Jordan’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 Review

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 Review

New Japan Rumble

I already know this’ll be fun with Michael Elgin making his surprise return! Corino and Kelly poking fun at BONE SOLDIER was very funny. The crowd popped big for Cheeseburger which was cool and then there was a HUGE ovation for Jushin Thunder Liger. Taguchi using his ass was extremely annoying as always but I swear to god that was like the only offensive move he was using. Woah Hiro Saito! Woah Scott Norton! Having Tenzan, Cheeseburger, Scott Norton, Saito, and Elgin all in the same ring at the same time was one of the weirdest sights I’ve ever seen. I figured Elgin would win once he came out and I’m happy he did! Great to have Big Mike back. Fun match but it wasn’t anything special wrestling-wise at all.

Rating: **1/2

Tiger Mask W vs. Tiger The Dark

So we’ve got Ibushi under the Tiger Mask W mask and ACH under the Tiger The Dark mask so this really is a dream match come to life but in a different way. Exciting fast paced action in the early goings. I could’ve sworn Tiger The Dark had him after that Tombstone, great near fall. Tiger Mask W wins with the Golden Star Bomb in a rather short but pretty fun match for what it was.

Rating: ***

The Young Bucks vs. Roppongi Vice for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship

I love the Bucks jackets with the ROH, NJPW, and PWG logos on the back since those are the promotions they hold tag belts in. The Bucks decide to leave early and RPG Vice goes after them only to get SUPERKIIIIIIICKED. It was a close call there as it looked like RPG Vice could possibly get counted out within the first 2 minutes which would’ve sucked. The Bucks have complete control early on. Corino not shouting and instead quietly saying “Superkiiiiiick” is bothering me. A young boy gets superkicked at ringside which was very funny. The reversal of the Strong Zero was incredible and I don’t even know how to begin to explain it. Top rope German Suplex from Berreta! This is fun. Berreta misses a dive over the top rope and lands with a thud! My god, that was brutal to watch. Romero keeps kicking out of the Bucks big moves. They go for More Bang for Your Buck when out of nowhere Berreta is back in it and Romero gets the win out of nowhere! That was a shocker, I did not expect RPG Vice to walk out as Tag Champs. Solid match but the finish was too sudden.

Rating: ***1/2

Kojima, Ricochet, and Finlay vs. CHAOS vs. LIJ vs. Bullet Club in a Gauntlet Match for the NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championship

Bad Luck Fale is in this match so hopefully he isn’t in there too much. The exchanges between Page and Ospreay were fun. Bullet Club advances which sucks because now we have to see more of Fale. I’d rather get more Jado than Fale and I wanted to watch Ospreay wrestle more. My boys LIJ are in there now and I will be livid if BC beat them. SANADA shoves Yujiro into the referee knocking him down. BUSHI knocks down Fale with a suicide dive which was awesome. Now SANADA and EVIL use chairs against Yujiro and SANADA wakes up the ref and locks Yujiro in the Skull End and thank god LIJ advances! It would be great if LIJ could walk away with the 6 Man Titles, the Jr. Heavyweight Title, and the IC Title. Really good encounter between these two great teams and an exciting finishing sequence. Super happy EVIL, BUSHI, and SANADA got the win.

Rating: ***1/4

Cody vs. Juice Robinson

I’m grinning from ear to ear watching Cody make his entrance. It’s surreal seeing him walk out for a match at Wrestle Kingdom and hearing Kingdom over the loud speakers. Really nice spot at the beginning as Cody sprung off the top rope to the outside of the ring for a dive but was caught by Juice who hit an overhead belly to belly. It’s no secret I really don’t like Juice, but if happy for him here getting this big of a match because you can tell how happy he is. We missed it live because they were showing us a replay but Juice hit a vicious Cannonball on Cody into the guardrail. Cody targets the knee and begins underestimating Juice as Juice says “Come on motherfucker!” Cody continues to target the leg of Juice and locks in an Indian Deathlock variation and I could’ve sworn Juice was gonna tap. Cody hits a nasty rope hung DDT for a VERY close near fall. I’m loving this, really solid action here. Cody ends up winning with the Cross Rhodes. Great effort by both men. The leg work was magnificent. A lot better than I was expecting.

Rating: ***1/4

Kyle O’Reilly vs. Adam Cole for the ROH World Championship

What these two do best when they wrestle each other is tell an awesome story. The back and forth in this match is insane. Fantastic strikes by both men, especially Kyle. When Cole hit him with the Last Shot I was so worried we were about to get an anticlimactic finish in the ROH Championship Match for the second year in a row. Corino not shouting “Cooooole!” and instead quietly saying it is bothering the fuck out of me. I take back my prior statement, this was another anticlimactic finish. Decent match but the finish ruined it just like last years title match. I predicted Cole to win and it’s awesome that he’s a 3x champ, but that doesn’t make up for the weird finish.

Rating: **3/4

Guerrilla’s of Destiny vs. GBH (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Toru Yano

This was A LOT more exciting than I expected this to be. This was probably the match I had the least excitement for because I’m not a fan of 4 of the 6 men in this match but it ended up being the most enjoyable match of the night so far for me. Everyone put in their all in this match and the action was nonstop. Lots of cussing in this match which is making Corino and me laugh a lot. My favorite spot of the match was Honma going for the Kokeshi and got caught with the Gun Stun from Tonga. Yano low blows both members of GoD, Ishii clotheslines both, and Yano rolls up Roa for the win. What a great match! I never expected to be saying that after I watched it.

Rating: ***3/4

KUSHIDA vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship

Right off the bat (I think before the bell even rang) KUSHIDA hits a senton bomb off the top rope to the outside onto Takahashi. Moments later Takahashi hits a sunset flip powerbomb on KUSHIDA all the way to the outside of the ring. This match is off to a hot start! Takahashi’s vicious offense is impressive and he nails a BRUTAL superkick. Takahashi’s German suplexes are both brutal and beautiful. They’re brutifal! Okay, that was dumb, I apologize. Bad botch took place as Takahashi went for what looked to be a hurricanrana to the floor but KUSHIDA stayed in the ring and Takahashi just kinda fell on him. They recover quickly as Takahashi hits a senton from the top rope to the floor. My jaw dropped when KUSHIDA countered Hiromu’s running jump off the apron into an armbar. This is really good! KUSHIDA locks in the Hoverboard Lock and Takahashi gets soooo close to the ropes until KUSHIDA rolls through, however Takahashi counters and goes for his finisher but KUSHIDA rolls through and gets him in a pinning position and Takahashi kicks out and more and more back and forth! This match rules! I’ve never seen the side of KUSHIDA I’m seeing in this match. He’s showing a mean streak and it’s fantastic. Takahashi ends up getting the pin following the Time Bomb. What a phenomenal match! These two tore the house down.

Rating: ****1/4

Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Openweight Championship

I’m not going to lie, I was dozing off in the early goings. Not because the match was boring because it wasn’t, I was just so tired. Shibata is such a badass, he’d probably knock me out in 3 seconds if I got in a fight with him. The fans are actually booing Goto and Corino says it’s because they’re “disappointed in Goto”. I think it’s about time to turn Goto heel because he has nothing else to do as a face. These two are mauling each other with forearms and headbutts and stomps and kicks. This is bonkers! Goto hits a reverse version of the GTR which actually looked really awesome and then nails the GTR for the win. I went back and watched the beginning where I was dozing off so I could rate this fairly and I very much enjoyed it, brutal match. Not as good as last years NEVER Openweight Title match but it was still an awesome match.

Rating: ****

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the Intercontinental Championship

I’m heavily rooting for Naito in this one. Not only because he’s my favorite wrestler but I also am far from a Tanahashi fan. His new seem says “Go Ace!” however it very much sounds like “Go ass!” Oh boy, another match where the knee is targeted. That’s the second one this night and I’m not a fan of them using the same structure here. Naito spits on Tanahashi and I love Naito’s disrespectfulness. Tanahashi hit the Sling Blade on Naito on the apron which was super cool. Tanahashi hits the High Fly Flow to the floor and you could hear the smack. Every time we’re getting on a good stretch Naito goes back to the knee and then Tanahashi follows up by no selling it which kinda sucks. Tanahashi hits 2 more Sling Blades and then a beautiful High Fly Flow and Naito’s body bounced off the mat. He then went for it again and I was worried but Naito moved. Naito hits the Destino! But he doesn’t go for the pin and instead goes for it again and Tana counters it into a neckbreaker. Brutal Dragon Suplex from Tanahashi, a move I love. High Fly Flow to the back of Naito and I’m starting to get nervous. Naito hits a super Destino and it doesn’t look like Tana kicks out but apparently he did and then he hits another for the win! Too much use of the same moves in this one but the match was still very good overall and I’m so happy Naito retained and got a HUGE win at Wrestle Kingdom. First time a title didn’t change hands tonight. Now that Naito retained I don’t see another heel winning in back to back big matches so my prediction of Okada retaining is very likely.

Rating: ****

Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match

Kenny’s entrance gear is reminding me a lot of SANADA. I’m not going to interrupt this match to add more to this review so everything I say about this match will be after it’s done. Aaaaand finished.

OH. MY. GOD. THAT FUCKING MATCH. It was flawless! DRAGON SUPLEX OFF THE TOP ROPE. BACK DROP FROM OKADA TO OMEGA ALL THE WAY TO THE OUTSIDE THROUGH A TABLE. KICKOUT FROM THE RAINMAKER. Vicious knees, near falls, finisher attempts, tombstones, this match was everything a wrestling fan could want! I was into it the whole way through and damn was it long but I didn’t want it to end! These two kept me invested in this hellacious battle. Okada is fucking amazing and Omega is one hell of a wrestler. This was perfect. I never give matches 5 stars but fuck it. I have no complaints besides the fact that I wanted Omega to win but that shouldn’t hurt my thoughts on the match. WATCH THIS.

Rating: *****

Overall, a good beginning with a rocky middle but one hell of a finish. This show was really fun. Not the perfect show but there were three ****+ matches and a 5 star main event so that helped my overall rating of this show. Plus, all the members of LIJ walked away with titles which is very great.

Overall: 9/10