Wrestle Kingdom 13 in Tokyo Dome was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on January 4, 2019 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 28th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the 13th promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name. The event was streamed live on NJPW World and Fite TV and was aired on tape delay on AXS TV.


The card was comprised of ten matches, including one occurring on the pre-show. In the main event, Kenny Omega defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against the winner of the G1 Climax 28, Hiroshi Tanahashi. In other prominent matches, Chris Jericho defended the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Tetsuya Naito, Kushida defended the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Taiji Ishimori, Tomohiro Ishii defended Revolution Pro Wrestling's British Heavyweight Championship against Zack Sabre Jr. and Kazuchika Okada faced Jay White.


RESULTS:


NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship Gauntlet: Most Violent Players & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Suzuki-gun, The Elite, Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb & David Finlay & CHAOS


This match was the preshow bout, replacing their mock-gimmick battle royal from previous years. This match wasn't bad, but it was easily forgettable among everything else that went down on this card. I just remember the second The Elite were "shockingly" eliminated, I had a feeling that it wasn't going to be a good night for anyone affiliated with them.




Starting the show off with an appearance with Pieter is always a good thing in my book... 





Will Ospreay def. Kota Ibushi for the NEVER Openweight Championship


This was the official "opener" to the show following their kick-off 6-Man tag team gauntlet that I honestly was barely paying attention to. This right here was the match that I wanted to see above over everything else on this card and the main reason I blew the dust off my New Japan World account to see this live this morning. Boy, did this match deliver and then some. From the mind-blowing sequences of reversals to the hard-hitting strikes and high flying maneuvers, this match set the bar for what was to come for the rest of the night. 

In the end Will Ospreay picked up the win over Kota Ibushi, legitimately knocking him out cold sometime before the finish. Ibushi had to be carried out on a stretcher. I hope he's alright as that was one hell of match. I'd love to see a rematch between these two. 






Rev Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. defeats Tomohiro Ishii


I didn't know how much I wanted this match after the bell rung. I'm sure that Triple H is still kicking himself that both Kota Ibushi and Zack Sabre Jr. didn't sign with WWE following their appearances in the Cruiserweight Classic while both of those guys are singing praises that they didn't, especially after seeing what happened to most of that talent they signed for the cruiserweight "revival" on the 205 Live brand. WWE regards most of that talent as the red-headed stepchildren, segregated from the rest of the WWE Universe. Here in NJPW, ZSJ's talents are more appreciated and better utilized. Where Ibushi/Ospreay wowed with the high flying and rapid fire reversals/counters, Ishii and ZSJ wowed with all of these transitions and counters into more and more submissions. I thought ZSJ was going to tear Ishii's arm off at one point. Excellent technical psychology here from start to finish from ZSJ. Then we get that beautiful finish in which where I have no idea how to explain ZSJ was able to contort Ishii's frame like that for the submission victory. If I could nitpick at only ONE thing in that finish is that Red Shoes (the referee) wasn't watching/checking to see if ZSJ's shoulders were on the mat or not. 





IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Three-Way: LIJ (EVIL and Seiya SANADA) defeat Young Bucks and Guerrilas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa)


No offense to this match, but I was half paying attention and went for a bathroom break after the entrances. From what I did take away from it, there were some solid action. At one point, I was convinced that the Bucks were going to go home with the gold, but EVIL and SANADA derailed those plans and walk away as the new tag champions. The best thing out of this match was the finish - the rest of it just seemed like everyone was just going through emotions, getting their own shit in.








IWGP United States Championship: Juice Robinson defeats Cody


While I didn't share the complaints of sheer disgust with this match like I saw a lot of people commenting about on wrestling Twitter this morning, I did think this was one of both Juice Robinson's and Cody's lacklusters performances. I know that both men are capable of much better than what they showcased here.



Cody did the honors on the way out, putting Juice over and dropping the IWGP US title to him as we have no idea on where or not NJPW will be in bed on doing business with AEW when they already have an established relationship with Ring of Honor. 

By this point in the show, it felt like NJPW were really breezing through the undercard when these shows usually feel like they drag on forever in previous years. I guess they felt like they wanted to devote the bulk of the airtime (especially since they were FITE I believe this year) to the main events. 







IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: “The Bone Soldier” Taiji Ishimori def. Yujiro KUSHIDA


I loved that spot in this match, even though I vaguely remember seeing Ishimori do the same thing during one of his X-Division bouts while serving as a part of the Impact Wrestling roster at the time. KUSHIDA has been rumored to be on WWE's radar for quite some time and has been offered a spot on 205 Live/NXT. I shudder at the thought of how they would screw him up on 205 Live. Look at what they did to Akira Tozawa. Ugh. As for Ishimori, I'm glad to see him on the rise here in New Japan. I always thought he was talented, now more people get to see more of that.




Jay White def. Kazuchika Okada


For me personally, Jay White bores the hell out of me. I was more pleased to see Okada back to his "Rainmaker" persona instead of that crap they had him demoralized into after losing the IWGP World Heavyweight title to Kenny Omega where he was holding balloons and wearing pants. Okada's reveal for wearing the trunks again got one of the biggest pops of the night. I understand why Okada (while back to the top of his game so to speak...) put White over here, but I don't have to like it. Don't get me wrong. This match wasn't bad at all either, just not a match-up I would have preferred for Okada this year, especially following up his performance and position on the card last year.

Jay White seems to be "the guy" NJPW insists on pushing with most of their popular gaijin wrestlers in The Elite heading out of the door or ending their current deals with the promotion, so I understand they want to establish him with a marquee win over Okada here. I wouldn't be surprised if he's the NJPW World Heavyweight Champion by this point next year either. 



IWGP Intercontinental Championship No Disqualification: Tetsuya Naito def. Chris Jericho




Unlike most people, I haven't been blown away by these performances from Chris Jericho in NJPW. I respect that this is a career resurgence/reinvention for him of sorts as he takes full advantage of being a free agent without ties to the current WWE roster. He has to work smarter and mask his limitations (i.e. like Triple H, Shawn Michaels, Kane, and The Undertaker...) so almost all of his matches here have been No DQ matches for they can erupt into massive brawls in and out of the ring. This match was no different with Jericho and Naito brawling all over the ringside area.

That spike DDT spot onto the railing had to be the craziest thing in this match period. Bravo to Naito to selling the shit out of that. Ultimately, I found myself much more entertained by this match than I did going into it. From the looks of things from Jericho's tweets and interviews, he's not done with New Japan either, so don't rule out an appearance at that Madison Square Garden show during WrestleMania weekend either. 

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi def. “The Cleaner” Kenny Omega


The second the bell rung and they had the first exchanges into this match, I'm reminded of one thing I can't stand in all of Kenny Omega's matches - his fucking retarded facial expressions. He ranges from taking a shit to imitating the Ultimate Warrior. That being said, I can't knock his talent in the ring. He's transformed himself from being regarded as pretty much a traveling goof to being one of the best wrestlers in the world today. Him and Tanahashi had a hard-hitting affair here with me (and I'm sure many watching live) unsure on who was going to walk away the winner from all of the near-falls and high spots.

The bigger conversation coming out of this match is where is Kenny Omega going to end up once his NJPW contract expires towards the end of the month. It's no secret that the Young Bucks, Hangman Page, Cody Rhodes, and Brandi Rhodes are "all in" on establishing All Elite Wrestling in prominent roles within the new promotion behind the scenes. Then there's rumors floating around about a "fantastic deal" that WWE offered Omega as well. With all of the podcasters and wrestling journalists hounding around and sniffing for clues, I'm sure we're going to hear something straight from the horse's mouth in all due time. 
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