This past weekend gave us a pair of Tokyo Dome shows, one the traditional WrestleKingdom PPV, the other a special cross-promotional show featuring not only NJPW stars but guests from AEW, CMLL, ROH and Stardom. Both nights offered lots of good wrestling and I'll get to the Wrestle Dynasty review soon, but first let's take a look at WrestleKingdom 19.
This show didn't quite recapture the magic of NJPW's recent golden age but it did feel like a step in the right direction, with a big focus on the younger generation of stars and a feeling of commitment to the future. There wasn't a bona fide Match of the Year on this show but there were a few matches just below that level and plenty of drama in the main event.
The show kicked off with a 4-way tag team ladder match for the Jr. Tag belts, with Intergalactic Jet Setters defending against Catch 2/2, Bullet Club War Dogs and Ichiban Street Boys. This was a pretty standard ladder match with lots of action and big spots, some of which didn't land. I think I'd have preferred a straight 4-way like the openers of WrestleKingdoms past. As I expected, the one team who hadn't held these titles came out on top, with Kosei Fujita grabbing the belts for his team. Solid opener. ***1/2
The lone women's match was next and unfortunately didn't get as much time as it deserved. That said, Mayu Iwatani and AZM made the most of their eight-plus minutes, packing a ton of action into their slot. Everything here looked crisp and brutal, with Mayu withstanding a couple Destroyers and coming back to win with a dragon suplex. Very good match but could've been great with five more minutes. ***3/4
Third was the 4-way for the TV Title, with Ren Narita defending against Jeff Cobb, Ryohei Oiwa and the returning El Phantasmo (back from battling cancer). This was another fast-paced party match and everyone worked hard. Narita once again made use of his push-up board but Cobb took it away and broke it into pieces. Cobb hit Narita with Tour of the Islands but ELP broke it up and hit his Thunderkiss '65 to win the belt. ***1/2
The pleasant surprise of the night was next, in that Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Evil was a decent clusterfuck match. I was expecting this to stink but it wasn't bad at all. This was a Lumberjack match and all the lumberjacks got heavily involved. Tanahashi seemed to have the match won after a Slingblade and standing Hi-Fly Flow but his second HFF attempt was broken up by Dick Togo. Evil went for his STO finish but on landing Tanahashi rolled him up for a flash pin. Dumb match but it was fun. Post-match Katsuyori Shibata challenged Tana to a match the next night (which ended up just being a five-minute exhibition). ***
Things picked up with the NEVER Openweight/International Championship between Shingo Takagi and Konosuke Takeshita. As expected this was a fantastic "meat" match with tons of stiff offense and fighting spirit spots. Takeshita withstood the Last of the Dragon and hit a couple of Blue Thunderbombs to double up his belt collection. Damn good stuff. Takeshita will be appearing more and more on NJPW shows and I'm all for it. He's good enough to be an absolute top guy. ****1/2
The most disappointing thing on this show was the Jr. Heavyweight Title match between Douki and El Desperado. This was shaping up to be a really good bout until Douki came off the top to the outside with a senton and seemingly dislocated his elbow on the floor. The match was stopped at the five-minute mark and never fully got going. Damn shame. Despy won but was none too happy with how he got there. N/R
For my money the Match of the Night honors went to David Finlay vs. Yota Tsuji, a dramatic 20-minute main event-caliber bout for the IWGP Global Title. Finlay looked the best he maybe ever has here, and for Tsuji this felt like a long-overdue coming out. They cut a fast pace from the opening bell, and Finlay took it to the outside, putting Tsuji through a table. Finlay hit big move after big move but Tsuji kept kicking out and mounting comebacks. Tsuji hit a Gene Blaster but Finlay made the ropes. Tsuji kicked out of more pin attempts and hit another GB to finally win his first IWGP gold. Excellent match that really should've gone on second-to-last. ****3/4
Oddly the Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi match got the semi-main slot and it didn't deliver to that level. Naito's wear-and-tear is all too apparent these days and while this was an ok match, it just didn't belong this high on the card. Also the result was the wrong one in my opinion. Naito passing the torch to his protege would've been a powerful gesture, but instead he withstood a Time Bomb and hit multiple Destinos to win. The best part of the match was the aftermath though. Prior to the match Takahashi refused a Naito fist bump, but afterwards Naito held up his fist, teary-eyed, and Takahashi acknowledged his mentor. This was fine but I hope it's a setup for Takahashi to win later on. ***1/4
The Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino main event, which for some reason has gotten very middling reviews, worked pretty completely for me. It went an epic 43 minutes and could certainly have been 5-10 minutes shorter, but I was never bored watching this and the storytelling was pretty great. Nice guy Umino was trying throughout the match to tap into a killer instinct, but could never quite commit to the part, and in the end it cost him. The early parts of the match were all mat grappling, for which I am a sucker, until tempers flared and Umino started taking shortcuts, eventually even tossing his own father (referee Red Shoes) to the mat and drawing a chorus of boos. Sabre took advantage of Umino's recently injured ankle, breaking his own rule about never holding a submission more than six seconds. Umino made the ropes and did some vicious stomps but Sabre came back with a Sabre driver, a Gotch-style piledriver (a nod to Minoru Suzuki), and another Sabre driver to retain. I thought this was a great main event overall. ****3/4
So WK19 was no WK9 by any means but it felt like the beginning of a return to form. Hopefully that trend will continue next year as the new faces become even more established. We had an epic main event, a great secondary title match, and a great tertiary title match. The new guys just need to finish connecting with the audience. The next night would provide an even better overall show.
Best Match: David Finlay vs. Yota Tsuji
Worst Match: Jr. Title match
What I'd Change: Cut ten minutes from the main event and give five to the Takeshita match and five to the women's match
Most Disappointing Match: Douki vs. Despy
Most Pleasant Surprise: Tanahashi vs. Evil
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
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