This will be my first show review as I hope to do many more throughout the year including non and WWE/NXT shows. In my reviews I will give each match a star rating and at the end I will rank the matches from least to most favorite as well as say which matches from the show made my best matches of 2017 list. So with no further ado here is my match by match review for Wrestle Kingdom 11.
Pre-Show: 14 Man New Japan Rumble **
This match is always fun, and it's great to see what NJPW has up their sleeves as far as surprises go and this one not only brought us surprises, but gave us a mini reunion of NWO Japan with Scott Norton, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Hiro Saito. We also got an appearance from one of NJPW's original roster members and one of the first junior heavyweights Kuniaki Kobayashi who had a couple of cool face offs first against Jushin Liger where it was one of the best junior heavyweights against one of the first junior heavy weights, Kobayashi then faced off against the current incarnation of Tiger Mask which is notable since Kobayashi had feuded with the original Tiger Mask. I will say for a 60 year old man he moves around really good for his age. So I haven't been watching NJPW in quite a while so I was amused to see Yoshitatsu spitting water into the air during his entrance ala Triple H and then I find out he is doing a whole Triple H parody gimmick which is pretty funny. The finish comes down to Michael Elgin taking out all the members of NWO Japan and coming face to face in the final 2 against one of the most over participants in the match none other than Cheeseburger. Cheeseburger gives his all in trying to hit Elgin, but it doesn't even phase the big man as Elgin would hit a buckle bomb followed by a Elgin bomb to win the NJPW Rumble by pinfall after being the first participant in the match and running through everybody. Other participants in the match were Billy Gunn, Bone Soldier, Manabu Nakanishi, Ryusuke Taguchi, & Yuji Nagata.
1. Tiger Mask W v.s. Tiger the Dark **3/4
So for those who may not know I'm going to spoil it for you that Tiger Mask W was being portrayed by Kota Ibushi and Tiger the Dark was being portrayed by ACH. This was a really fun quick match with lots of action. Tiger the Dark hit a beautiful backflip dive over the top to the outside and later Tiger Mask W hit the Golden Triangle moonsault. They would each try to tombstone the other, but the other would block it several times until Tiger the Dark finally hits it, but only gets a 2 count. Tiger Mask W would then hit a snap german suplex followed by a tiger suplex which Tiger the Dark would kick out of. Tiger Mask W would put Tiger the Dark away with what at first looked like a normal Tiger Bomb, but ended up being the Golden Star Bomb for the win.
2. The Young Bucks (c) v.s. Roppongi Vice (IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship)**** This match was so much fun to watch and see what would happen next as it was action the entire time. I'm so glad that NJPW finally decided to make a 2 vs 2 match for the Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship instead of the 4 way matches we have gotten the last few years as it's so much easier to pay attention to 4 guys rather than 8. After watching only WWE/NXT for the past year I forgot just how good the Young Bucks are the way they move in the ring is so fluid as they go from move to move and on top of how good they are from bell to bell is how great they are at being cocky trash talking annoying little shits in the best way. I liked how they used the long entrance ramp of the Tokyo Dome to their advantage as they baited RPG Vice into thinking they were walking out and just as RPG Vice caught up them on the ramp they hit both of them with a superkick and ran back to the ring trying to get a count out victory, but were unsuccessful as RPG Vice got in the ring at the 19 count. That poor young boy that got superkicked at ringside may still be knocked out three days later that was one sick kick. It was cool how the Nick reversed the attempted Dudebuster by springboarding and kicking Baretta in the face causing him to flip over and Matt turning it into a sunset flip. The closing stretch came when Baretta tried dive over the ropes, but the Bucks moved and he crashed to the floor allowing them to double team Romero which included them hitting Romero with three superkicks and him still kicking out. The pin came out of nowhere when the Bucks tried for More Bang for Your Buck and right as Matt hits the rolling fireman's carry and Nick gets ready to dive off the top Baretta grabs Nick's leg and Romero rolls Matt up in a crucifix pin for the win and to become the new IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.
3. Ricochet, Satoshi Kojima, & David Finlay (c) v.s. CHAOS (Jado, Will Ospreay, & Yoshi-Hashi) v.s. The Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, & Hangman Page) v.s. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Evil, Bushi, & Sanada) (NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championship - Gauntlet Match) ***1/4
The first two teams to start this match out were The Bullet Club and CHAOS. I have to mention Yujiro Takahashi coming out doing his best impression of the Godfather with 4 ladies by his side instead of just the one, but I will say I still prefer Mao to any of these girls. Nothing much exciting happens in this match until Ospreay is tagged in and he hits a cartwheel backflip dive over the top rope onto the BC. We then get a really cool series of moves by Ospreay where he hits a standing shooting star and then goes for a moonsault, but Page moves and Ospreay lands on his feet then Ospreay tries for a standing moonsault, but Page moves again and again Ospreay lands on his feet and then he immediately hits him with another standing shooting star press and a corkscrew splash off the middle rope for a 2 count. The finish comes when Ospreay tags in Jado and all three members of CHAOS team up on Yujiro and Jado puts him in a crossface only to be broken up by Fale. Everyone is fighting now and Page comes off the apron with a running shooting star to a standing Ospreay, meanwhile Yujiro hits a DDT on Jado to get the win and eliminate CHAOS.
The next team to enter is Los Ingobernables de Japon. This part of the match is pretty quick and the finish comes when Sanada shoves Yujiro into the referee and Bushi hits a lungblower on Yujiro and then hits a suicide dive taking down Fale. LIJ then bring a chair into the ring and put it around the head and neck of Yujiro and then Evil takes another chair and hits the chair thats around Yujiro and knocks him out. Sanada wakes up the referee and then puts Yujiro in the dragon sleeper which gets a submission win for LIJ and eliminated The Bullet Club.
The final team to enter are the champs Ricochet, Satoshi Kojima, and David Finlay, being a more recent NJPW viewer I have to say it's weird to see Kojima teaming with anyone else except Tenzan. LIJ meet them on the ramp and the fight starts there, meanwhile back in the ring Ricochet is facing off against Sanada hitting him with a head scissors followed by a dropkick sending Sanada out of the ring and allowing Ricochet & Finlay to hit double dives to the outside onto LIJ. One cool looking spot during the match occurred when Ricochet runs at Evil who launches him into the air and Ricochet gets hits with a diving lungblower from Bushi. The finish comes when Kojima is in the ring with all 3 members of LIJ and tries to fight them off, he even gets in a lariat on Evil for a 2 count. Sanada tries to put Kojima in the dragon sleeper, but Kojima counters it into a brainbuster. Kojima tries for another lariat on Evil who ducks it and almost runs into the ref, he stops himself by grabbing the waist of the referee and by doing this the referee is distracted which allows Bushi to come in and spray mist in Kojima's eyes. Evil hits a sitout slam that gets a 2 count and then his Evil STO which gets the win for LIJ to become the new NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Champions, unfortunately for them they would lose it the next night at New Year's Dash to the oddball trio of Hiroshi Tanahahsi, Manabu Nakanishi, & Ryusuke Taguchi. Overall this was a good match that constantly had something going on, I especially loved anytime Ricochet or Ospreay were in the ring as they turned the energy of the match up to the max.
4. Cody v.s. Juice Robinson ***1/4
I forgot just how good Cody Rhodes is after having to watch him float around the WWE midcard as Stardust for the last couple of years, thankfully this match reminded me. I also got to see what Juice Robinson is capable of when he isn't in total squash matches and he's a really good hand for NJPW to be used in this role of getting others over. The entire story of this match was Cody working on the leg of Juice after Juice had tweaked it performing a cannonball on Cody into the guardrail. Cody puts Juice in an indian deathlock and I was for sure he was done then, but Juice gets to the ropes. Juice keeps trying to make a comeback, but every time Cody attacks the leg which included a nasty looking chop block. Cody would try to hit Cross Rhodes, but Juice snapmares out of it and ends up getting hit by a big lariat from Juice. Juice goes for a powerbomb, but his leg gives out on him and Cody is able to escape. Juice tries to hit an Unprettier, but Cody counters it into a Cross Rhodes for the win. I really liked this match a lot more than I expected and makes me want to see more of both guys especially Cody.
5. Kyle O'Reilly (c) v.s. Adam Cole (ROH Championship) ***1/2
This ROH Championship match at the Dome was way better than the one last year between Elgin and Lethal. I absolutely love O'Reilly he is pretty much the American Katsuyori Shibata and that's a great thing as I'm a fan of both, I could watch either of them kick and knee the crap out of people all day long. Both men shake hands and then Cole spits in the face of O'Reilly. O'Reilly goes right after Cole putting him in an armbar, they go outside the ring and Cole wraps O'Reilly's arm around the ring post and hits it with a chair. They trade strikes with O'Reilly using his good arm along with kicks to take Cole down. They both hit two big boots at the same time on each other which stuns them and then hit a third which finally knocks each other down. O'Reilly hits a big kick to the back of the head and a vicious forearm that knocks Cole loopy, he then hits a brainbuster on Cole, but due to his injured arm has a hard time making the cover, once he finally does cover him Cole kicks out and O'Reilly immediately locks in an armbar which Cole is able to escape from by stomping O'Reilly in the head. O'Reilly hits a german suplex, but Cole rolls through it and hits O'Reilly with a big knee followed by the Last Shot for a 2 count. Cole then delivers 4 superkicks to O'Reilly followed by another Last Shot for the win to become the first ever 3x ROH Champion. Really good match with lots of strikes and a great finish that made O'Reilly look strong.
Intermission
So at this time WK11 would go into intermission and at this time I will take the time to mention how much I like the English commentary team of Kevin Kelly & Steve Corino they are such a breath of fresh air after listening to WWE commentary teams. These two (especially Corino) made this show even more enjoyable than it would be if it were only in Japanese, they have the perfect combination of comedy and fun as well as providing insight into the history of the Tokyo Dome shows as they provide statistics all night long about wins, title defenses, etc in the history of the NJPW Tokyo Dome shows as this was the 25th Anniversary of the NJPW January 4th Tokyo Dome shows. This is the 3rd Wrestle Kingdom show in a row that I have watched and this is the best English commentary combo of the three and that's saying something as Jim Ross called Wrestle Kingdom 9, but I guess these two have the best chemistry since they have history of being a team on Ring of Honor.
6. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tonga Roa) (c) v.s. CHAOS (Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii) v.s. G.B.H. (Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe) (IWGP Tag Team Championship) **
This match didn't really do anything for me and I didn't feel like it was all that great. The only thing I remember about this match other than the terrible finish is Tonga Roa repeatedly and blatantly cussing throughout the match and Corino laughing his ass off so bad that he actually had to mute his mic. I'm a big Ishii fan and I wish he could have been in a singles match or at least have a different member of CHAOS as his partner as I really don't like Toru Yano. Yano is someone who is funny the first couple of times, but he gets old really quick, especially the way he always wins by a fluke. If you ask me I feel Yano best belongs in the pre-show rumble with the likes of Cheeseburger. The story going into this match was that Yano had stolen both the IWGP Tag Team Championship for G.O.D. as well as the Real World Tag League trophies from G.B.H. which is why at the beginning of the match both G.O.D. and G.B.H. team up on Yano. The finish of this match saw Yano low blowing both members of G.O.D. and Ishii clotheslining them and Yano rolls one of them up for the win to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions.
7. Kushida (c) v.s. Hiromu Takahashi (IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship) ****1/4
If Wrestle Kingdom 11 wasn't already great so far these last four matches will put it in strong contention for show of the year and the year has barely begun. It looks like someone had been watching old WWE footage of Rey Mysterio as Hiromu Takahashi sprung up from under the floor like Mysterio used to do and he also had giant balls floating around in the crowd.
Hiromu attacks Kushida during his entrance and knocks him off the top rope , but Kushida quickly came back with a running flip kick to Hiromu who had climbed to the top rope knocking him off and then following that up with a big dive to the floor onto Hiromu. Kushida goes to work on the arm of Hiromu immediately trying to weaken him for the Hoverboard Lock. Hiromu slides out of the ring and Kushida gives chase, it ends up with Hiromu diving over Kushida who is on the apron and performing a sunset flip powerbomb off the apron to the floor. They tease stopping the match as Kushida looks to have hit his head on the guardrail and the doctor checks on him, eventually Kushida gets back into the ring and Hiromu is in full control of the match. Once Kushida makes a comeback he hits a hip toss into a carthweel into a seated dropkick, he then tries to lock in the Hoverboard, but Hiromu gets out of it. Hiromu hits a german suplex and floats through it to hit a second one. Hiromu attempts a diving hurricanrana to the outside, but completely botches it. Kushida rolls to the outside and Hiromu comes off the top with a senton splash to a standing Kushida. Hiromu tries for another sunset flip powerbomb off the apron, but Kushida backflips off the apron to the floor, Hiromu then tries to dive off the apron, but Kushida catches him in mid air and locks in an armbar on the outside. Kushida puts Hiromu in the Hoverboard, but Hiromu gets out of it and tries for his Time Bomb finsher, but Kushida rolls through it into a pin for a 2 count. Kushida keeps trying for the Hoverboard, but Hiromu keeps getting out of it. They both land straight right hands to each other at the same time and crumble to the mat. Hiromu sets Kushida up on the top rope for some kind of move, but Kushida catches him in another Hoverboard lock, once again Hiromu gets out of it and this time hits a victory roll off the top rope for a 2 count. Hiromu picks up Kushida in the fireman carry position and rams him into the turnbuckle and then hits him with the Time Bomb for the win to become the new IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion,
8. Katsuyori Shibata (c) v.s. Hirooki Goto (NEVER Openweight Championship) ****1/2
I liked the story leading up to the match that Hirooki Goto never wins the big one and always comes up short and this pisses off Shibata because he feels Goto doesn't take the art of wrestling as seriously as he does and losing doesn't mean as much to Goto as it does Shibata. I love watching Shibata as his matches feel so legit and I can believe everything he does hurts like hell. For most of the match Shibata was in control, but Goto wouldn't quit even when he was in the rear naked choke. Shibata would get so frustrated at Goto not staying down that he would push the referee down. The finish of the match would come when Shibata got in Goto's face and Goto fires away with headbutts and kicks. Goto would hit an inverted GTR followed by a regular GTR for the win and to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion in a match that was really great, but I feel years from now won't be remembered due to the main event.
9. Tetsuya Naito (c) v.s. Hiroshi Tanahashi (IWGP Intercontinental Championship) ****
This match was good, but I feel being sandwiched between the two best matches on the card hurt it a lot and may make it be forgotten in years to come. I first need to say that I have never really bought in on the greatness that is Tanahashi as I feel he is good, but not as great as some people make him out to be, if I were given a choice between him or Okada I would choose Okada every time. This match consisted of both men working on the knees of the other. The finish would be Tanahashi going up for the High Fly Flow and hitting it to the back of Naito, he then goes up for another one, but Naito gets his knees up. Naito hits a reverse DDT off the ropes for a 2 count and then Naito hits Destino on Tanahashi for the win to retain his IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
10. Kazuchika Okada (c) v.s. Kenny Omega (IWGP Championship) *****
This match was amazing and will go down as an all time classic, the fact that Dave Meltzer had to make it higher than 5 stars is saying something about just how great this match is.
Kenny Omega comes to the ring with a Terminator themed entrance. The match starts out with some great chain wrestling, Okada gets Omega up against the ropes and teases a right hand, but instead just pats him on the chest. Omega dodges a dropkick and attempts a One Winged Angel which Okada gets out of and this leads to Omega spitting in his face. Okada sends Omega to the floor with a running dropkick. On the outside Okada hits a hangman DDT off the guardrail spiking Omega's head into the floor. We then went WWE style and pulled out a table from under the ring (why does Japan have such smaller tables?) this would come into play later in the match. Okada throws Omega over the guardrail and then takes a running start and dives over the guardrail onto Omega. They eventually get back into the ring and Okada takes full control.
Omega gets back into the match hitting a Kotaru Krusher and some hard forearms to the back and chops, Omega is really working over Okada's back to weaken him for the One Winged Angel. Okada comes back with some forearms of his own, but is cut off by a kitchen sink. Omega hits a hurricanrana on Okada sending him to the floor followed by a tope con hilo to the outside. Omega slams Okada back first onto the apron. He hits a missle dropkick to the back of the head of Okada for a 2 count. Omega slows things down with some rest holds and then knees Okada a few times only to be caught with an elevated fireman's carry slam by Okada. Okada comes back and hits a flying hip attack in the corner followed by a DDT. Okada hits a flapjack on Omega followed by locking in the Red Ink until Omega is able to get to the ropes. Okada tries for a tombstone, but Kenny blocks it and Okada instead hits a Heavy Rain neckbreaker. Okada hits a diving elbow, but Omega gets his knees up. Omega hits a backbreaker sending Okada to the floor and then a baseball slide dropkick sending Okada over the guardrail into the announcers area. Omega runs and hits a springboard moonsault where he has to turn in midair and clears the guardrail to land on Okada, this was the first of two crazy spots in this match. As the referee begins counting Okada is having trouble getting to his feet as he is falling onto the ring crew, he gets over the guardrail finally and then as he attempts to make it back into the ring Omega throws the table that Okada had gotten from under the ring at him and lays the table on top of Okada and then comes off the apron with a double foot stomp to the gut of Okada.
Omega rolls Okada in the ring and hits him with a powerbomb for a 2 count, he then dead lifts Okada to hit a sitout powerbomb for another 2 count. Outside the ring the Young Bucks who had accompanied Omega at ringside set the table back up. Okada wants to put Okada through the table from off the apron, but Red Shoes the referee stops him. Omega pounds on a grounded Okada and Gedo who had accompanied Okada at ringside is freaking out. Okada tries to make a comeback, but Omega hits him with a rolling firemans carry and a moonsault from the middle rope. They fight back and forth until Okada sets Omega up top and hits his signature dropkick sending Omega down to the floor. Okada is looking to try and slam Omega off the apron through the table, but Omega gets out of it and then attempts to try for a One Winged Angel off the apron, but Okada slides off the shoulders back into the ring (this whole time the crowd is going crazy). Kenny slingshots into the ring, but is caught by Omega, but Omega gets out of it and chops Okada a couple of times. Omega then runs to the ropes and is back body dropped over the ropes through the table in an amazing spot as Omega had some great hang time before he crashed through the wood. The doctors and the Bucks are tending to Omega as Red Shoes begins his count, Okada goes out and gets Omega and rolls him back in the ring.
Okada comes off the top with a dropkick which gets a 2 count, Okada goes back up and this time connects with the diving elbow. Okada makes the sign for the Rainmaker (I just want to say how I think it's cool how NJPW always does the pull back of the camera to a wide shot when Okada does his Rainmaker pose, I'm really surprised someone in WWE hasn't stole this for when someone calls for their finisher). Omega knows what Okada is going for and frantically gets to the ropes, Okada pulls Omega away from the ropes and goes for the Rainmaker, but as he is about to connect with the clothesline Omega drives him into the corner. Omega tries to lift Okada to the top, but his back is hurting to bad to be able to. They trade strikes and Omega finally musters the energy to put him up on the top with Okada's back facing the ring. Omega attempts something off the top, but Okada knocks him down, Omega goes back up to try again and this time hits a top rope dragon suplex which looks insane and amazingly Omega only gets a 2 count from this as Okada gets a shoulder up. Omega looks to go for his cross legged fisherman buster, but instead turns it into a neckbreaker. Omega calls for the V-Trigger knee strike to finish off Okada, but Okada moves out of the way and hits Omega with a high angled german suplex. Okada tries for a Rainmaker, but Omega ducks out of it. Okada runs to the ropes and Omega follows him in and connects with a big knee strike to the head. Omega runs off the ropes and out of nowhere Okada hits him with a dropkick. Okada goes for another Rainmaker, but again Omega gets out of it with knee strikes followed by a reverse frankensteiner. Omega finally hits the V-Trigger and goes for One Winged Angel, but Okada flips out of it and hits a giant uppercut followed by a tombstone piledriver and then finally he connects with a Rainmaker, but Omega won't stay down as he kicks out at 2.
Omega tries to fight back from his knees, but it's having no effect on Okada so he goes for a rake to the eyes, this does nothing but piss Okada off as he hits Omega with a dropkick sending him half way across the ring crashing into the corner. Okada looks for another tombstone, but Omega fights out of it and turns it over and is able to hit his own modified package piledriver for a 2 count. They trade elbows before Omega slips behind Okada and delivers a snap dragon suplex and a running knee strike for another 2 count. Omega hits another running knee strike and then attempts the One Winged Angel, but Okada grabs his arm and hits a Rainmaker. Okada keeps a hold of Omega's arm, but Omega tries to get him to break his grip by kicking and kneeing him in the face, but Okada hangs on and hits another Rainmaker out of nowhere. Okada tries for another, but Omega counters it and hits a big dropkick, he then mocks the Rainmaker pose and goes for his own, except instead of a clothesline he hits a vicious knee to the head of Okada. Omega goes for a One Winged Angel, but Okada gets out of it and turns it into a jumping tombstone piledriver, then hits one final Rainmaker for the win to retain the IWGP Championship.
Final Thoughts
This was a really great show with only one match I didn't care for. The final four matches were really good and the main event was incredible. Good luck to all wrestling organizations especially WWE/NXT to try and put on a better show than this and I really don't think there is any way anything will be able to top the main event and with only four days into the year we already may have the match of the year.
Here is how I ranked the matches from least to most favorite (Top 5 will be added to my MOTY list)
11. IWGP Tag Team Championship 3 Way
10. NJPW Rumble
9. NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championship
8. Tiger Mask W v.s. Tiger the Dark
7. Cody v.s. Juice Robinson
6. ROH Championship
5. IWGP Intercontinental Championship
4. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
3. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship
2. NEVER Openweight Championship
1. IWGP Championship (by a mile)
I hope you enjoy my first review and next time I'll try to have it published much quicker.
10. Kazuchika Okada (c) v.s. Kenny Omega (IWGP Championship) *****
This match was amazing and will go down as an all time classic, the fact that Dave Meltzer had to make it higher than 5 stars is saying something about just how great this match is.
Kenny Omega comes to the ring with a Terminator themed entrance. The match starts out with some great chain wrestling, Okada gets Omega up against the ropes and teases a right hand, but instead just pats him on the chest. Omega dodges a dropkick and attempts a One Winged Angel which Okada gets out of and this leads to Omega spitting in his face. Okada sends Omega to the floor with a running dropkick. On the outside Okada hits a hangman DDT off the guardrail spiking Omega's head into the floor. We then went WWE style and pulled out a table from under the ring (why does Japan have such smaller tables?) this would come into play later in the match. Okada throws Omega over the guardrail and then takes a running start and dives over the guardrail onto Omega. They eventually get back into the ring and Okada takes full control.
Omega gets back into the match hitting a Kotaru Krusher and some hard forearms to the back and chops, Omega is really working over Okada's back to weaken him for the One Winged Angel. Okada comes back with some forearms of his own, but is cut off by a kitchen sink. Omega hits a hurricanrana on Okada sending him to the floor followed by a tope con hilo to the outside. Omega slams Okada back first onto the apron. He hits a missle dropkick to the back of the head of Okada for a 2 count. Omega slows things down with some rest holds and then knees Okada a few times only to be caught with an elevated fireman's carry slam by Okada. Okada comes back and hits a flying hip attack in the corner followed by a DDT. Okada hits a flapjack on Omega followed by locking in the Red Ink until Omega is able to get to the ropes. Okada tries for a tombstone, but Kenny blocks it and Okada instead hits a Heavy Rain neckbreaker. Okada hits a diving elbow, but Omega gets his knees up. Omega hits a backbreaker sending Okada to the floor and then a baseball slide dropkick sending Okada over the guardrail into the announcers area. Omega runs and hits a springboard moonsault where he has to turn in midair and clears the guardrail to land on Okada, this was the first of two crazy spots in this match. As the referee begins counting Okada is having trouble getting to his feet as he is falling onto the ring crew, he gets over the guardrail finally and then as he attempts to make it back into the ring Omega throws the table that Okada had gotten from under the ring at him and lays the table on top of Okada and then comes off the apron with a double foot stomp to the gut of Okada.
Omega rolls Okada in the ring and hits him with a powerbomb for a 2 count, he then dead lifts Okada to hit a sitout powerbomb for another 2 count. Outside the ring the Young Bucks who had accompanied Omega at ringside set the table back up. Okada wants to put Okada through the table from off the apron, but Red Shoes the referee stops him. Omega pounds on a grounded Okada and Gedo who had accompanied Okada at ringside is freaking out. Okada tries to make a comeback, but Omega hits him with a rolling firemans carry and a moonsault from the middle rope. They fight back and forth until Okada sets Omega up top and hits his signature dropkick sending Omega down to the floor. Okada is looking to try and slam Omega off the apron through the table, but Omega gets out of it and then attempts to try for a One Winged Angel off the apron, but Okada slides off the shoulders back into the ring (this whole time the crowd is going crazy). Kenny slingshots into the ring, but is caught by Omega, but Omega gets out of it and chops Okada a couple of times. Omega then runs to the ropes and is back body dropped over the ropes through the table in an amazing spot as Omega had some great hang time before he crashed through the wood. The doctors and the Bucks are tending to Omega as Red Shoes begins his count, Okada goes out and gets Omega and rolls him back in the ring.
Okada comes off the top with a dropkick which gets a 2 count, Okada goes back up and this time connects with the diving elbow. Okada makes the sign for the Rainmaker (I just want to say how I think it's cool how NJPW always does the pull back of the camera to a wide shot when Okada does his Rainmaker pose, I'm really surprised someone in WWE hasn't stole this for when someone calls for their finisher). Omega knows what Okada is going for and frantically gets to the ropes, Okada pulls Omega away from the ropes and goes for the Rainmaker, but as he is about to connect with the clothesline Omega drives him into the corner. Omega tries to lift Okada to the top, but his back is hurting to bad to be able to. They trade strikes and Omega finally musters the energy to put him up on the top with Okada's back facing the ring. Omega attempts something off the top, but Okada knocks him down, Omega goes back up to try again and this time hits a top rope dragon suplex which looks insane and amazingly Omega only gets a 2 count from this as Okada gets a shoulder up. Omega looks to go for his cross legged fisherman buster, but instead turns it into a neckbreaker. Omega calls for the V-Trigger knee strike to finish off Okada, but Okada moves out of the way and hits Omega with a high angled german suplex. Okada tries for a Rainmaker, but Omega ducks out of it. Okada runs to the ropes and Omega follows him in and connects with a big knee strike to the head. Omega runs off the ropes and out of nowhere Okada hits him with a dropkick. Okada goes for another Rainmaker, but again Omega gets out of it with knee strikes followed by a reverse frankensteiner. Omega finally hits the V-Trigger and goes for One Winged Angel, but Okada flips out of it and hits a giant uppercut followed by a tombstone piledriver and then finally he connects with a Rainmaker, but Omega won't stay down as he kicks out at 2.
Omega tries to fight back from his knees, but it's having no effect on Okada so he goes for a rake to the eyes, this does nothing but piss Okada off as he hits Omega with a dropkick sending him half way across the ring crashing into the corner. Okada looks for another tombstone, but Omega fights out of it and turns it over and is able to hit his own modified package piledriver for a 2 count. They trade elbows before Omega slips behind Okada and delivers a snap dragon suplex and a running knee strike for another 2 count. Omega hits another running knee strike and then attempts the One Winged Angel, but Okada grabs his arm and hits a Rainmaker. Okada keeps a hold of Omega's arm, but Omega tries to get him to break his grip by kicking and kneeing him in the face, but Okada hangs on and hits another Rainmaker out of nowhere. Okada tries for another, but Omega counters it and hits a big dropkick, he then mocks the Rainmaker pose and goes for his own, except instead of a clothesline he hits a vicious knee to the head of Okada. Omega goes for a One Winged Angel, but Okada gets out of it and turns it into a jumping tombstone piledriver, then hits one final Rainmaker for the win to retain the IWGP Championship.
Final Thoughts
This was a really great show with only one match I didn't care for. The final four matches were really good and the main event was incredible. Good luck to all wrestling organizations especially WWE/NXT to try and put on a better show than this and I really don't think there is any way anything will be able to top the main event and with only four days into the year we already may have the match of the year.
Here is how I ranked the matches from least to most favorite (Top 5 will be added to my MOTY list)
11. IWGP Tag Team Championship 3 Way
10. NJPW Rumble
9. NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championship
8. Tiger Mask W v.s. Tiger the Dark
7. Cody v.s. Juice Robinson
6. ROH Championship
5. IWGP Intercontinental Championship
4. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
3. IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship
2. NEVER Openweight Championship
1. IWGP Championship (by a mile)
I hope you enjoy my first review and next time I'll try to have it published much quicker.
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