NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 Review

As I sit in my office and look at the time, I see that it’s 12:54am. The date is January 4th. Those two things put together can only mean one thing…

It’s Wrestle Kingdom time!

New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show of the year is the 34th “January 4” event at the legendary Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, and it is the 19th under the Wrestle Kingdom moniker. It has become an annual tradition for me to sit and watch the show at ungodly hours, no matter where in the United States I have called home at the time, and this year is no different.

It looks like we have another fun show on our hands. We will be seeing nine matches, seven of which feature at least one title on the line. Let’s not waste a single second more than we need to. Here we go!

Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kushida & Kevin Knight) vs Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) vs Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) vs Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira) – Four-Way Tokyo Terror Ladder Match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles

That was a lot to type. I have a funny feeling that this will end up being quite the action packed match. Just a hunch. Thank goodness I don’t have to cover this with play-by-play.

We’re no more than three or four minutes into the match, and I’ve already seen two weapon strikes that didn’t even anywhere remotely close to connecting. Yikes.

The action is, indeed, non-stop. Unfortunately, it’s a mix of exciting high-flying action and the type of “action” that looks like people doing a practice walkthrough. Both members of the Bullet Club War Dogs have been caught oh-so-graciously positioning themselves atop some plunder (Connors on a ladder, Moloney on a table) for their opponent to perform offense on.

Well… that sure was a thing that happened. Kosei Fujita pulls the titles down, and the Ichiban Sweet Boys are the brand new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. It is their first reign as champs, although Eagles held the titles with Tiger Mask for a few months to close out 2021 and open up 2022.

The match was just as I stated earlier… for every fun spot or two that took place, there was a terrible looking spot that was either in slow motion, completely missed altogether, or saw someone unnaturally get into position for their opponent. The good outweighed the bad, ultimately, so I’ll go with 3 Stars, but man, that was a disappointment. Drilla Moloney, specifically, looked like he didn’t give one fuck about putting on a good match.

Mayu Iwatani vs AZM – IWGP Women’s Title Match

If this was taking place on a Stardom show or somewhere like that, I would be expecting one type of match. The fact that it’s taking place at Wrestle Kingdom, where there isn’t a ton of women’s history, makes me a bit curious. Two years ago, everyone was hyped to see Kairi and Tam Nakano face off for this same title, and the match didn’t even last six minutes. The year before, a Stardom tag match didn’t crack the ten-minute mark. I would love to see this get 15+ minutes to work with, but I’m not confident about that happening.

They certainly aren’t wrestling like they’re going to be working for 15 minutes, that’s for sure. They’ve been beating the hell out of each other from the opening bell.

Hey, we’ve officially reached the five-minute mark!

Do you like suplexes? This match would be something you’d be interested in. They were throwing each other all over the place for a multiple-minute stretch to close things out. I’m not 100% sure, but I don’t believe they hit the ten-minute mark, but at least they packed a ton into the time they were given. 3.5 Stars. Mayu has now been the IWGP Women’s Champion for 622 days and counting. Lots of those types of reigns these days, it seems.

Ren Narita vs Ryohei Oiwa vs Jeff Cobb vs El Phantasmo – Four-Way Match for the IWGP World Television Title

Cobb and Oiwa are starting things off like two bulls fighting. They’re going back-and-forth with power moves, and when they aren’t hitting each other, they’re disposing of their opponents and then going back to fighting.

Jeff Cobb with a Tope Con Hilo over the top rope and to the outside! This dude is insane. There’s no logical reason a guy like him should be able to pull something like that off.

See, now THIS is what I want to see when I watch a show like Wrestle Kingdom. That was a ton of fun to watch. All four men played their parts to near-perfection. Cobb and Oiwa looked like monsters. Phantasmo was flying all over the place. Narita was the cowardly heel trying to retain his title by any means. In the end, Phantasmo was able to get the win, earning the Television Title for the first time in his career. Good stuff overall. 4 Stars

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Evil – Lumberjack Match (Tanahashi’s career vs Evil’s hair on the line)

I’m not expecting a ton out of this one. Tanahashi is clearly at the tail end of his career, and Evil matches are nothing but outside interference and shenaniganery. Yes, this is a Lumberjack Match, but my point remains… if Evil is involved, I’m not preparing myself for a technical classic.

It’s still cool to see Dick Togo around. The former member of Kai En Tai with the likes of Taka Michinoku, Sho Funaki, and Men’s Teioh is 55, but he still looks like he’s ready for a bar fight at any given time. I’ll have to watch Togo, Taka, and Terry Boy (Teioh) taking on The Great Sasuke, Gran Hamada, and Gran Naniwa from ECW’s Barely Legal 1997 again soon. That match was a blast.

Sure enough, there is House Of Torture interference at every possible turn here. It’s a Lumberjack, so of course, Tanahashi is getting beaten up by the heels whenever he’s outside of the ring, but they’re also coming in to attack him, and ref bumps have allowed more time for the group to attack.

Thank goodness for the love that NJPW fans have for Tanahashi. They were invested in this because of his inclusion, not wanting to see his career come to an end. Without that crowd connection, this would’ve been a really bad match. As it is, the match was merely average at best. 2.5 Stars. Tanahashi wins and his career will continue.

After the match, the House Of Torture continues their attack, only to be chased off by Katsuyori Shibata to a good pop. Shibata challenges Tanahashi to a match for tomorrow’s Wrestle Dynasty show, and Tanahashi accepts. That will be the first time they’ve shared a ring since 2016, and the first time they’ve faced each other since 2015. Big news there.

Shingo Takagi vs Konosuke Takeshita – Winner Takes All Match for the NEVER Openweight Title (Takagi) and the AEW International Title (Takeshita)

As the great philosopher James William Ross says… business is about to pick up. If you’re a reader of my columns, you know that Shingo is one of my all-time favorites, and also that Takeshita is someone I’ve called one of the best in the world today. I’m hyped for this one.

Two of the hardest-hitting wrestlers in the business today doing just that… hitting hard. HARD. All this, and the “reward” for the winner is getting to face Tomohiro Ishii tomorrow at Wrestle Dynasty. Poor bastards.

Whenever one of them gets an opening and a little bit of momentum, the other one shuts it down right away. This is as even as it gets early on.

That even battle continued on until the end. There was never a stretch where either man had the advantage for too long. I love matches like that. Ultimately, Takeshita picks up the win, and is now a double champion. 4.25 Stars. Tons of physicality, stiff strikes, and brutal suplexes. Lots to enjoy here.

Douki vs El Desperado – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match

The title matches just keep on coming.

I… I didn’t even get to type anything. After a Douki Bomb to the outside, Douki appears to have either broken his arm or dislocated his elbow upon landing. The match has been called, and El Desperado becomes the new champion as a result of the stoppage. That’s a damn shame. The match was starting to pick up when the injury took place. Thoughts out to Douki. I’m not going to rate that, as it wasn’t much of a match before it needed to be stopped.

David Finlay vs Yota Tsuji – IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Match

Tsuji saw himself really become a top contender in 2024, and now, he’s competing for one of New Japan’s top titles in a marquee Tokyo Dome match. It has been fun to watch his journey.

You know, Tsuji might have the biggest, whitest teeth in the history of professional wrestling. It really is amazing. That has nothing to do with the match itself, obviously. I’m just making an observation.

Man, David Finlay has come a long way as an in-ring performer. Not that he was ever bad, but he has been putting a lot of the pieces together. He’s physical, aggressive, and always looking for the kill shot in his matches. It makes for entertaining work.

Sure enough, Finlay has looked like a monster so far. He has been giving Tsuji quite the beating, but Tsuji, to his credit, continues to fight back.

Things are getting exciting now. Tsuji is riding a wave of momentum and is back on the offensive, but they’re both hitting each other with some stiff shots left and right.

Tsuji wins! He took the aforementioned wave of momentum, and it carried him to the victory. A year after making his Tokyo Dome debut, he is the brand new IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. His journey continues on. 4 Stars. Really good work from both men.

Tetsuya Naito vs Hiromu Takahashi

After years as Los Ingobernables de Japon teammates, this is the first time that these two have faced each other in singles competition. This is a major deal for longtime fans of New Japan. Naito is one of the best heavyweight wrestlers in New Japan over the last decade-plus, and Takahashi is one of the best junior heavyweight wrestlers in New Japan over the last decade-plus.

These two know each other so well and it shows in the early stages of the match with lots of counters and reversals.

I dig the drama. Lots of “student vs teacher” vibes. They were attempting each other’s moves, and eventually, it was Naito that came out victorious. 3.5 Stars. Lots to like, even though the match didn’t quite reach “great” levels.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Shota Umino – IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match

Main event time.

Shota Umino is on an interesting stretch right now. He’s a super duper babyface that is finding himself getting booed more and more by the New Japan crowds. They seem tired of his act and the way he is being pushed. It’s a tale as old as time in the world of pro wrestling.

This is the first Wrestle Kingdom show not to feature Kazuchika Okada, Tetsuya Naito, Hiroshi Tanahashi since 2010, when Shinsuke Nakamura defended the IWGP Heavyweight Title against Yoshihiro Takayama. It’s only the third overall Wrestle Kingdom main event not to feature any of those names. That’s a crazy stat.

Legendary Referee Red Shoes Unno is calling this match. Red Shoes Unno’s son is… Shota Umino. Seems like it’s a bit of a conflict of interest, no? It will be interesting to see if that comes into play at all.

The more Umino is on offense, the more we’re starting to hear the anti-Shota fans in the crowd making noise. It hasn’t gotten rowdy yet, but the fans are clearly showing that they aren’t in support of the challenger nonetheless.

Whenever I watch a ZSJ match, there are at least five or six times where I wince as I watch him twist his opponent into a pretzel. Wrestling him looks like an absolute nightmare.

Shota powers out of a submission after having it locked in for a lengthy period of time, and the crowd showers him in boos. They are really growing sick of him.

Ooooh, drama! Shota is stomping on ZSJ, who is almost unresponsive on the ring apron, as the crowd boos even harder. As Red Shoes tries to break it up, Shota shoves his father to the mat, drawing even more heel heat. This is fun.

In one of the longest matches in Wrestle Kingdom history, ZSJ picks up the win in just under 44 minutes, retaining his title. This was a ride. In a normal situation, this would’ve been a star-making performance for Umino. He was booked to have the fighting spirit that all Japanese legends require, fighting back from a hellacious beating time and time and time and time again. Unfortunately, this wasn’t a normal situation. Every time Shota fought back, the crowd turned on him more and more. 4 Stars, and I think the drama involving the crowd reactions helped take it to that point. It’s only a matter of time before Shota is a full-fledged heel, but for now, his face run continues.

A very interesting show. Lots to like, lots to tolerate, and an unfortunate injury. Not the best Wrestle Kingdom I’ve ever seen, but it still gets a recommendation from me if you’re interested in watching.

I’m not 100% sure that I’ll be back in less than 16 hours for Wrestle Dynasty, but I’m going to try my best. If anything, I might just watch the show a little late and do my replay without checking the results ahead of time. We’ll see, I guess.