New Japan Pro Wrestling Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night Two

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night Two

January 5^th 2020

Tokyo Dome

Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee defeat Jyushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano in 12 minutes and 16 seconds when Hiromu pins Liger

This was simultaneously a great way to open this show and a great way to end the career of all time wrestling legend Jyushin Thunder Liger. Unlike the previous night’s opener, this felt like a genuinely competitive match and not just a fun nostalgia trip. Liger did his best to hold his own against the younger stars, and was able to temporarily fend them off at times with his arsenal of Romero Specials, tilt-a-whirl backbreakers, and palm strikes, but ultimately he could not match the speed or intensity of the current generation. For their part the younger wrestlers didn’t take it easy on their seniors, but showed them the respect of bringing a true sense of competition to the match. The ending stretch had a bit of a tragic air to it, and you could hear the crowd gasp in sadness as Hiromu finished off the legend with his Time Bomb. *** ½

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) defeat El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori to gain the titles in 14 minutes and 8 seconds when SHO pins Phantasmo

Over the past six months the Bullet Club junior team has largely felt like a vehicle for El Phantasmo, with the more talented Ishimori relegated to sideman duties. Here’s hoping that Ishimori gets to focus on something other than stomping on balls and raking backs in 2020.

That said, Phantasmo was on his A-game here, and really impressed with his some of his high flying maneuvers. This match brought a satisfying resolution to the Phantasmo story, as his attempt at one of his trademark dick punches was thwarted by SHO and YOH’s decision to wear metal, color coordinated cups under their gear. A goofy ending to be sure, but one that felt appropriate for the story being told, and the comedic change of tone was welcome coming on the heels of the Liger retirement match. *** ½

British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr pins SANADA to retain the title in 12 minutes and 32 seconds

There was an excellent sense of urgency to this match, as each man seemed to be trying to end the match with practically every movement that they made. The grappling was so blisteringly fast that referee Tiger Hattori didn’t even have a chance to count to one on many of the pinfall attempts. The breathless series of counters and reversals made mat wrestling seem as exciting as any high flying spotfest. ****

United States Heavyweight Championship: Jon Moxley pins Juice Robinson to retain the title in 12 minutes and 48 seconds

An oddly uninspired ending to a feud that was so hot last summer. The typhoon that caused Jon Moxley to miss King of Pro Wrestling prevented he and Juice from giving a proper ending to their angle, so it was understandable on paper that New Japan would have these two face off again in the Tokyo Dome. But the match ultimately felt far less heated than their previous encounters, as if these two just wanted to quickly tie up a loose end. The big post-match angle, with Minoru Suzuki arriving to challenge Moxley, was far more memorable and exciting than the actual match was. ** ½

NEVER Openweight Championship: Hirooki Goto pins KENTA to gain the title in 16 minutes and 12 seconds

In a way this match was hurt by the shadow of Katsuyori Shibata, who played a significant role in the build but then didn’t appear in this match even as a cornerman for his friend Goto. I spent much of the match waiting for an interference spot that would cause Shibata to come in and clean house. Ultimately I think it’s good that they didn’t go that route, as it would have taken something away from Goto’s win and the following match certainly more than filled the interference quota for the weekend. But Shibata’s absence here felt glaring.

The actual match that we got was a strong meat and potatoes match in the typically hard hitting style of many NEVER Title matches, which is an aesthetic that plays to both men’s strengths. The lariat and open hand slap exchanges were great, and Goto’s GTR finisher continues to look like a truly devastating execution blow. KENTA’s cockiness played well off of Goto’s no-nonsense demeanor and made for a solid if somewhat generic old school match. *** ½

Jay White pins Kota Ibushi in 24 minutes and 58 seconds

This loser’s bracket match had a lot working against it, in that it didn’t feel like there were any real stakes (beyond the loser suffering two defeats in as many days) and that it was plagued by featuring way too many Gedo interference spots. The brass knuckle and chair shots and ref bumps can all be effective tools when used sparingly, but they increasingly feel like crutches in White’s matches, and there was just way too much of it here. That said, these two do have really good in-ring chemistry, as they showed again here particularly during a sequence where they were fighting each other on the top rope. Ultimately this was an entertaining match whose flow was constantly interrupted by shenanigans. ***

Chris Jericho forces Hiroshi Tanahashi to submit in 22 minutes and 24 seconds

These two veterans wisely chose to focus on making this a dream match rather than trying to attempt the type of mat classic that is probably simply beyond Jericho’s capabilities at his advanced age. While that meant that this match didn’t have the gravity of past Wrestle Kingdom semi-main events (including the ones involving Jericho) it did also allow this to be one of the more purely fun matches of the weekend. They stole each other’s signature spots and taunts, including a great moment where Jericho missed hitting his own High Fly Flow and Tanahashi gave a great shit eating grin toward the camera. On top of all the funny enjoyable moments the two also worked a smart match layout, with Tanahashi consistently working over Jericho’s knees and Jericho working on Tanahashi’s back, leading logically to the brutal looking Lion Tamer finish. *** ½

IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Double Championship: Tetsuya Naito pins Kazuchika Okada to become the first double champion in 35 minutes and 37 seconds

This was the culmination of not just the past year’s Double Gold Dash storyline, not just the two years of Naito’s struggle since losing to Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 12, and not just the six years since Naito’s push failed and he got bumped from the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 8. It really was the culmination of the entirety of the Bushiroad era of New Japan, with the two men identified by the company as top prospects back in 2012 finally entering as the undisputed top stars of the promotion and colliding in a true blowoff to their highly layered, nearly decade long rivalry.

I’m not as emotionally invested in Tetsuya Naito’s journey as his many diehard fans are, but he and Okada had me gripped here from bell to bell with all of the callbacks to past matches and moments. Unlike the previous night’s main event with its overly deliberate start, this was immediately engaging, and these two made every moment count. Naito finally hitting the Stardust Press that cost him the match two years ago, and it still not being enough to topple Okada, was a particularly genius moment that displayed New Japan’s incredible facility for calling back to memorable past moments at just the right time. Naito’s final victory felt fully earned, as he had to empty absolutely everything in his past and present arsenal to finally take down the company ace on the biggest stage. Truly one of the best matches I’ve ever seen. *****

The post-match angle with KENTA interrupting Naito’s LIJ roll call was exceptionally well executed (at least if you can look past the logic gap of the guy who lost the NEVER Title earlier in the night instantly becoming a contender for the top titles) and drew massive heat as well as pointing at a much fresher direction for New Beginning than the expected Naito/White rematch would have been. 2020 already looks like another great year for New Japan.