Cero Reviews NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13

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cero2k
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Cero Reviews NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13

Post by cero2k » Jan 4th, '19, 16:35

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13
January 4th, 2019
Tokyo Dome, Tokyo, Japan

6-Man NEVER Openweight Championships No 1 Contendership Gauntlet Match
The Elite (Yujiro Takahashi, Hangman Page, Marty Scurll) w/Pieter & Chase Owens vs Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb, and David Finlay vs CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & The Best Friends) vs Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki & Killer Elite Squad) vs MVP (Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, & Ryusuke Taguchi) - 6.5/10
This match got the time it needed and had the talent to make it work, but the way they set up the order of the teams and the time the pairings had hurt it a lot for me. First fall was quick with Finlay rolling Yujiro when Page pushed him after some misdirection between the Elite's members. Second fall was really long against CHAOS, they just kept breaking up pins, it was boring and once again Finlay got a roll up for the win.
Next fight was Nagata's team vs Suzuki-Gun. Suzuki-Gun was awesome, KES got the win. Finally, Makabe, Yano, and Taguchi came in, and this was fun, cool stuff between Yano and KES, Suzuki and Taguchi, and as expected, Suzuki brawling with Makabe was great. Overall a better match that most years, but still the clusterfuck that it's known for.

"Golden Star" Kota Ibushi (C) vs "Aerial Assassin" Will Ospreay - 9/10
Probably one of the best openers on record, this match was full of counters and reversals, and when moves landed, they meant something. There were some big spots like Ospreay kicking Ibushi mid-air on a Golden Triangle Moonsault. Ibushi hit his Deadlift German from the ropes, but Ospreay landed on his feet and they did the same angle from the Road To show. There was a spot with Ibushi caught hanging by his leg on the ring post where him and Ospreay started slapping each other until Ospreay lost it and just kicked the shit out of Ibushi, busting him open.

Finish seemed abrupt, but it came at a proper time. Ibushi hit a Backfist to the back of Ibushi's head, but it looked like he connected with the elbo and knocked out Ibushi. He pretty much dead-lifted Ibushi and hit the Storm breaker for the win. Step one to Ospreay going heavyweight.

Post-match - Kota was taken out in a stretcher, hopefully it's not serious.

Roppoongi 3K w/Rocky Romero vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) vs Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) - 8/10
Match was really fast paced, it felt like a tornado match from the get go. We saw a lot of dives and double team moves, barely any cheating from Suzuki-Gun, except when Kanemaru and BUSHI went for their respective Mists, but neither landed.
Big pop when Shingo came in, especially when he faced off against SHO. Finish saw BUSHI take out YOH outside with a Tope Suicida, inside the ring, Shingo hit the Last of the Dragons on SHO for the pin.

British Undisputed Championship Match
Zack Sabre Jr. w/TAKA Michinoku vs Tomohiro Ishii (C) - 9/10
Look at that, TAKA actually dressed up for tonight's match, a big improvement from gym shorts.
Sabre got a quick near fall when he locked an armbar in the first minute of the match, from here on Sabre worked Ishii's arms. Even when he countered a Superplex, he managed to land a quick arm wrench. But as usual in Sabre's weakness, he wants to et into a striking match with Ishii and Ishii just beat the shit out of him. Finish saw Sabre manage to lock in a sleeper that he transitioned into a thousand submissions until he had a weird Muffler/Motorcycle combo and Ishii submitted verbally.

Overall a fantastic match, it kinda exposed Ishii's limited speed when trying to hang with someone like Sabre.

IWGP Tag Team Championship 3-Way Match
Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA) vs The Young Bucks vs Guerrillas of Destiny (C) - 8.5/10
EVIL's entrance attire was so busy he could barely see and walk down the ramp, but it did look cool. SANADA hasn't shaved his face bush. GoD had a new entrance theme, and an AMAZING entrance attire.

Early in the match, as Nick and SANADA fought in the ring, EVIL hit Matt with a running clothesline, running the whole ramp down. This was a a really great LIJ vs GoD match with the Bucks in there doing their usual spots, nothing against them, but the stuff between LIJ and GoD was soo much better, they played with Magic Killers and all.

SANADA had a big hot tag, where he put the Paradise Lock on the Bucks and then hit about 4 Planchas to the outside.
Eventually, Fale and Jado came in, Bucks superkicked Jado, but Fale took them out, only to have EVIL take out Fale. Finish saw SANADA prep the Magic Killer, with EVIL getting rid of Tama Tonga with the STO. LIJ hit the Magic Killer and a Moonsault by SANADA on Matt Jackson to win the titles.

IWGP United States Championship Match
Cody (C) w/Brandi Rhodes vs Juice Robinson - 4/10
In the first spot, Cody was already faking leg injuries and Brandi was jumping on the apron for distractions, but Juice didn't fall for neither. A minute later, Juice had a chance to hit the Flying Elbow and Brandi covered Cody's body and provoked Juice to hit her in the face. Come on Tiger Hattori, send her to the back already. Enough distractions eventually allowed Cody to get the upper hand and push Juice shoulder first into the ring post and start his work. Hattori finally caught Brandi attacking Juice and told her to get the fuck out.

The rest of the match saw both men just trade finishers, their finishers, each other's finishers, kick out after kick out. As usual with Juice matches, he's working from below with some sort of injury and makes a comeback, except this time he actually won after he hit two Pulp Frictions. Terrible match, it completely killed the crowd. I think this match got the time cut and whoever planned it, didn't properly adjust, so I don't blame Cody for that matter. Juice deserved a lot more in his big WK win.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
"Bone Soldier" Taiji Ishimori vs KUSHIDA (C) - 6.5/10
KUSHIDA's entrance included a really weird looking big head KUSHIDA kid and Dr. Emmett Brown Taguchi. Taguchi did magic and made KUSHIDA grow into a man. It was weird, but it made KUSHIDA feel like a superstar when he came out.
From early on, the submission game started as KUSHIDA focused on the arm and Ishimori worked the head. The match itself ended in a somewhat underwhelming manner as they had barely hit second gear and not a minute later, Ishimori hit the Bloody Cross for the pin. Last match was bad, but I had zero expectations, this one was a actual disappointment.

"Rainmaker" Kazuchika Okada vs "Switchblade" Jay White w/Gedo - 9.5/10
YES! REAL OKADA IS BACK! NO MORE BALLOONMAKER! The crowd went wild when Okada revealed he was back to wearing shorts.

The match was great, but it was just missing that little sparkle at the end for the 10. The story was that Okada had far more dominance over White, but White had explosiveness in his actions and when he managed to hit a move, they were lethal. Okada from the get go started hitting all the greatest hits, not missing a step, with White only have those quick out of nowhere moves that I mentioned.

Towards the end of the match, we had an awesome race to hit either the Rainmaker or the Blade Runnner. Okada managed to hit that discus Rainmaker that is not as strong, but when he went for the real one, White hit an explosive Blade Runner and got the pin. Kinda off putting that the return of Okada led to a loss, but White really needed the win and is likely to be the top contender for the title going into Spring.

IWGP Intercontinental Championship No DQs Match
Tetsuya Naito vs "The Alpha" Chris Jericho (C) - 9.75
Naito's entrance attire was of a boar for this year's Japanese year. Jericho's entrance attire was his usual NJPW look, but he stole Super Shredder's jacket.

i liked this match a whole lot more than their previous match, they started with a small brawl outside the ring, but they went inside the ring, and for the most part, stayed inside. Part of me thinks that this couldn't had easily been a normal match, but the stuff they did with the kendo stick and chairs was definitely a big part of making this match better. Every weapon used had its purpose. At the end, after Jericho and Naito had been trading finishers and kickouts, it was the IC belt that came into the match, and after a belt shot and Destino, Naito recaptured the title he so much hates.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match
"Ace" Hiroshi Tanahashi vs "Best Bout Machine" Kenny Omega (C) - 10/10
Kenny's entrance was RPG inspired, he was wearing a Final Fantasy style attire, and he also came out with a new song.

I loved the story of the match, on one side, you have old man Tanahashi, fighting to defend his belief and conviction to this wrestling style, to what he believes is right. On the other, you have Omega on his prime, fighting to evolve wrestling into an Americanized style. The match saw a cocky Kenny dominate, while Tanahashi fought with all his might to keep up.

The one big spot that I loved was when Tanahashi is getting desperate to hurt Omega, and thus betrays his conviction to not need tables, and decides to hit a High Fly Flow onto Kenny on the table, only for Kenny to move and so Tanahashi went crashing down. Tanahashi betrayed his beliefs and it almost cost him the match.

Post-match - Tanahashi celebrated in the ring, cut a promo about winning tonight, and played his guitar. Good feels all around, the reign of Omega is over!

OVERALL THOUGHTS
Great show by NJPW with an unofficial intermission with the US title match. The show managed to build momentum to the main event even after Juice and Cody killed it. I had a lot of hype coming in, so some matches did feel underwhelming, but nonetheless, an amazing show that you need to go out of your way to watch.
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Re: Cero Reviews NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13

Post by Big Red Machine » Jan 5th, '19, 16:28

cero2k wrote: Jan 4th, '19, 16:35 Kinda off putting that the return of Okada led to a loss, but White really needed the win and is likely to be the top contender for the title going into Spring.
I was thinking about this. Obviously whatever the deal is with Omega's contract is a deciding factor, but if they knew Kenny was staying around, I think I would have switched the finishes here and in the main event. Kenny would beat Okada in February to retain, and you would spend the rest of the spring building Jay White up until he takes the belt from Kenny at Dominion, then have Okada win the G1 (losing to Omega in his block, then going to a draw against him for the briefcase in at Power Struggle) while Tanahashi gets a pin on White in their Block. This sets up:
1. KOPW: Jay White defends vs. Tanahashi with White finally getting a clean win on Tanahashi
2. Okada vs. White at the Dome, with the questions being whether Okada is good enough to win the big one without Gedo's strategizing on his side (his loss to Omega in February having so far been his only title shot without Gedo by his side) while White is now on a quest to get the Tokyo Dome monkey off of his back, having now lost there in high-profile matches in both 2018 and 2019).
3. After that if you have Okada win you've got Omega vs. Okada set up with it Omega now seeming to have Okada's number (he'd be 4-1-2 against Okada), plus you've got the "Jay White always chokes at the Tokyo Dome" story alive for another year.
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Re: Cero Reviews NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13

Post by cero2k » Jan 6th, '19, 12:31

Big Red Machine wrote: Jan 5th, '19, 16:28
cero2k wrote: Jan 4th, '19, 16:35 Kinda off putting that the return of Okada led to a loss, but White really needed the win and is likely to be the top contender for the title going into Spring.
I was thinking about this. Obviously whatever the deal is with Omega's contract is a deciding factor, but if they knew Kenny was staying around, I think I would have switched the finishes here and in the main event. Kenny would beat Okada in February to retain, and you would spend the rest of the spring building Jay White up until he takes the belt from Kenny at Dominion, then have Okada win the G1 (losing to Omega in his block, then going to a draw against him for the briefcase in at Power Struggle) while Tanahashi gets a pin on White in their Block. This sets up:
1. KOPW: Jay White defends vs. Tanahashi with White finally getting a clean win on Tanahashi
2. Okada vs. White at the Dome, with the questions being whether Okada is good enough to win the big one without Gedo's strategizing on his side (his loss to Omega in February having so far been his only title shot without Gedo by his side) while White is now on a quest to get the Tokyo Dome monkey off of his back, having now lost there in high-profile matches in both 2018 and 2019).
3. After that if you have Okada win you've got Omega vs. Okada set up with it Omega now seeming to have Okada's number (he'd be 4-1-2 against Okada), plus you've got the "Jay White always chokes at the Tokyo Dome" story alive for another year.
The only flaw that i see here is that it be completely sacrificing a year (or two according to Meltzer) of Tanahashi storyline, all building up to this win.

I personally think that they're going to build to Naito vs Okada at WK, with Naito finally winning the big one at WK, for that i do expect Okada to win G1 (vs Omega? Ospreay?). My only problem is that I was expecting White to take the title from Tanahashi and have his first 2-3 month reign to get his feet wet, but lose it to Naito; however, i figured White would win the NJCup, not be Tanahashi's very first challenge. Maybe White does capture the title early, Naito wins the NJCup and wins at Sakura Genesis or Dominion, and run the rest of the year as champ. I think White needs to get his WK win against Tanahashi on 2020, before he wins the 2020 G1,
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Re: Cero Reviews NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13

Post by Big Red Machine » Jan 6th, '19, 13:45

cero2k wrote: Jan 6th, '19, 12:31
Big Red Machine wrote: Jan 5th, '19, 16:28
cero2k wrote: Jan 4th, '19, 16:35 Kinda off putting that the return of Okada led to a loss, but White really needed the win and is likely to be the top contender for the title going into Spring.
I was thinking about this. Obviously whatever the deal is with Omega's contract is a deciding factor, but if they knew Kenny was staying around, I think I would have switched the finishes here and in the main event. Kenny would beat Okada in February to retain, and you would spend the rest of the spring building Jay White up until he takes the belt from Kenny at Dominion, then have Okada win the G1 (losing to Omega in his block, then going to a draw against him for the briefcase in at Power Struggle) while Tanahashi gets a pin on White in their Block. This sets up:
1. KOPW: Jay White defends vs. Tanahashi with White finally getting a clean win on Tanahashi
2. Okada vs. White at the Dome, with the questions being whether Okada is good enough to win the big one without Gedo's strategizing on his side (his loss to Omega in February having so far been his only title shot without Gedo by his side) while White is now on a quest to get the Tokyo Dome monkey off of his back, having now lost there in high-profile matches in both 2018 and 2019).
3. After that if you have Okada win you've got Omega vs. Okada set up with it Omega now seeming to have Okada's number (he'd be 4-1-2 against Okada), plus you've got the "Jay White always chokes at the Tokyo Dome" story alive for another year.
The only flaw that i see here is that it be completely sacrificing a year (or two according to Meltzer) of Tanahashi storyline, all building up to this win.
That Tanahashi narrative is bullsh*t. If you want to tell a the story of a big comeback then we have to see the guy failing first, and we never did with Tanahashi. During this supposed rebuilding/comeback/whatever he was always alive on the final day of his block in the G1, made the finals of this year's New Japan cup, spent seven and a half months with IC Title (which is basically the same level as the heavyweight title at this point, maybe a bit lower, but they still have no qualms about using it to main event PPVs).
You want to do a rebuilding story with Tanahashi? Then he needs to do poorly in a G1. Lose at KOPW, lost at the Dome, lose in the first round of the New Japan cup, lose every match up until Dominion where you maybe give him a win (maybe even do a stip at Dominion where if he doesn't win, then this year's G1 will be his mandated G1 retirement like Tenzan and Nagata got), then he can start the G1 in a bad to mediocre fashion, then make a big strong run towards the end and just eek out the finals spot, then win the finals, then win at the Tokyo Dome. What NJPW has done with Tanahashi would be like WWE having AJ Styles win this year's Royal Rumble and challenge for the Universal Title and try to paint this as AJ's quest to finally be a world champion when he's been a world champion on WWE for almost all of the previous fourteen months.
cero2k wrote: Jan 6th, '19, 12:31 I personally think that they're going to build to Naito vs Okada at WK, with Naito finally winning the big one at WK, for that i do expect Okada to win G1 (vs Omega? Ospreay?). My only problem is that I was expecting White to take the title from Tanahashi and have his first 2-3 month reign to get his feet wet, but lose it to Naito; however, i figured White would win the NJCup, not be Tanahashi's very first challenge. Maybe White does capture the title early, Naito wins the NJCup and wins at Sakura Genesis or Dominion, and run the rest of the year as champ. I think White needs to get his WK win against Tanahashi on 2020, before he wins the 2020 G1,
I agree with White needing his WK win against Tanaashi given what they did at this year's Dome and I agree that Naito beating Okada at the Dome is the likely direction, but I think they could have done better from a long-term perspective.
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