The History of NJPW WrestleKingdom (WK14)

The first-ever two-part WrestleKingdom took place in 2020, and it was overall a helluva weekend of pro wrestling.  The two shows played like a double album of sorts, with the first disc containing by far the two best tracks, and the second disc being a more solid overall album. 

Night One took a while to really get going, thanks to three consecutive 8-man tags.  I would've liked another singles match in one of these slots rather than just trying to get everyone on the main card.  But the three openers were inoffensive at worst and were kept short.  The first of these was the best, thanks to Jushin Liger and his old-school pals (plus Taguchi) having one last romp to show off their stuff.  Everyone in the match looked great for their age.  After nine minutes Taguchi hit Liger with a Buma ye (that's Nakamura's finisher except with a hip attack instead of a knee), followed by a Dodon for the three-count.  I'd have had Liger win the Night One match, because why not?  He's in there with mostly other old-timers anyway, there's no torch to pass in this match.  But this was a fun opener. 

Next was Suzuki-Gun (led this time by Zack Sabre Jr. to hype his Night Two singles match) vs. LIJ (minus Naito of course).  This was technically the best of the 8-man tags but still too short to amount to much.  The story was Zack vs. Sanada, and Zack won the match by tying Bushi up in knots while smiling sadistically at his Night Two challenger.  This was fine.  

The final 8-man pitted Goto, Ishii, Yano and Yoshi-Hashi vs. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi and NEVER Champ Kenta, in another match to hype a Night Two singles bout.  This was pretty basic, with the biggest spot being Ishii hitting a hard-fought brainbuster on Fale.  After all eight men started brawling in and around the ring, Goto hit the ushigoroshi followed by the GTR on Takahashi for the win.  Another serviceable but forgettable undercard match.  

NJPW/AEW/CMLL/ROH/Stardom Wrestle Dynasty Preview & Predictions

WrestleKingdom 19 isn't the only big event taking place at the Tokyo Dome this weekend.  On January 5th there's a huge cross-promotional PPV with stars from NJPW, AEW, CMLL, ROH and Stardom, and it looks on paper like a doozy of a lineup.  Among the numerous first-time bouts is the in-ring return of Kenny Omega, after 14 months on the shelf.  This show looks just as exciting as WK19, even if there isn't a big story to most of the matches.

Let's dive in.  Note: There's an 8-man gauntlet match where the participants won't be announced until the match is happening, so obviously I can't predict that one.

Pre-Show Women's International Cup: Willow Nightingale vs. Athena vs. Persephone vs. Momo Watanabe

I'm a little disappointed this isn't on the main card since AEW spent a fair amount of time setting up their portion of it.  The winner gets a title shot in a promotion of their choosing.  Since Willow is beloved everywhere she goes, I'll pick her to win here.

Pick: Willow

Pre-Show ROH Tag Team Championship: Sammy Guevara & Dustin Rhodes vs. Sho & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

House of Torture is involved here so get ready for a clusterfuck.  I suppose HoT could win to set up a title defense in the US but I'd be a little surprised if the ROH Tag belts get that kind of treatment at this point.  I think the champs keep them.

Pick: Sammy & Dustin retain

NJPW WrestleKingdom 19 Preview & Predictions

Ten years ago I sat down to watch a pro wrestling PPV event from a company that was entirely new to me.  I had heard great things about this company from sources like Wrestling Observer and noticed that a few familiar faces were plying their trade over there, and I was excited to check out something new and fresh.  After 28 years as a wrestling fan I was long overdue for a product that actually excited me, something WWE had been failing to do since 2002 and Ring of Honor had stopped doing around 2010.  I figured I'd give this other thing a try, and subscribed to NJPW World to watch their flagship event, WrestleKingdom 9.  And I was treated to one of the greatest wrestling shows I'd ever seen.  From there NJPW became my new favorite wrestling product (till about 2021) and their stellar matches ate up my annual Top 10 ranking.  Hard to believe that was already a decade ago.  New Japan changed the business in a big way around the time of that event, exposing WWE-weary fans to a whole new philosophy and style of what a wrestling show could look like.  Over the next few years they gained so much ground in North America and inspired so many fans like me who needed an alternative, that a whole new company was spawned.  NJPW has seen tumultuous times since their 2012-2019 golden age, but January 4th at the Tokyo Dome will always feel special.

With that in mind let's look at this year's WrestleKingdom 19 show.  This lineup finally feels like a fresh start, from a company that desperately needs one.  Most of the top stars from the aforementioned golden age are either nearing retirement or have moved on to other companies, and it's way past time for New Japan's next generation to show us what they've got.  This show feels like that moment has finally arrived.  

**Side note**: Every year the preshow consists of a Rumble (or Ranbo as they call it), where everyone not on the main card gets a few minutes of fun.  This year though, the winner of the Ranbo gets a World Title shot, so for the first time there's actually something at stake.  No idea who's in this thing but maybe someone will either return from excursion or they'll bring in an outside guest from AEW to set up a PPV match.