Wrestle Kingdom 13

[Evil Vito]

Last year we had some pretty active participation during the live broadcast so I feel like this deserves a dedicated thread separate from the NJPW thread.

0. NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship #1 Contender Gauntlet: Yuji Nagata/Jeff Cobb/David Finlay [Sekigun] vs. Hirooki Goto and Best Friends (Beretta/Chuckie T.) [CHAOS] vs. Minoru Suzuki and Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr./Lance Archer) [Suzuki-gun] vs. Marty Scurll/Hangman Page/Yujiro Takahashi [The Elite] vs. Togi Makabe/Toru Yano/Ryusuke Taguchi [Most Violent Perverts]

1. NEVER Openweight Championship: Kota Ibushi (C) [Free] vs. Will Ospreay [CHAOS]

2. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: El Desperado/Yoshinobu Kanemaru (C) [Suzuki-gun] vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO/YOH) [CHAOS] vs. BUSHI/Shingo Takagi [Los Ingobernables de Japon]

3. RPW British Heavyweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii (C) [CHAOS] vs. Zack Sabre Jr. [Suzuki-gun]

4. IWGP Tag Team Championship: Guerillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga/Tanga Roa) (C) [Bullet Club] vs. SANADA/EVIL [Los Ingobernables de Japon] vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson/Nick Jackson) [The Elite]

5. IWGP US Championship: Cody (C) [The Elite] vs. Juice Robinson [Sekigun]

6. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: KUSHIDA (C) [Sekigun] vs. Taiji Ishimori [Bullet Club]

7. Special Singles Match: Kazuchika Okada [CHAOS] vs. Jay White [Bullet Club]

8. IWGP Intercontinental Championship, No DQ Match: Chris Jericho (C) [Free] vs. Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables de Japon]

9. IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega (C) [The Elite] vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi [Sekigun]


Pre-Show gauntlet begins at 11pm PST/2am EST/7am GMT
Main card at 12am PST/3am EST/8am GMT

[Franco Vazquez]

I think it would be a pretty average event.

[RP]

Is Ibushi suppose to win?

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm considering ordering this. Tokyo is not too far behind me here. Watching a live event in the evening could be refreshing.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Meltzer talked like it's going to be impossible to follow Ibushi and Ospreay. Honestly, I can see the Junior Tag being a lot of harmless fun and Ishii and ZSJ being a sleeper for under-card match of the night -- especially if Ishii beats the piss out of ZSJ. I'm not too big on GoD, but The Bucks move around a lot and I like Sanada & EVIL. I'm curious to see Juice Robinson, and while I'm not that big a fan of Cody's work these days, he's far from horrible. They will both be busting ass, no doubt. Then you've got KUSHIDA, who is always awesome and Ishimori, who I am unfamiliar with and your main events.

Honestly, besides a potential lull when it gets to the Heavyweight Tag and possibly Cody and Robinson, this should be a fairly awesome card. But it's also got that thing where it appeals to you the more you think about it, so I think a lot of expectations might be "low" (not super-low, but just a bit reserved), which means a lot of people might be surprised.

[Fignuts]

Ishimori is incredible and the Jr heavyweight match will be a candidate for MOTN.

Speaking of, wrestle kingdom would be a perfect time for a first look at the Jr Heavyweight DLC for fire pro. HINT HINT SPIKE

[Mr. Nerfect]

I heard they had a really good match a year or two back? KUSHIDA won that, apparently, so I kind of expect Ishimori to win this one, which is probably fine, but bums me out because I like KUSHIDA. :lol:

[Mr. Nerfect]

Japanese guys age so gracefully. Ibushi is 36 years old, which is not a bad thing, but he looks early 20's. KUSHIDA is another guy that looks really young but is 35.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Minoru Suzuki is a year older than Triple H but is like 10 years better.

[Mr. Nerfect]

ZSJ probably wins his match, hey? That's a shame, because I kind of want Ishii to eat him. I haven't seen them wrestle each other before, but Ishii is exactly the sort of opponent I want that pristine twat against. I will probably discover strange sexual feelings I have to confront when Ishii beats the piss out of him.

(I accept that ZSJ is talented, by the way -- he just fucking annoys me with his prick features. He's very lanky and looks like he should be a swimmer. It's something that can be used to his advantage.)

[Fignuts]

I think it just adds to his smug bastard heel persona. Anyway, ZSJ deserves a win . He’s been putting in work for a while now.

Assuming Juice beats Cody, I think a program between him and Ishii for the US title could be interesting and yield some great matches. I think their styles would compliment each other really well.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Ishii vs. Robinson does have appeal.

[Fignuts]

They were in the same block in the G-1. Don’t think I saw their match though. Gonna correct that when I get home.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Has Robinson been getting over? It seems like he had a great 2018 where he impressed a lot of people stateside, but how has the interest been in him over in Japan?

[Evil Vito]

Robinson consisitently gets really strong pops and girls especially seem to love him. Pretty sure he’s cleaning up.

[Jordan]

I don't think I will watch live this year. I'll probably just watch tomorrow on watch wrestling.

[Evil Vito]

Booooooo

[Fignuts]

What time does it start?

[Fignuts]

Oh, 3am eastern. I’ll probably stay up for most of it, but not all.

[Evil Vito]

Predictions, confidence pool style.

10 points - Naito. Even if Jericho decides to do some more work with NJPW, I really can't imagine any scenario where Naito isn't getting his win back here to get the IC title back after it's been gone for nearly half a year.

9 points - Juice. Juice and Cody have history going all the way back to Cody's NJPW debut two years ago, and Cody's gotten the best of him. It's time for Juice to get one up on him, especially with no guarantee that AEW and NJPW will have a working relationship immediately.

8 points - Shingo and BUSHI. Their presence in this match makes the whole Junior Tag League feel like it was a waste of time, and if they don't win the belts it was kinda pointless to put them in it in the first place.

7 points - Taiji Ishimori. KUSHIDA doesn't feel like he has anything left to accomplish in the juniors division anymore. Not sure if he'll move up to heavyweights or explore other opportunities, but I see Bone Soldier getting a big win.

6 points - ZSJ. For about a year now I've been wondering if he was going to make a play to usurp Suzuki, and he's the only Suzuki-gun member getting a singles match so a win here would make sense.

5 points - Ibushi. If there was a belt they don't seem shy about passing along frequently, it's the NEVER belt...and Ibushi being a freelancer complicates things slightly. But still, he's so ridiculously popular I don't know they'll end his reign so fast. I could see him maybe dropping it to ZSJ down the line.

4 points - Tanahashi. I've been going back and forth on this one a lot, but the more I think about it the more I think Ace will prevail. Kenny's taken so many shots at NJPW in his build that it seems like Tana's gotta shut him up. Also, the G1 winner has a recent history of blowing it in their title match and I feel like that's gotta end eventually.

3 points - Guerrillas of Destiny. While Shingo/BUSHI probably got put into their match to win, I feel like the soon to be departing Bucks were put here simply to eat a pin for the eventual winner. I could see either of the other teams winning but I think G.O.D get the last laugh on the Elite and LIJ can still lay claim to getting a regular title match down the line.

2 points - CHAOS team to win the gauntlet. Makabe/Yano/Taguchi feel like they were thrown together just to get them on the card. Nagata/Cobb/Finlay is just a random team. The Elite aren't winning it with another guy about to leave. The only other team that I could see winning are Suzuki-gun, but I'll guess they lose and set up a Bullet Club/CHAOS title match for New Year Dash in which Goto or YOSHI-HASHI reveal themselves as the latest CHAOS mole.

1 point - Okada. I think it's a good thing I have the least amount of confidence predicting this match and it might be the one I'm most interested in as a result. It's the only one with a truly well-defined story, and it's honestly a total coin flip to me. On one hand I think White could use the big win more since Okada can always be rebuilt...but it's tough to lay money against Okada so I'll guess him and call it a day.

[Evil Vito]

Oh, 3am eastern. I’ll probably stay up for most of it, but not all.

lol, I'm about to grab a 4 hour nap and hope to marathon through

[Fignuts]

If they go the BC mole route, it has to be Yoshi-hashi. Dude needs something...anything to stand out. He’s good enough in the ring, but he has nothing going on, in any other regard.

Besides Titus O’neiling himself that one time.

[Emperor Smeat]

Very interested to see what happens with the KUSHIDA vs. Ishimori match considering the recent rumors of him possibly leaving for the WWE after this month. Even without the rumors, he likely was going to drop the title anyways since he's just been a placeholder champ after Hiromu got hurt. The rumors just make things a bit more juicier for this match.

Besides Omega, everyone else in The Elite already played their hands on where they are heading off to next. Only real surprise left is if NJPW is willing to partner up with AEW.

[SlickyTrickyDamon]

Does new japan world have a trial?

[Evil Vito]

I can't log on anywhere. What a fucking joke.

[Evil Vito]

Biggest show of the year and their server shits the bed.

[Anybody Thrilla]

I just read that WWE offered Kenny Omega a 23 million dollar deal or something. Dunno how true that is.

[Evil Vito]

God I’d be so sad if Kenny goes to WWE. They’ll have no idea what to do with him, they just want to play keepaway.

[Emperor Smeat]

Gauntlet match was good overall.

[Evil Vito]

Anyway finally got this up on my PC. Not ideal since I wanted to watch on chrome cast but it’s still fucking up any time I try to access on my phone. Better than nothing.

[Emperor Smeat]

I just read that WWE offered Kenny Omega a 23 million dollar deal or something. Dunno how true that is.

There were rumors very recently of WWE breaking their pay system for new contracts and bumping up the offer they made to Omega to the point it made him hesitate on whatever he was planning before.

Depending on how many years its for, he might be looking at close to Cena tier money in the WWE ($4-$6 million per year).

[Anybody Thrilla]

I've only seen Omega doing fuck around work with the Young Bucks in ROH, and he was OK, I guess. Is he really worth all this?

[Evil Vito]

Watched the gauntlet on my PC and then got the Chromecast to work less than a minute before the main card. Woooooooo!!!!!!!

The key seems to be NOT using the link at the top of NJPW World

[Emperor Smeat]

I've only seen Omega doing fuck around work with the Young Bucks in ROH, and he was OK, I guess. Is he really worth all this?

Pretty much considering how much his value shot up the past 2 years and how important he was to NJPW for their US expansion plans and to ROH for helping break records for ticket sales.

[Fignuts]

Fucking nj world saying I need to pay despite my account showing they charged me yesterday. Whatever. Found a stream so it’s all good.

[Franco Vazquez]

Timing is perfect for me but there's not enough star power to pull me towards this event

[Evil Vito]

Fucking nj world saying I need to pay despite my account showing they charged me yesterday. Whatever. Found a stream so it’s all good.

yeah, their site is fucked at the moment

guess it's sorta encouraging that so many people are trying to watch live, but still, gotta sort this shit

[Fignuts]

Ibushi kinda fucked up on the Spanish fly there. Still, fun sequence.

[Franco Vazquez]

Is there any live stream? I would try to watch it but the chances are very less that I am gonna watch the whole show.

[Anybody Thrilla]

Pretty much considering how much his value shot up the past 2 years and how important he was to NJPW for their US expansion plans and to ROH for helping break records for ticket sales.

I guess my question should have been "is he really that good?".

[mhirn3]

This show would be so much better with anyone but Kevin Kelly on play by play

[Fignuts]

wtf ibushi just brained himself. Lucky he didn’t break his neck

[Evil Vito]

Not Ibushi's face!!!

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at Ibushi's face.

[Franco Vazquez]

Kenny should ditch the Elite and come to WWE.

[Fignuts]

This show would be so much better with anyone but Kevin Kelly on play by play

My stream is Japanese commentary. If I had the option I’d probably stick with this. I actually like jap commentators though. So much emotion.

[Fignuts]

I was worried about these guys fighting for this belt, but they’re beating the shit out of each other. Proper NEVER title match.

[Franco Vazquez]

A pretty average show till now.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ibushi vs Ospreay was really great.

Dam, Ibushi got legit KOed

[Evil Vito]

Shit, was not expecting Ospreay to win it

Really good opener

[Fignuts]

Good fight.

Ibushi losing so early into his reign could indicate where he’s headed. Then again it is the never title so who knows

[Evil Vito]

I think people were wondering if Kota and Will were gonna have a flippy match, instead it was a proper NEVER Title match with them beating the shit out of each other

[Fignuts]

Pulling for rappongi but LIJ are probably winning this. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Actually have a soft spot for Shingo. Saw him live very early in his career against curry man.

[Fignuts]

Fucking BUSHI appropriating our culture

[Fignuts]

Really like Desperados theme

[Triple A]

I guess my question should have been "is he really that good?".

I think he is amazing and every match I've seen by him has been freaking sweet and very fun to watch and it makes WWE matches look like complete garbage shit

If he goes to WWE he will just have to work their shitty style though!!!

[Fignuts]

Fuuuuuck that chop

[Fignuts]

Take your merch off BUSHI, this is a fucking title match.

[mhirn3]

My stream is Japanese commentary. If I had the option I’d probably stick with this. I actually like jap commentators though. So much emotion.

I think that’s my issue. He just says weird thing and at times seems bored

[Fignuts]

I guess my question should have been "is he really that good?".

Well he made Dave Meltzer forget how numbers work with his 7/5 star match ratings for omega vs Olaf’s matches

[Evil Vito]

BUSHI is great fun

LIJ going over seemed likely

[Fignuts]

Well that was quick.

[Evil Vito]

I think Shingo's going to move up to heavyweight pretty quickly

[Fignuts]

Jr tag run has been a long time coming for LIJ. Hiromu was always embroiled in singles stuff until he, ya know.

[Evil Vito]

ZSJ/Ishii could be an under the radar MOTN candidate

[Fignuts]

Fuck yeah, here we go.

[Fignuts]

Also, love NJPW.

No stupid bullshit. Just right into the next match.

[Emperor Smeat]

Feels a bit weird there is no ROH title match on this year's card but then again those matches and the NWA title matches before usually got the weakest reactions at Wrestle Kingdom in recent years.

At least with this RPW title match, it has NJPW guys involved so the crowd should be really hot for it.

[Fignuts]

Maybe I’ll just stay up for everything. I can get by on 4 hours of sleep, right?

[Anybody Thrilla]

Maybe I’ll just stay up for everything. I can get by on 4 hours of sleep, right?

Easily.

[Evil Vito]

4 or so hours of sleep is what I got, I usually don't go to bed til midnight but forced myself to sleep at like 9. I'll probably hit a wall at lunchtime and have a busy agenda at work today but fuck it

[Fignuts]

PROTIP: If you like guys like Ishii and Goto, go watch yourself some early 00’s Yoshihiro Takayama matches.

[Anybody Thrilla]

You can get by on no sleep if you really need to. 4 hours can be lovely sometimes.

[Evil Vito]

Chris Roberts, a ref for RevPro, is reffing the British title match. Nice touch.

[Anybody Thrilla]

I really think NJPW sounds like a lot of fun, but I have a hard enough time keeping up with all of the other wrestling I already watch.

[Fignuts]

Fucking awesome guillotine counter.

[Fignuts]

I really think NJPW sounds like a lot of fun, but I have a hard enough time keeping up with all of the other wrestling I already watch.

What other wrestling do you watch besides WWE?

[Fignuts]

That sequence was fucking awesome

[Evil Vito]

That match rocked

[Fignuts]

Great match. Fantastic ending stretch.

[Emperor Smeat]

Ishii vs Sabre was amazing.

Started to laugh a bit when the ref just kept saying "Ishii" for like a minute or two straight.

[Evil Vito]

The convoluted names of ZSJ's finishers are amazing. Like his Octopus hold is officially called "Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All To Happiness."

[slik]

ZSJ is amazing

[slik]

I'm very intrigued at NJPW coming to Dallas in July.

[Fignuts]

Just one wrestle kingdom I would like to see a tag title match that isn’t a 3-way or 4-way. Every year with this. Both tag title matches.

[Fignuts]

The convoluted names of ZSJ's finishers are amazing. Like his Octopus hold is officially called "Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All To Happiness."

Without a shadow of a doubt that is his own little rib on the commentators, and I love it.

[Fignuts]

Sanada looks like an Asian Viking from the year 3029.

[Evil Vito]

Just one wrestle kingdom I would like to see a tag title match that isn’t a 3-way or 4-way. Every year with this. Both tag title matches.

Both of last year's tag title matches were straight up. R3k/Bucks and LIJ/KES. But they offset that with a four-way junior singles title match.

They can't help themselves but pull a WWE at WM to get everyone onto the show.

[Evil Vito]

Every time I see Jado now I forget who he is

[Fignuts]

Cool masks

[Triple A]

shit wanted to watch ZSJ match... was gonna start watching in a lil...

[Fignuts]

Fucking Rama forgot his war paint. Now I want him to lose.

[Emperor Smeat]

The convoluted names of ZSJ's finishers are amazing. Like his Octopus hold is officially called "Hurrah! Another Year, Surely This One Will Be Better Than the Last; The Inexorable March of Progress Will Lead Us All To Happiness."

His holds have a pretty funny story attached to them in NJPW.

At one point, NJPW officials started to think he was BSing them with all the random names he was calling his moves till he showed them a tape of his Orienteering with Napalm Death move being announced in a different promotion.

[slik]

Love the entrance for EVIL

ZSJ and Sanada are my two favorites in NJPW

[Fignuts]

Clever spot

[slik]

I really dig the camera work/look of the dome

[Fignuts]

oof awful camera cut

[Fignuts]

Generally NJPW has excellent camera work, but when they do fuck up it’s a doozy

[Fignuts]

Definitely nice to watch the action without the camera violently shaking every 10 seconds tho

[Fignuts]

lol at the ref giving gedo his kendo stick back

[Evil Vito]

Wow, every title might actually change hands tonight

[Emperor Smeat]

IWGP Tag title match was really good.

Wouldn't be surprised if all the belts changed hands tonight.

[Evil Vito]

BRANDIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

*bows in worship*

[Fignuts]

I know Cody isn’t that popular around here but I really enjoy his classic, shit eating grin wearing, heel asshole persona. Adds more diversity to an already diverse roster.

[Fignuts]

lol would have been amazing if Brandi went minoru Suzuki on a young boy, on her way out.

[Fignuts]

Finisher swapping. Nice.

[slik]

Jacksonville Jaguars themed fear for Brandi and Cody

[Evil Vito]

That match wasn't bad but clearly the worst of the night. But really, I think it was meant to be a breather match since they don't do intermissions anymore.

[slik]

Who said Cody wasn't popular around here?

[Fignuts]

Eh. Kind of disappointing. Both guys have had much better matches this year.

[Evil Vito]

The whole point of that match was for Juice to get his revenge, and they pretty much killed Cody dead since we don't know when or if AEW will do business with New Japan

[Emperor Smeat]

US title match was decent. Feels like the card is breezing by a bit too fast.


I know Cody isn’t that popular around here but I really enjoy his classic, shit eating grin wearing, heel asshole persona. Adds more diversity to an already diverse roster.
Yeah his character work is easily his best aspect as a wrestler.

[Fignuts]

Possible match of the night right here.

[Evil Vito]

Asian Nicholas!

[Fignuts]

Oh god that is horrifying

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Callis' "they just blew that kid up" line.

[Fignuts]

Lol doc brownuuuu

[Evil Vito]

KUSHIDA's theme is boss

[Fignuts]

That might have been one of the best entrances I’ve ever seen

[Fignuts]

Really hope Kushiro doesn’t go to wwe. They won’t have a clue.

[mhirn3]

LOVE LOVE LOVE that Kushida entrance

[Fignuts]

US title match was decent. Feels like the card is breezing by a bit too fast.



Yeah his character work is easily his best aspect as a wrestler.

I’m thinking omega vs tana is gonna go close to an hour

[slik]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="und" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NJWK13?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NJWK13</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NJPW?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NJPW</a> <a href="https://t.co/l5wiQEVUEw">pic.twitter.com/l5wiQEVUEw</a></p>&mdash; Italo Santana ���� (@BulletClubIta) <a href="https://twitter.com/BulletClubIta/status/1081125221367721984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2019</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Fignuts]

lol great ref spot

[Evil Vito]

Bye bye KUSHIDA :(

[Fignuts]

Another really good match

[Emperor Smeat]

Ishimori vs. KUSHIDA was good.

Guess that's going to fuel the KUSHIDA leaving rumors even more now.

[Evil Vito]

6-for-6 with title changes, and the IC title changing hands is obvious.

Main event now seems very much in question

[Triple A]

Keep mixing up Jay White with Jay Lethal

Is Jay White "good"

[Evil Vito]

Keep mixing up Jay White with Jay Lethal

Is Jay White "good"

He's improved leaps and bounds from where he was this time last year

[Fignuts]

I think Okada gets his revenge here. Jay White has plenty of time. No need to give him the win over the guy just yet.

[Fignuts]

Keep mixing up Jay White with Jay Lethal

Is Jay White "good"

He’s very good, yes.

[Emperor Smeat]

Switchblade's white attire looks pretty cool.

[Fignuts]

Just another update I’m gonna have to make in fire pro

[slik]

Feel like a lot of these guys would not do well in WWE tbh

They are great but WWE won't "get" them, at all

[Fignuts]

Classic gear. Classic version of rainmaker theme. Yeah, he’s winning this.

[slik]

Hope Kenny, Ibushi, Kushida, etc stay away

but we'll see what happens

[Evil Vito]

old school Okada is back

[Fignuts]

Oh snap, back to trunks he’s super cereal

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at the big pop Okada got for ripping off his pants.

His old look is way better than the Party Boy look he had last year

[Fignuts]

Honestly this wasn’t one of the matches I was really excited for but okada bringing back the classics has me instantly hyped.

[mhirn3]

Old Okada is back!

[Fignuts]

Crowd is hot for this one

[Fignuts]

Plaza has a great elbow drop

[Triple A]

This is cool... Camera work, atmosphere, etc...

[Franco Vazquez]

Wait, So this PPV didn't have any women's matches? Then why people hate on WWE for going to Saudi for PPVs? How is this any different than GRR or CJ?

[Triple A]

oh shit

That was sweet though

[Evil Vito]

OH FUCK, WOW

did not expect that finish

[Emperor Smeat]

:eek: White actually won

[Fignuts]

Wowwwwwwwwww

[mhirn3]

Didn’t see that finish coming. Maybe Jay gets the belt tomorrow?

[Evil Vito]

I think whoever walks out of this main event is losing the belt to White by Dominion

[Emperor Smeat]

Wonder if Jericho instantly regrets making this a No DQ match.

[Fignuts]

Oof that piledriver looked brutal

[Fignuts]

Naoto channeling his inner yano

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at that DDT onto the table.

[Triple A]

Don Callis is great

[Fignuts]

They really need bigger tables.

[Emperor Smeat]

The bell spot was pretty funny

[Fignuts]

lol at Jericho ringing the bell

[Fignuts]

Damn that lionsault had some distance

[Fignuts]

Great counter into the walls

[Fignuts]

This match is really fucking good.

[Fignuts]

Best code breaker sell I’ve ever seen.

[Evil Vito]

I had no emotional investment going into this match since it felt like a foregone conclusion, but god damn it's been good. Way better than their first encounter.

[Triple A]

Really enjoying everything I've seen... (started with Ishimori vs. Kushida)

[Emperor Smeat]

:lol: at Naito chucking the belt out of the ring.

Jericho vs Naito was amazing.

[Evil Vito]

lol @ the crowd being way into Naito but still booing him hucking the IC title away

great fucking match

[Fignuts]

That was the best match Jericho has had since joining NJPW. Best match he’s had in years.

[Triple A]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/IAmJericho?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@IAmJericho</a> SPIKES Naito! Unreal! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njwk13?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njwk13</a><br><br>➡️ <a href="https://t.co/8n90d75Nfk">https://t.co/8n90d75Nfk</a> <a href="https://t.co/RxmwhZ979i">pic.twitter.com/RxmwhZ979i</a></p>&mdash; TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) <a href="https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1081138320799866880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Fignuts]

Oh fuck I had to switch streams and it’s english commentary.

[Fignuts]

Hope Kenny doesn’t come out in something stupid looking

[Fignuts]

OMG they’re using the Undertale promo

[Fignuts]

FUCKING UNDERTALE IS AT WRESTLE KINGDOM

[Emperor Smeat]

Pretty cool gear by Omega. A literal one winged angel.

[Triple A]

damn reading the results of the matches I missed... Ospreay vs. Ibushi seems freaking sweet... gonna prob rewatch this

[Fignuts]

Who is this fucking guy on commentary with Kevin Kelley and Callis? He’s fucking awful

[Triple A]

Who is this fucking guy on commentary with Kevin Kelley and Callis? He’s fucking awful

lol was gonna say... Doesn't fit in at all... Keep thinking "who is this guy..." Thought he was one of the regular guys on commentary

[Fignuts]

I think he’s made brief appearances before to translate stuff, buts he’s never been a regular. For obvious fucking reasons

[Evil Vito]

Who is this fucking guy on commentary with Kevin Kelley and Callis? He’s fucking awful

Chris Charlton. He's a New Japan historian but is best served when he only chimes in occasionally for context. He's talked a bit too much already this match.

[Fignuts]

Damn they’re knocking the shit out of each other

[mhirn3]

Chris Charlton. He's a New Japan historian but is best served when he only chimes in occasionally for context. He's talked a bit too much already this match.

He’s talked far too much the whole show. They kept focusing too much on the tag teams records earlier I thought

[Fignuts]

Call is laying it on a bit thick. Original stream is back up so back to jap commentary

[Emperor Smeat]

Ouch at that thud sound from Omega's dive to the outside

[Emperor Smeat]

A few inches more to the side on the ramp and Omega could have seriously messed up his back like Rick Rude did in Japan that caused him to retire.

[Triple A]

Damn, that knee spot seemed dangerous........

[Evil Vito]

That Dragon Screw looked hellacious

[Evil Vito]

Callis is laying it on way too thick

[Emperor Smeat]

Nice of Kenny to help Tana back into the ring instead of taking a cheap count out win. Going to look like a dumbass if he loses afterwards though.

[Triple A]

Omega is incredible , , ,

Everything is so intense... amazing...

[Sixx]

Did Minoru Suzuki get pinned?

[Triple A]

oh shit @ one winged angel reversal

Tanahashi's face looked like it was an inch off the mat

[Franco Vazquez]

Why should Kenny join his friends in AEW and not WWE? They don't owe him anything and after few years they wouldn't even care about him. He shouldn't let emotions come in between his career. He's at top of his career right now and WWE can make him a bonafide superstar.

[Triple A]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Reverse Rana! <a href="https://twitter.com/tanahashi1_100?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@tanahashi1_100</a> counters out of the One Winged Angel! <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/njwk13?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#njwk13</a><br><br>➡️ <a href="https://t.co/8n90d75Nfk">https://t.co/8n90d75Nfk</a> <a href="https://t.co/jv6qsG6Zos">pic.twitter.com/jv6qsG6Zos</a></p>&mdash; TDE Wrestling (@totaldivaseps) <a href="https://twitter.com/totaldivaseps/status/1081154400419282944?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 4, 2019</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[Triple A]

omg

@ top rope dragon suplex

[Evil Vito]

Hottttttttttt match

[Sixx]

Did Minoru Suzuki get pinned?

[Evil Vito]

Wow, they really did change all the titles

[Emperor Smeat]

Main event was really great and so was Wrestle Kingdom overall.

Also the best match Omega has had since he won the belt.

[mhirn3]

Why?

[Evil Vito]

Pretty sure Tana's just going to get one last "thank you" reign and he's gonna transition it over to Switchblade

[Sixx]

Fuck you, guys.

[Fignuts]

Just want to take a moment to thank you guys for staying on topic and not taking any of Franco’s bait. We did it you guys.

[Triple A]

Fuck you, guys.

idk dude sry!

[Evil Vito]

No, Davey Boy Smith Jr got pinned

[Evil Vito]

Just want to take a moment to thank you guys for staying on topic and not taking any of Franco’s bait. We did it you guys.

Gertner may have quit TPWW forever but his sock is still putting the work in

[Evil Vito]

This show was like an hour shorter than last year and I think it actually helped.

[Fignuts]

This show was like an hour shorter than last year and I think it actually helped.

I dunno. A few of those undercard matches could have used a few extra minutes.

[Evil Vito]

I dunno. A few of those undercard matches could have used a few extra minutes.

I'd have given some more time to Bone Soldier/KUSHIDA but wasn't too bothered with the rest.

[Evil Vito]

It is amazing how 5 hours of NJPW breezes by while 5 hours of WWE sounds like a fate worse than death

[Jordan]

Watching now. The opener is insane. This match.

[Jordan]

I do wish that they'd have ended with the knockout blow instead of a storm breaker, but that was match was TNT.

[Jordan]

Man Shingo is MUCH welcomed to NJPW. I haven't seen him work here yet and he is so good for this company.

[Jordan]

ZSJ is such a paradox. Truly one of the most fun wrestlers to watch with probably the most confusing physique in the game. Dude looks like an erotica wrestler but damn his matches are good.

[GD]

I haven't read any spoilers yet. Khusida's entrance was amusing.

[Innovator]

Okada’s thighs got one of the loudest pops of the night

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm watching Okada vs. Jay White now. Jay White is boring. Looks way out of place.

[Mr. Nerfect]

The commentary is really bad. Not WWE-style at least, but just bad.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Okada is so good.

[Mr. Nerfect]

It feels like the crowd is dead whenever Jay White does anything. It's not that he's bad or anything. He's just boring.

Lol, he just won. I had a feeling he would. Wouldn't surprise me if he wins the IWGP Title honestly.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Lol, Ospreay vs. Ibushi. I was okay with the start of this match, but Ibushi just went for a moonsault and Ospreay had already moved onto the apron and commentary is just like "Ibushi had his back turned so he couldn't see." Fucking hell.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I'm tapping on this match. Ospreay isn't doing it for me. Ibushi is acting like a parody of himself.

[Mr. Nerfect]

British Heavyweight Title is a nice belt.

[Mr. Nerfect]

ZSJ reminds me of one of the guys from The In-Betweeners.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Jesus Christ, why would someone with the frame of ZSJ want Ishii to hit him?

[Mr. Nerfect]

I haven't seen ZSJ in a long time, but this isn't doing it for me. Just no-sold a superplex. It don't get why a guy whose gimmick is that his technical stuff could really hurt you completely blows away the realism of a match. He telegraphs what he's doing too much too. He leans way too much into things.

This is a shame, because this is the match I was looking forward to the most, because I fucking love what I've seen from Ishii.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yeah, tapping out of this match too.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Going to watch Omega vs. Tanahashi. Fucking hell, Tanahashi just looks like a star.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Omega is not nearly as annoying as he was. He's matured heaps, you can tell.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I've noticed that they're doing a lot of "near falls" for drama that are kind of fucked up. Like the ref knows not to count so they stay in it for what should be a shoot three but it's not a pin. Like it's happened in ZSJ vs. Ishii, Okada vs. White and Omega vs. Tanahashi. I didn't get far enough into Ibushi vs. Ospreay to see if it happened in that too.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Wasn't Tanahashi supposed to be really hurt or something? You can't fucking tell.

[Evil Vito]

Omega is not nearly as annoying as he was. He's matured heaps, you can tell.

Omega definitely was way more serious in this one.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Yeah, definitely. Tanahashi's hair has more star power than most people in wrestling put together.

[Mr. Nerfect]

I like how New Japan has its two greatest champions in kayfabe on their current roster. I also didn't realize that since they've done the championship certificate from the G1 that no one had ever won. I knew that there was a streak of people losing, but I had no clue that no one had ever done it.

[Mr. Nerfect]

Oh, I just saw that they are running two Tokyo Dome shows on consecutive nights in 2020. That's pretty huge. They certainly have the roster size for that. They've also got relationships they can mine. If deals with ROH, AEW and Rev Pro are all running, I can see all their belts being defended. It's eventually the way I see WrestleMania going.

[Evil Vito]

CMLL too. I've heard that their relationship with ROH is pretty rocky at this point but I do see AEW striking a deal with them eventually.

[Ol Dirty Dastard]

Wanted to read what was going on in here but was assaulted by a bunch of noid posts.

[Evil Vito]

I'm sure the payday was worth it, but Hangman and Scurll flew halfway around the world to wrestle in a gauntlet for a few minutes and not be booked on New Years Dash lol

[Emperor Smeat]

CMLL too. I've heard that their relationship with ROH is pretty rocky at this point but I do see AEW striking a deal with them eventually.

The Elite (and Bullet Club) pretty much kept ROH relevant to NJPW considering ROH has been benefiting way more from their partnership. Only reason ROH haven't hit a NWA-level of uselessness yet is due to having a better roster to work with for NJPW.

Could see NJPW ditch ROH for AEW or someone else in a few years depending on how their US expansion pans out and if AEW becomes successful.

[Evil Vito]

I want ROH and NJPW to work together just long enough for PCO to get a match in Tokyo

[Mr. Nerfect]

The MSG deal is pretty huge for New Japan, and that was largely secured thanks to Sinclair.

[Evil Vito]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/oF8KCuEVH30" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Kazuchika Okada's legs will bring about world peace

[Jordan]

With NJPW losing so many guys to AEW, I wonder who will get the push to fill the void? Looks like Will Ospreay will be the top Gaijin tailed by Jay White as a heel. Who can replace the bucks? Nobody. I hope they shove Jeff Cobb into the mix. He's old school and perfect for NJPW. Will we get PCO vs Ishii and Suzuki?!?

[Jordan]

NJPW is doing the right thing by staying with ROH over AEW (at this time at least). ROH is a solid partner with good talent to pluck from. ROH has made very smart signings the last few months.

[Simple Fan]

Roppongi 3K will replace the Young Bucks if they stay together.

[slik]

I wonder if ZSJ will get a bigger push

[Jordan]

Ah yeah that does seem likely.