hit a German Suplex, keep the clasp and then go for the Rainmaker, but Tanahashi countered and slapped Okada. However, Okada did not let go of Tanahashi’s arm, as Tana thought he would do, thus allowing Okada to hit the final three blows and cement himself as the ACE of New Japan Pro Wrestling. What a story, what a wonderful match, and what an ending to a series of matches that have been tremendous on every occasion. Perhaps one of the best matches I’ve ever witnessed in my life, and the culmination of what has been an absolutely fantastic event. Kazuchika Okada is now THE MAN in New Japan, and this may have perhaps been the best match these two have ever had. When someone asks me why I love professional wrestling, I will use this match as my shining example. Just an absolute work of art. *****
OVERALL RATING: 9.5: The final three matches have to be one of the best stretches in wrestling history and finalized a show that I believe was better than last year’s. The best thing about the final three matches is that they each brought something different to the table and were great for their own reasons. Two of them also featured big time decisions by the company. Katsuyori Shibata who for years was despised for choosing MMA over wrestling, finally received his opportunity to perhaps become a major player. Then you have Kazuchika Okada cementing himself as the new ACE of New Japan Pro Wrestling by finally defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi at this event. The undercard had a splendid opening match, and two very good title bouts that also crowned new champions, which hopefully breathe new life into what have been bland divisions for quite a while in NJPW. If you put all of it together, there seems to be a new hope for New Japan. If this fantastic and entertaining show doesn’t get you feeling excited for the coming year in New Japan Pro Wrestling, I don’t know what else will.
