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Showing posts with label KUSHIDA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label KUSHIDA. Show all posts

NXT: New Year's Evil (Jan. 6, 2021) -- Results & Afterthoughts




NXT: New Year's Evil was a special episode of WWE's weekly television series NXT, broadcast on the USA Network. It took place on January 6, 2021 at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida and feature WWE's virtual fan viewing experience for their NXT brand division called the Capitol Wrestling Center. It was hosted by Dexter Lumis.

Six matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Finn Balor defeated Kyle O'Reilly to retain the NXT Championship. In other prominent matches, Santos Escobar defeated Gran Metalik to retain the NXT Cruiserweight Championship, Raquel González defeated Rhea Ripley in a Last Woman Standing match, and in the opening bout, Karrion Kross defeated Damian Priest.

New Year's Evil is a professional wrestling event currently produced by WWE. It was last used for a special episode of WCW Monday Nitro on December 27, 1999.






If you watch this show on Hulu, they condensed this entire show down to a hour, so you only get to see Kross/Priest, Rhea/Raquel, and O'Reilly/Balor. Everything else in this show was cut out and rightfully so to be honest. 


Results:



Singles Match
Karrion Kross (with Scarlett) def. Damian Priest


I understand that Karrion Kross had to go over in his first match back from injury, but I thought it was a questionable decision to have him going over Damian Priest. Priest already was in a nothing feud with Johnny Gargano and Leon Ruff to drop the North American Championship at the tail end of 2020. I'm guessing this was his way of doing the honors on the way out if the rumors are true about him being called up to the main roster, namely the SmackDown! brand. 

There were a few good bumps in this match, but the time it was all said and done, I can't say that I was really that impressed with this big man match. Much like his match with Keith Lee, I don't think that Kross excells against other big guys his size and stature. It was impressive that he was able to Kross out cold for the finish, so at least that point got across. 

I've seen far worse openers for NXT shows than this, so I can't knock this match too much in that regard. 

(Laughs) I have to ask though but why did Scarlett come out here dressed like she was managing The Ascension to the ring instead of her boy toy here? 


Singles Match for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship
Santos Escobar (c) (with Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza) def. Gran Metalik (with Lince Dorado)

When I heard that this match was announced, I got really excited as I thought that we would have a sleeper hit on our hands if these two guys got enough time to showcase what they are made of. It's no secret that I enjoyed Escobar's work when he was in Lucha Underground as King Cuerno, but just haven't seen nothing from him here that makes me care in the least. It's the same thing with Gran Metalik. When I saw him in the Cruiserweight Classic, he was one of my top favorites in that tournament, along with Kota Ibushi (of course). Then WWE signed the guy and he's been booked like utter shit in this company. This match did neither one of these guys any favors. 

Every single one of these title defenses for Escobar goes the same way. Babyface works from underneath, with Escobar's goons getting involved at some point to make the excuse for a big dive into everyone huddled up at ringside (I'm getting to the point that I'm starting to loathe that spot in 2021 from how much it's been whored out lately), and Escobar sneaks the win to retain. Seriously, why the fuck should I goddamn care about Legado del Phantasma? NXT does absolutely nothing to make me care about those guys. Nine times out of ten, I change the channel when they come out here. Tonight was a special exception. The only solace here was that it wasn't the 2,000th match against Isisah "Swerve" Scott or Breezango. 



Singles Match
Xia Li (with Boa) def. Katrina Cortez


For the past few months of 2020, Xia Li and Bao have been part of some strange vignettes where they were forced for some bizarre martial arts training by the tutelage of mysterious, yet punishing master. For weeks, I was begging for them to get to the point of all of these violent torture-themed vignettes.  Tonight, we get to see the fruits of these labors - at least with Xia Li anyway. They set their master down in a throne on the entrance ramp where she can watch the match play out like Shao Khan in Mortal Kombat. I didn't get the sense of her presence here. Maybe they should have called Catrina and Mil Muertes to pull that feat off instead. That shit was fucking amazing at the start of Lucha Underground Season 2. 

All jokes aside though, I was fan of Xia Li's in-ring work since her debut in the Mae Young Classic. Her problem was always that she lacked any sort of gimmick or storyline. It's amazing that she has that degree of talent in WWE's developmental system, yet doesn't have many joshi women to work with outside of Io Shirai to practice it properly. Xia Li's strikes always looked devastating; I dare say hers are up there with Asuka's in terms of legitimatcy. 

As for this match, it was simply a squash to get the ball rolling on this new direction for Xia's gimmick/character. If this gets her closer towards the NXT Women's Championship then I'm all for it. It should be noted that Katrina Cortez is new trademarked name for Catalina Garcia. 

I still have no idea who is their master. Rumors floating around saying that it's Karen Q that they signed from Ring of Honor a while back since they were initially billed as a tag team before COVID-19 pretty much killed their house show loops. My guess is that they are saving that spot for Saree/Sari Fujimura (one of Kyoko Inoue's students) that they signed from Stardom/Sendai Girls, wherever COVID-19 settles down and she's allowed to travel outside of Japan and move to the Capitol Wrestling Center/Performance Center full-time.  



Last Woman Standing Match
Raquel González (with Dakota Kai) def. Rhea Ripley


It's no secret that I watch NXT and AEW Dynamite at the same time with both my tablet and TV going at the same time. It was borderline disrespectful that AEW put on Hiraku Shida's Women's title defense against Abadon at the same time as this match. In comparison to the powerhouse match that opened this show, this was definitely the better of the two, even though I have grown bored with this feud between Rhea Ripley and Raquel Gonzalez over the last few weeks. If this match was truly Rhea's swansong to the NXT brand, then I tip my hat to her for this performance. This was the win that Raquel desperately needed to further establish her as another powerhouse female on that NXT Women's roster. 

Rhea and Raquel beat the hell out of each other from bell to bell, ending with what looked like a Riptide (Pumphandle Slam Powerbomb through the entrance ramp). If that wasn't enough, Rhea had already speared Raquel through the glass double doors backstage and stuffed Dakota Kai into a locker like it was high school gym class to pretend her from interfering. 

I don't know what these people are thinking if Raquel Gonzalez isn't the next person to challenge and possibly win that NXT Women's Championship from Io Shirai. Don't forget that she pinned Shirai during War Games to win the match for her team. 


Mixed Tag Team Match
Kushida and Shotzi Blackheart def. The Way (Johnny Gargano and Candice LeRae) (with Austin Theory and Indi Hartwell)


I'm all for Kushida getting a proper push on NXT, especially for the North American Championship since Gargano sure as hell doesn't need it, but the addition of this match felt like filler just to waste time when it could have been given to the main event instead. I will admit that I'm slowly warming up to The Way's antics, but they didn't need to be shoehorned into this match. 

I know it had to suck for Austin Theory to get that airsoft projectile shot directly at his junk too. He deserves a kick to the balls if all of those accusations against him last year during #SpeakingOut hold any merit too. I like Shotzi Blackheart as a person, but I'm starting to get annoyed at how much her character is forced down our throats on this program from week to week. NXT books like they only have the same 3-5 women on that roster as part of their women's division. She's pretty average in the ring, especially when compared to the fact that they have a roster of so many talented women that they are barely using or not at all at the Performance Center. 

This last minute booking here made for an easily forgettable match. I could easily see why this match and the segment before it was cut out of the Hulu version this show. 



Singles Match for the NXT Championship
Finn Bálor (c) def. Kyle O'Reilly by submission

This was another hard-hitting affair between Balor and O'Reilly, but I didn't think this was as good as their previous match at TakeOver. They did have a few interesting spots here, such as O'Reilly using his mouth for the rope break and Balor immediately kicking the ropes to possibly break his jaw in the process. That proved to be the tale of the tape as this match went on as Balor continued working over O'Reilly's jaw until he was forced to submit. I didn't think their previous bout deserved to be named NXT Match of the Year either, but it was definitely in the Top 5. WALTER vs. Ilja Dragunov was easily the best thing to come out either NXT brand, but NXT had an angle to build off with O'Reilly winning one of those placques for Finn to hand to him personally face-to-face to setup this match. 

At this point, I'm starting to wonder whether or not Finn Balor is overstaying his welcome on this version of NXT when we have still been robbed of the Balor vs. WALTER match from WrestleMania weekend last year over on the NXT UK brand. Where does O'Reilly go from here? It seemed like they were setting him up for a possible run with the championship when Cole and Strong announced themselves as part of the 2020 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic. As for Balor, I guess they want to do Balor against Pete Dunne next since they have been teasing that for a few weeks now since Pat McAfee is off the table for a few months. That's another match I'm not going to complain about seeing as I'm sure it's going to be great. 


Closing Thoughts

One of the biggest tidbits of news to come out of this show was the announcement of a Women's Tag Team version of the Dusty Tag Team Classic. I don't see how WWE is going to pull that feat off when they barely know what to do with the Women's Tag Team titles as a whole and they barely have enough women to stretch for all three brands' women's divisions. NXT have a lot of women that they haven't even debuted on television or barely use at all, so I guess they will make half-assed teams out of those women. In either case, I can't say that I'm excited over the idea here. It just seems like a knee jerk reaction to IMPACT Wrestling bringing back their Knockout Tag Team Championships. The major difference between their women's division and NXT's is that they don't have their women in randomly paired teams. All of their pairings have been established for months or rather years on end from their various storylines. 

Out of the two shows that were going on live as part of these Wednesday Night Wars, AEW definitely put on the better of two shows. Even though this was a special episode of NXT on par with a TakeOver event in terms of the stacked card, I can't say that this show was on par with a TakeOver special. Most of these matches left me feeling either bored or causing me to go "That's it?" by the time it was all said and done. 

I don't know what's been going on with NXT since the tailend of 2019, but they really need to get their act together. I used to be excited to watch NXT every week, but now it feels like as much of a chore to watch as the other two brands of WWE programming and that's not good. 
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NXT TakeOver 31 (Oct. 4, 2020) -- Results & Afterthoughts




NXT TakeOver 31 was a professional wrestling pay-per-view and WWE Network event produced by WWE for their NXT brand division. It took place on October 4, 2020 at the remodeled WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, which housed the new “Capitol Wrestling Center”, NXT’s version of the “ThunderDome” used for Raw and SmackDown at the Amway Center - also in Orlando. As the name implies, it was the 31st NXT TakeOver event.

Five matches were contested at the event. In the main event, Finn Bálor defeated Kyle O'Reilly to retain the NXT Championship. On the undercard, Io Shirai defeated Candice LeRae to retain the NXT Women's Championship and Damian Priest defeated Johnny Gargano to retain the NXT North American Championship.




Match Results:


Singles match for the NXT North American Championship
Damian Priest (c) def. Johnny Gargano 


I can't speak for anyone else but you will never hear me complain when Johnny Failure shows up to play at these NXT TakeOver specials. Whether he's heel or face, Gargano can bump his ass off, but still can't get the job done. I would love to know what is his win/lose ratio at these NXT TakeOver specials though. 

As for this match as a whole, it was a solid opener, but my biggest knock against this match and this show as a whole is that this is NOT the match I would have started the night off with. I think Kushida and Velveteen Dream should have gone on first being that it's the only non-title match on this entire card. Don't get me wrong either as I don't think this was a bad match, just not one that I would have opened this show off with. This was a solid bout with some great spots, but Priest definitely dodged a bullet on that dive over the ropes and into the trainees/extras standing at ringside to catch him. If Priest was any further off on that landing he would've hit dead on the corner of that barricade or one of his limbs would have done the same as well - either way that would have been ugly. Someone needs to tell Priest that this isn't Ring of Honor anymore and he doesn't need to be diving out of the ring to make an impact. That's a bit much, especially when you're one of the bigger guys. That shit is going to catch up with you sooner more than later. 



The narrative here was that Gargano pulled every dirty trick in his playbook, only for the "Gargano Way" to be all for nothing as he still walked away with this match with another token loss in the L column of Johnny Failure's laundry list of defeats. This isn't a bad thing either as at this point of his NXT tenure, he should be putting over guys instead of beating people, despite the fact that I was scared going into this show that NXT would do something stupid like the main roster would and have Priest drop the title to Gargano just to give him heel heat and bragging rights for him and Candice (after beating Io later). 



Singles match
Kushida def. Velveteen Dream by submission 


It cannot be said enough about how much I adored that promotional package with Kushida talking about why he's here in NXT and his ongoing struggles to fit in on NXT and American soil, only to express that he's doing this not only for himself but for his family - namely his adorable baby girl. I cringe at the thought of what Vince would do to him on the main roster, but this was excellent for him here. This was the match that should have started off this show, especially after Kushida attacked Dream during his entrance. 

THIS was the Kushida I wanted to see since Day 1 after I heard he was signing with NXT. We've seen glimpses of it here and there but man, I'm glad to see Kushida kick it up a notch like during his New Japan days. I'm sorry, but Dream didn't have jack shit against this dude here. It felt absolutely one-sided at one point to me. The narrative for this match was simple - Kushida was fed up with Dream's bullshit and he was going to pay for it. Simple as that. Kushida systematically wore down and tore down Dream's arm until he forced to submit from the Hoverboard Lock. Kushida didn't stop there as he continued to attack the limb following Dream's submission while the referees rushed in to break it up. This "hardened" edge to Kushida was a much needed and welcome change for me. 

Triple H's comment about Dream's "immaturity" out of the ring was telling too as it seems like he's in the doghouse of sorts for those continued allegations against him, despite Triple H and WWE's claims of running their own investigation(s) on him and Austin Theory. I don't care how talented those guys are in-ring, but if the truth comes out and they are guilty as all sin, then NXT and Triple H need to be held accountable for glamorizing these individuals on their programming. That goes double for Matt Riddle too. 



Singles match for the NXT Cruiserweight Championship
Santos Escobar (c) (with Joaquin Wilde and Raul Mendoza) def. Isaiah "Swerve" Scott 


Even though I know that these two were Killshot and King Cuerno in Lucha Underground, I honestly cannot get into this feud. I thought NXT signing El Hijo del Fantasma was a great pick-up for the NXT brand, much like the signing of Shane Strictland, but this whole thing over the Cruiserweight Championship isn't doing not a damn thing for me. It's sad too because these guys are putting on some solid performances since their initial outing back in the Interim Cruiserweight title tournament, but it feels like that these two have been feuding forever with no ending in sight. The same can be said about Escobar's cohorts in Wilde and Mendoza feuding with the current NXT Tag Team Champions in Breezango, but to be fair, they've ran that program and the one with Imperium into the ground. I like the group - Legado del Fantasma - collectively, but man, NXT have been running these programs against guys who cannot get a break against them for shit for feels like months now. Move onto something else, please. I was hoping that maybe we could have gotten Undisputed Era against Legado del Fantasma for War Games in some capacity, but I doubt that is going to happen with Swerve getting a new ally in the form of Ashantee "Thee" Adonis. I watched this match twice and I didn't have an idea who the flying fuck that dude was until later in this show where they interviewed him backstage. Apparently, he was in Ring of Honor and a few other places before signing with WWE and competing primarily on 205 Live. (Laughs) No wonder I don't know who he is then...

Once again, this wasn't a bad match, even though there were some sloppy missteps upon execution. It didn't bore me to death, so that's a positive. I'm just sick of seeing these guys face off, especially when it seems like Swerve faces this dude to a losing effort at every opportunity for the Cruiserweight title. He's turning into the Apollo Crews of the Cruiserweight division, whereas if he keeps getting shot after shot against Escobar, eventually he's going to get lucky and get the title off of the guy. 



Singles match for the NXT Women's Championship
Io Shirai (c) def. Candice LeRae 


(Laughing) When Johnny Failure shows up to TakeOver, his wife Jenny Failure isn't far behind. I'm sorry, but after this match, I'm done with this current crop of opponents down in NXT's Women's Division for Io Shirai. It's painfully obvious that no one other than Rhea Ripley is a stand out in that division, especially when they aren't going to have Dakota Kai nor Raquel Gonzales beat her for it and Tegan Nox just got sidelined with an injury while anyone else in that division has seen much screen time on weekly TV episodes or if any at all (Ahem... Santana Garrett, who I have absolutely NO idea why they aren't pushing that woman to the moon...). Much like the opener between Gargano and Priest for the North American Championship, I had doubts going into this show that NXT would do some stupid main roster booking and have Candice and Gargano sweep the champions just to say that they are the first and only couple to hold NXT gold at the same time. It was the same thing on the main roster where they couldn't resist to put all of the belts on Sasha Banks and Bayley earlier this year. In my opinion, putting all of your championships on one person does nothing but highlight the fact of how much your division(s) are lacking in credible challengers and the lack of depth in that said division. If we're being honest with ourselves, WWE has a major problem with that across all three brands, including NXT as well. 


It was a saving grace that they ended this match with not one but TWO new challengers making themselves known to the reigning champion - first with the returning Toni Storm (who I'm guessing is able to leave the United Kingdom now that the travel restrictions have eased up a bit) and second with the returning Ember Moon (revealing herself as the mystery former champion in the vignettes from the last few weeks) from the injury that nearly ended her career. 



I tweeted it during the show and I'll say it here too. If I could be selfish, I wish it would have been Ember Moon returning on the main roster to challenge Asuka for the RAW Women's Championship to revisit their old NXT rivalry that never got to be resolved properly, due to Asuka forfeiting the title and leaving the NXT brand following an injury of her own. Monday Night RAW is severely in need of new, strong opponents for Asuka and Ember Moon would be one hell of an opponent for Asuka if they were to play up their history from NXT. Alas, that think tank of chimps writing on the main roster probably didn't think of that, so Triple H got first dibs at Ember Moon making her return to the company on NXT instead. Io Shirai versus Ember Moon would easily be a dream match-up for many, as I'm not sure if they have faced each other in any capacity in the past outside of WWE. Io and Toni Storm on the other hand, have had a lot of encounters outside of WWE, namely for Stardom. That would be a pleasant treat to revisit some of those bouts for future TakeOver specials. Toni and Ember will definitely spice this women's division on NXT for the better, that's for sure. I wouldn't mind seeing Rhea Ripley face those two (again in some cases) as well. They definitely have to rehab her following her lost momentum following the lost to Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania this year. Rhea's momentum fell off a cliff at that point and never came back. That has to be NXT's biggest blunder all year, especially when you look at how her star was on the rise this time a year ago. 

As for this match from bell to bell, it was alright, but I can't say that it was one of my favorite TakeOver outings for Io Shirai. Candice LeRae put up a better performance than I was expecting, but I don't have to see her competing for the NXT Women's Championship anytime soon. It was a bit much to even entertain that thought at this point. I honestly don't know what they should do with Candice really. She was set to be in a program with Tegan Nox until it was confirmed that her torn ACL injury was legitimate over the past week. Tegan Nox can't catch a break with these leg injuries at all. I hate that she has to miss time in the ring and nurse yet another leg injury, I think Tegan might have to consider hanging it up if she keeps getting put down like this. As for Candice LeRae, this heel gimmick with Candice's husband is generally hit or miss, with not just me, but most people watching NXT every week and I didn't think she was a very good babyface either. She's just really bland to me, but she's good worker in the ring though. I guess they could migrate her into a program with Shotzi Blackheart, but it seems like her and Rhea Ripley are still feuding with Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzales off and on, so who knows. 

I loved the Spanish Fly that Io busted out towards the end here, but I have no idea why Tom Phillips made a point to keep saying that Io is a fan of Rey Mysterio afterwards when he doesn't have a reputation of using that move in his own arsenal. That was a minor gripe here that was quickly forgotten after Gargano's attempts to play the role of the referee backfired and ensured that the "Gargano Way" wasn't the way to victory here. 


Singles match for the NXT Championship
Finn Bálor (c) def. Kyle O'Reilly



This match made me really happy as a long-time Kyle O'Reilly fan, namely for the fact that more people have this chance to see exactly how good he is in the ring. 

Both Balor and O'Reilly suffered some legit injuries from this hard hitting affair. O'Reilly fractured Balor's jaw in two places after being on the receiving end of one of his brutal high knees while O'Reilly lost some teeth by the end of this match. Both of these guys brought it like they were wrestling in the main event in the Tokyo Dome. This is definitely a TakeOver match that shouldn't be missed. As an O'Reilly fan, I'm really happy to see him in this spot. It would have been even better if he won the match, but at the same time, I get why they didn't pull the trigger on that victory quite yet. It's up in the air on whether or not that they want to pull the trigger on splitting up the Undisputed Era too. I wouldn't do that as should be called up to the main roster collectively as an unit. Otherwise, Vince McMahon will just look at each individual member of that group as more "too small" guys to fill up 205 Live's roster. O'Reilly and Bobby Fish (together as reDRagon) are desperately needed to reinvigorate that dying tag team scene on the main roster, but I fear for Fish's long-term ability to avoid injuries when he has been plagued with them for the last few years. Strong will fit in easily as a "good hand" for the mid-card scene at the Intercontinental/United States title level, but I can't see him going beyond that level in WWE's environment. Adam Cole is the total package out of all four members of Undisputed Era, but his size will be the only thing that would have him looked over (by Vince mostly) in favor of bigger, imposing figures in WWE. 

Maybe it's just me, but to me, it looked like Finn Balor completely no sold O'Reilly working his limbs over the entire match just to merely hit the Coup de Grace twice - both standing and diving without showing any signs of the abuse making a difference in the finish. I doubt that was intentional, especially for a seasoned professional like Balor, but damn that didn't sit right with me watching this finish live Sunday night. 



The post-match with Richard Holland tossing a battered and bruised Adam Cole like a piece of meat at the feet of the members of Undisputed Era at ringside felt a little flat to me. Holland is a monstrosity to behold, but at the same time, I hope they don't fast track this dude to the top at the same manner that they did with Karrion Kross earlier this year or even Brock Lesnar back in 2002. Hell, Holland looks JUST like a young Brock Lesnar and I'm sure that Vince McMahon would lose his mind if he saw that guy right now. I wouldn't even hold that match where Johnny Gargano suffered that scary stinger by being dropped onto his head by Holland against him either. Both of them were to blame in that freak incident where Gargano jumped a little too late and at the same time, Holland didn't spin around with the Powerslam in time before landing on the mat. Accidents happen, but I do think it wouldn't hurt to slow his ascent though. It's not going to kill them to take their time with that guy. They took months with Lars Sullivan when they were building him up as a credible monster. I think most people were expecting the Undisputed Era to fall out following the decision of this match, but I think the long game is to pull the swerve that Cole staged the entire incident and has Holland as his hired muscle. 



As of this posting (10/8/20), Ridge Holland suffered a pretty gnarly knee injury during a match with Danny Burch on WWE NXT last night (10/7/20). I don't know what the full scope of that injury is, but man, that has to suck for Holland as it was abundantly clear that NXT had big plans for that guy. People who saw the match live on social media said that you could literally see his knee explode during the spot in question. It looks like a pretty bad as you just know that your knee and/or ankle isn't supposed to bend that way. I'm hoping for a speedy recovery for the guy. 




Afterthoughts:


The change in scenery for the Performance Center was needed desperately months ago when this pandemic first started. I thought when WWE started running shows in there full-time that they would spice the venue up a bit, but NXT keep getting more and more boring to watch visually as the weeks played out. Changing the venue to look like a modified version of the Thunderdome set that WWE has been using for RAW and SmackDown! for the past few months was a nice touch, along with the fans and trainees behind the fences/Plexi glass. I hope someone gets a good screenshot online of the side of the venue across from the hard camera where you can clearly see Shotzi Blackheart and several others in attendance not wearing any masks, but Triple H assured everyone on his post-show conference call that all safety and health guidelines were being followed. Yeah, right...

I did think it was in good taste that they formally renamed the WWE Performance Center to the “Capitol Wrestling Center”, as an homage to the Capitol Wrestling Corporation, the predecessor to WWE that was founded by Jess McMahon in 1953. They even adopted the old logo to boot. This new look will definitely made the boring, bland Performance Center stand out more akin to the shady fight club feel that it should have, similar to a blend between Lucha Underground and Ring of Honor's visual presentation. I mention the latter mainly because that is what a lot of NXT storylines and matches are heavily influenced by. My only concern is how long is this layout going to stay fresh until viewers are bored with this visual presentation too? Even AEW are struggling in that regard week-to-week when they were leading the charge on how to present wrestling during this pandemic at first, so only time will tell in the long run. 

This wasn't a bad show at all, but I think it was a far cry from being one of the best TakeOver specials of the year. It's just hard to top the stand out performances from TakeOver XXX a few months prior to this, but the talent here put in their best efforts to try though. There's no doubt about that. The best thing for me was that this show didn't overstay it's welcome either as it was over well before 10PM Eastern Standard Time and didn't try to clock in towards midnight like AEW or the main roster PPVs. 
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Wrestle Kingdom 13 (Jan. 4, 2019) -- Results & Afterthoughts




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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