This weekend marks the first time in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s illustrious history that Wrestle Kingdom, the January 4th tradition; will actually be held as a two day event. As part of Night 2, AEW Champion Chris Jericho will be taking on NJPW ‘Ace’ Hiroshi Tanahashi.

As part of the build up to the bout, Tanahashi claimed that if he defeated Jericho he would ‘open the forbidden door’ and ask for an AEW Championship match. Up to this point the relationship between the two companies has reportedly been splintered at best. In the latest episode of Wrestling Observer Radio Dave Meltzer had further information regarding the two companies; apparently Rocky Romero (of NJPW) and Jericho went to AEW owner Tony Khan to ask if the Championship could be used in the build up to the Wrestle Kingdom match. Khan gave the green light to the idea and NJPW featured AEW and the belt on their website. Conversely AEW did not make any mention of Tanahashi or NJPW on their own site or television programming.

Meltzer also noted that there is still a lot of bad blood between the two entities, more than previously thought. Apparently there have been legal threats made from NJPW’s side, however it was not made clear what these were. Meltzer did also note that although there are a lot of barriers that a deal could still be struck between the two companies. Currently the use of the AEW belt is just a deal between Jericho and Tanahashi. With Jericho being ‘protected’ as Champion it is doubtful that Tanahashi takes the win over Jericho in the bout.

You can check out our live coverage of Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 2 here.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling is kicking off 2020 with their biggest event of the new year, Wrestle Kingdom 14. For the first time ever, Wrestle Kingdom will be a two-day event, with shows in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th and 5th. This event will be available to watch on their live streaming service, NJPW World, as well as Fite TV. Both platforms enable a choice between English or Japanese language commentary.

Day 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 14 took place on January 4th, and it made for a very eventful evening. Full results of the show can be read here and a shorter synopsis with key takeaways can be read here. Three matches from Day 1 pertained to the card of Day 2. An IWGP US Heavyweight Championship match has been scheduled for Day 2 in which Juice Robinson would challenge the winner between the title bout between Jon Moxley and Lance Archer, which ended up with Moxley the victory. Also, the “Double Gold Dash” will come to a head, as Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito left Wrestle Kingdom 14 as the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champions respectively, and will face off in the main event of Day 2. Their respective opponents, Kota Ibushi and Jay White, will also compete in a singles match.

Pre-show start times are the following. The main show starts one hour after the listed time.

• Pacific USA: January 4th, 9PM
• Eastern USA: January 5th, 12AM (Midnight)
• UK: January 5th, 5AM
• Japan: January 5th, 2PM
• East Australia: January 5th, 4PM

Stream Links

• NJPW World (English Commentary)
• NJPW World (Japanese Commentary)
• Fite TV

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 2 Card

(Pre Show) NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Gauntlet Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon Win
Teams:
– Champions: Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Ryusuke Taguchi
– CHAOS: Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Robbie Eagles
– Los Ingobernables de Japon: Shingo Takagi, EVIL & BUSHI
– Suzuki-gun: Taichi, El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
– Bullet Club: Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi

The match began with the Bullet Club and CHAOS teams. CHAOS eliminated Bullet Club when Tomohiro Ishii hit a vertical drop brainbuster on Chase Owens. The Suzuki-gun trio entered second, but also fell to the CHAOS team as Eagles hit a small package hold on Kanemaru. With two teams dispatched, CHAOS finally fell to Los Ingobernables de Japon, the third trio to enter, after EVIL hit Tomohiro Ishii with the Darkness Falls. With LIJ the last of the challenger teams standing, the champions Makabe, Yano, and Taguchi entered to determine the ultimate winner. There was a close call in which Taguchi hit Shingo Takagi with the Dodon, which he used to finish off Jushin Thunder Liger yesterday, but Takagi kicked out. BUSHI sprayed black mist in Taguchi’s face and Shingo hit him with Made in Japan and got the pinfall victory to win the match. Los Ingobernables de Japon won the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships, putting another piece in place for every member of LIJ leaving Wrestle Kingdom 14 as champions.

Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match II: Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee def. Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano (with Yoshiaki Fujiwara)
Ryu Lee entered using his new, non-CMLL namesake for the first time, donning the ROH Television Championship and a mask with Liger’s horns. He held the rope open for Hiromu Takahashi, who was wearing half-Liger styled tights, as he made his entrance. The crowd was ablaze as Jushin Thunder Liger walked down the ramp for his final match. Hiromu tagged to Lee, but they double-teamed Liger as the crowed booed. Liger rallied with tilt-a-whirl backbreakers and was able to tag in Naoki Sano, who briefly rallied with surprising agility. The match went back to Liger and Hiromu, and Liger showed great fire against his junior heavyweight successor. Crowds came unglued for his comebacks and were thrilled with his kickouts. They did not want the illustrious career of Jushin Thunder Liger to end. But it did end, when Hiromu Takahashi hit the Time Bomb on Liger to pin the junior heavyweight legend in his final match. Liger briefly spoke on the microphone to the Tokyo Dome audience, his music played, and an era of pro-wrestling ended. Jushin Thunder Liger’s retirement ceremony takes place tomorrow at New Year Dash. (12:16)

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) def. Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) (c)
Roppongi 3K rushed Bullet Club before the bell rang, presumably as payback for stealing their Super Junior Tag League trophies. Soon, the Bullet Club turned the tables with underhanded offense. In one of the most magnificent displays of ostentation, El Phantasmo hit a springboard backflip into a back rake. Theoretically, this match should have struggled to hook the crowd following Liger’s heartfelt retirement, but the crowds were solidly behind Roppongi 3K. Bullet Club attempted to do Roppongi 3K’s self-titled finish, but SHO countered it and the three-time Super Junior Tag League winners were able to take control. Phantasmo tried to get in a belt attack and a groin attack, but they were both foiled. Roppongi 3K hit a combination Shock Arrow and diving double foot stomp, to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships. (14:08)

Revolution Pro Wrestling British Heavyweight Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) def. SANADA
As is the theme of matches between Zack Sabre Jr. and SANADA, this was a match that was highly ground-based and full of counters, and counters of counters. Zack and SANADA traded control in holds and on the ground, with Zack becoming increasingly frustrated as he realized that SANADA did not succumb to his skill as easily as most others. He had promised to defeat SANADA by submission in the Tokyo Dome. SANADA took the match to stand-up and Zack couldn’t match him in that regard. Nevertheless, Zack deftly caught SANADA with a Japanese leg roll clutch to retain the British Heavyweight Championship. (12:32)

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Match: Jon Moxley (c) def. Juice Robinson
Despite his rather comedic facial hair and entrance outfit, Juice rushed Moxley as he made his entrance with the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship that he had won less than 24 hours prior. Moxley was arguably at a disadvantage considering the danger of the Texas Deathmatch with Lance Archer that he went through yesterday, but he soon was dominating Juice with strikes. Juice had won a match against Moxley on one of the final days of the G1 Climax, but he looked worse for wear at first. He urged Juice to hit him harder, and then put him out of his misery. Jon Moxley hit the Death Rider to retain the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship. (12:48)

Then, Minoru Suzuki’s music started playing. He entered in his ring gear and gave Jon Moxley a Gotch-style piledriver. He held the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship above a fallen Moxley and left the ring.

NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Hirooki Goto def. KENTA (c)
After an initial burst from Goto, KENTA kept throwing him out of the ring, eliciting heavy boos from the Dome audience. He pompously rubbed his boots in Goto’s face and kicked him while he was down, until Goto lost his patience and floored him with a single forearm. Goto was tired of KENTA’s constant belittling, calling him cute and not taking him seriously. KENTA briefly countered with kicks but Goto continued his momentum with the Ushigoroshi. A corner dropkick and a penalty kick, followed by a shotgun dropkick held Goto down for a near fall. KENTA went for the Go 2 Sleep but Goto caught his leg and headbutted him to the ground. KENTA had a second wind of furious strikes, but Goto powered through them all and delivered the GTR to win the NEVER Openweight Championship. (16:12)

Singles Match: Jay White def. Kota Ibushi
This match involved the two losers of the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championship matches from Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 1. Ibushi looked understandably disappointed as he entered, while Jay White seemed unfazed by his loss. White started the match in the lead, working over Ibushi while proclaiming that his people didn’t care about him anymore. Ibushi was not interested in being slowly worn down, and responded in his usual ferocious manner. He struck Jay down as if he were insignificant, and a wobbly White struggled to land a hit on him. White hit a fast Complete Shot and German suplex to give himself a moment of reprieve. He landed a Kiwi Crusher for a near fall as Gedo barked orders at him. White went for the Blade Runner but Ibushi blocked it with a high kick, and Gedo came in with a chair after the referee had been hit. He hit Ibushi on the back with it, but Ibushi turned around, unfazed, and felled Gedo with a slap to the chest. Ibushi hit an elevated sitout powerbomb on White, but the referee was still down. He left the ring to pull the referee back in, and hit a Kamigoye, but Gedo pulled the referee out of the ring. Gedo came in once again, and Ibushi caught him, but White used the moment to hit Ibushi with a chair, then hit the Blade Runner for the victory. (24:58)

Singles Match: Chris Jericho def. Hiroshi Tanahashi
The video package for this match showed Tanahashi making a comedic parody of the video package that played when Chris Jericho challenged him in November, wearing Juggalo face paint and pretending to sing. Chris Jericho entered wearing the AEW World Championship, after claiming that Tanahashi would be granted an opportunity to challenge for it if he defeated him at Wrestle Kingdom, which was also shown in the video package. The most interesting part of the early stages of this match was Jericho attempting to flex his muscles at Tanahashi, which seemed to amuse him. Jericho used all sorts of unconventional tactics in this match, such as DDTing Tanahashi through an announce table and flogging him with his belt. Not the championship, the belt of his pants. Jericho went for a Lionsault but Tanahashi pushed him off the ropes, and then did a High Fly Flow onto him on the outside. Jericho tried to retaliate with the Codebreaker, but Tanahashi caught him and punished him with repeated dragon screws. Tanahashi went for a High Fly Flow in the ring, but Jericho blocked it with his knees, and then hit a Lionsault for a near fall. Tanahashi blocked the Judas Effect, but Jericho got him in the Walls of Jericho. He was in it for what seemed like forever, but broke the hold and hit a Sling Blade. Tanahashi went for the High Fly Flow yet again, but Jericho stood up in time and hit the Codebreaker in mid-air. Tanahashi blocked the Judas Effect again and hit a Codebreaker of his own for a near fall. Jericho rolled through another High Fly Flow attempt and reapplied the Walls as the crowd went into a frenzy. Jericho arched into the Liontamer and Tanahashi had nowhere to go. Chris Jericho defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi by submission. (22:24)

IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito def. Kazuchika Okada
Before the two men even touched, the crowd was absolutely ballistic for this match once the bell rang. This was the match to decide the first ever Heavyweight and Intercontinental double champion, and a one-on-one encounter that had not been seen in two years. As the match began, Okada took advantage early, controlling the pacing and working over Naito’s neck. Naito briefly took control with his own neck attacks, but Okada’s big boot put him flat on his back. Okada hit the reverse neckbreaker, diving elbow drop, and then called for the Rainmaker with unexpected urgency. This Okada was not the same Okada who was toying with Kota Ibushi yesterday. Naito dodged the Rainmaker easily, but Okada compensated with attacking Naito’s damaged knees, including dropping him knee-first on a commentator’s table. Naito barely made it back to the ring before the 20-count and Okada leveled him with a missile dropkick as he made it back. Naito desperately turned the tables with his rope-assisted tornado DDT, followed by the Gloria. Okada blocked the Destino attempt, only for Naito to avoid the Rainmaker. Naito hit a running Destino for a near fall as the crowd erupted. He attempted another, but Okada blocked it and hit his signature dropkick. Naito blocked the Rainmaker with a slap to the face, only for Okada to follow up with a discus lariat. Okada hit a Tombstone piledriver and the Rainmaker, but Naito kicked out. Okada rallied the crowd as he picked Naito up for another tombstone, but Naito struggled out. Okada smashed Naito’s knee against the mat and was roundly booed for it. Okada hit a Rainmaker and held onto Naito’s wrist, then hit another. Naito countered a third rainmaker and hit a Destino for a near fall. Naito body slammed Okada in the corner and hit the Stardust Press for yet another near fall as the ring announcer called that 35 minutes had passed. Naito hit the Valentia and Destino to become the first ever simultaneous IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion. (35:37)

As Naito was about to complete the roll call of Los Ingobernables de Japon at Wrestle Kingdom, KENTA came out of nowhere and attacked him. He sat on Naito’s chest holding the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships, then left. BUSHI came out to help Naito up, and carried him to the dugout with the roll call left incomplete.

Wrestle Kingdom 14 sees the first time in New Japan history that the iconic event will be held over two days. Traditionally Wrestle Kingdom is a January 4th exclusive event. However the now 2 day extravaganza will also be taking place on January 5th. Night 1 of the event saw the start of the Double Gold Dash; where the IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Championships were defended.

Night 2

The winners of the two respective matches will go on to compete at Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom. There to determine the first ever concurrent IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion.

Naito vs Okada

Tetsuya Naito defeated Bullet Club’s Jay White to capture the IWGP Intercontinental Championship and secure his place on the January 5th card. Naito will be heading into the main event of Night 2 against Kazuchika Okada. Okada defeated Kota Ibushi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom Night 1 to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

“There’s always been a distinction between the two titles…”

Naito recently made the following comments regarding his want to become the first ever ‘dual’ Champion at Wrestle Kingdom to NJPW1972.com. “There’s always been a distinction between the two titles; people wrestling for the Intercontinental Championship haven’t mixed with the Heavyweight contenders. So rather than have people think that I’ve gone back to just wrestling for the IC title; I wanted to say, no, I’m going to have this and wrestle for the heavyweight title as well. I wanted to get rid of this idea that once you’re in that position of wrestling for the IC; you never move away from it. Bear in mind, too, that I never had any interest in the Intercontinental belt in itself. The Heavyweight title has always been the number one belt to me.”

Wrestle Kingdom is regarded as one of the biggest nights on the professional wrestling calendar. Traditionally, the event is held on January 4th inside the iconic Tokyo Dome, however in 2020, for the first time in Wrestle Kingdom history the show will be taking place over two nights, the 4th and 5th. The two night extravaganza is not the only historic first that will be occurring over the weekend, as New Japan’s first ever ‘double’ Champion will be crowned. NJPW are billing the mini 3 bout ‘tournament’ as the ‘Double Gold Dash,’ that will see Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, Jay White and Tetsuya Naito attempt to become the first ever IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion concurrently.

AEW Champion Chris Jericho will also be facing NJPW Ace Hiroshi Tanahashi with some with big implications on Night 2. This match reaches far beyond the realms of New Japan, with Tanahashi stating that he wanted a bout for the AEW Championship if he were to defeat the ‘Painmaker’ at Wrestle Kingdom. It has long been reported that the relationship between NJPW and AEW is splintered, and that the companies would not work together. However this challenge set down by Tanahashi, which was officially recognised by NJPW, may mean that there’s opportunities down the road for the two companies to work together.

You can order NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Nights 1, 2 and New Year Dash right now over at FITE.TV.

Quick Results

• Preshow Match 1 – Toa Henare, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors and Alex Coughlin b. Yuya Uemura, Yota Tsuji, Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe
• Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan b. Manabu Nakanishi and Yuji Nagata
• Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi b. Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask
• Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado) b. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Sanada, Evil, Shingo Takagi & Bushi)
• Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi) b. Bullet Club (Kenta, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens)
• IWGP Tag Team Championship Match – FinJuice (David Finlay & Juice Robinson) b. Guerrillas of Destiny (NEW CHAMPIONS)
• IWGP United States Championship Match – Jon Moxley b. Lance Archer [Texas DeathMatch Rules] (NEW CHAMPION)
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match – Hiromu Takahashi b. Will Ospreay (NEW CHAMPION)
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match – Tetsuya Naito b. Jay White (NEW CHAMPION)
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match – Kazuchika Okada b. Kota Ibushi

Here are our 5 Takeaways from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night 1:

Jyushin ‘Thunder’ Liger Receives Thunderous Reception for 1st Retirement Bout

The iconic career of one of Japan’s biggest stars will be coming to an end this weekend. Jyushin ‘Thunder’ Liger joined fellow legends Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask to open Wrestle Kingdom this year. The reaction for Liger entering the Dome for the second to last time was thunderous and the crowd remained solidly behind the Juniors division pioneer throughout. The build-up to Liger’s final moments through 2019 saw bouts against the likes of Minoru Suzuki; with even the classic ‘Kishin’ Liger making an appearance.

Liger would eventually take the loss in the bout, with Ryusuke Taguchi getting the pinfall over the masked performer. Following the match the lineup of Japanese wrestling legends would stand hand in hand with Liger to soak up the applause from the Tokyo Dome faithful.

Jyushin Liger will be heading into his final ever match in a New Japan ring tomorrow night when he teams up with Naoki Sano to take on Ryu Lee and Hiromu Takahashi.

The 8 Man Tag Matches Didn’t Feel ‘Big Enough’ For Wrestle Kingdom

As previously mentioned Wrestle Kingdom is arguably one of the biggest nights of professional wrestling for any fan. The annual event is lauded for incredible in-ring action and the culmination of storylines throughout the previous year. Including seeing the G1 winner get their shot at the IWGP Championship. The multi-man tag match format in New Japan is nothing new; you can see a slew of them throughout the ‘Road To’ events scattered throughout the year.

I can understand why the bouts were included on the night, the Liger match felt special, bringing back such legends as Fujinami. The Los Ingobernables vs Suzuki-gun match built to Zack Sabre Jr vs SANADA and the CHAOS vs Bullet Club match did build to Hirooki Goto vs KENTA; but these matches just felt out of place on a Wrestle Kingdom card. They did not detract from the overall experience. But if New Japan opts to have another 2 night event these sort of bouts should take a back seat.

Jon Moxley Will Face Juice Robinson on Night 2

Moxley defeated Lance Archer to recapture the IWGP United States Championship. The pair competed in a Texas DeathMatch that saw Moxley take the win after hitting a Death Rider DDT from the apron to two tables on the outside. Moxley was able to make the 10 count, whilst Archer fell at the last second. Juice Robinson was already confirmed for the winner of this match prior, he himself having won the IWGP Tag Team Championships just one match before, defeating Tama Tonga and Tonga Loa alongside David Finlay.

Will Ospreay and Hiromu Takahashi Elevate The Juniors Division (again)

In what was arguably the match of the night, and potentially going to be match of the year, Ospreay and Takahashi went over 20 minutes in an absolute barnburner. Throughout the match Ospreay would work on Takahashi’s previously injured neck, building the Tokyo Dome crowd to an absolute furore. The reaction for Takahashi’s return to the Dome and Wrestle Kingdom garnered the loudest reaction all night. Even eclipsing Tetsuya Naito’s reception when he appeared to face IWGP Champion Jay White.

With the incredible run that Ospreay had in 2019 and the strong start to this decade there’s a very good chance that ‘The Assassin’ will be at the top of the pile in terms of Wrestler of The Year accolades once again.

Tetsuya Naito vs Kazuchika Okada Will Headline Wrestle Kingdom Night 2

Tetsuya Naito and Kazuchika Okada will compete to determine the first ever ‘Double Gold Dash’ winner and dual IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion in New Japan history. Naito and Jay White competed on Night 1 for the Intercontinental Championship, with Naito taking the win and regaining his Championship. Kota Ibushi also challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, with Okada retaining the coveted belt. Both men will now be gunning to become the first ever concurrent IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion.

Check back tomorrow for all of the coverage for Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 14.

Hiromu Takahashi defeated Will Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom 14 to recapture the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. The match was a hard hitting, brutal affair between two of the best performers in New Japan, nay, the global stage.

Hiromu Takahashi’s Injured Neck

Throughout the match Ospreay would work on Takahashi’s previously injured neck. An injury that many believed could’ve signalled the end of Takahashi’s in-ring career.

Highlights

You can check out some of the highlights from the incredible match below. These include a fantastic Sasuke Special from Ospreay and a huge Destroyer from Hiromu. You can order NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Nights 1, 2 and New Year Dash right now over at FITE.TV.

Hiromu Takahashi will now head into Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom to face Jyushin Thunder Liger in his official retirement match. Liger joined fellow legends Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask to open Wrestle Kingdom this year. This was the penultimate retirement match for the Juniors legend, wherein he took the pinfall loss. Jyushin Liger will be heading into his final ever match in a New Japan ring tomorrow night when he teams up with Naoki Sano to take on Ryu Lee and Hiromu Takahashi. With Hiromu being IWGP Junior Champion it adds special precedence to the match, with Liger being the first man to ever defend the belt at the Tokyo Dome.

You can check out the full results from Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom right here.

*Credit to @MrLARIATO for the highlights below:

AEW star Jon Moxley defeated Lance Archer to regain the IWGP United States Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14. The former WWE Superstar took a microphone after the match and declared that he is a “gambler.” And that he wanted to leave “with nothing, or leave with everything.”

Jon Moxley – The Belt He Never Lost

This bout was Moxley’s opportunity to regain the title that he never lost in-ring. There were severe weather conditions last year around the King Of Pro Wrestling event. This meaning that Moxley was unable to travel to Japan. Lance Archer took advantage of this and faced Juice Robinson in a bout for the then vacated title; taking the win and holding the belt all the way to Wrestle Kingdom. Robinson himself was part of a bout just minutes before Moxley’s match, winning the IWGP Tag Team Championships alongside David Finlay.

A Violent Affair

The match was a violent affair. Archer at one point choking Moxley with a plastic bag, looking to suffocate the former WWE Superstar. Moxley took the win after hitting his Death Rider DDT into a pair of tables on the outside. With Jon Moxley managing to rise before the 10 count as Archer laid on the tables.

Juice Robinson

Jon Moxley will now go on to face Juice Robinson at tomorrow night’s Wrestle Kingdom event. This year marks the first ever two-day iteration of Wrestle Kingdom, with Moxley now set to defend the IWGP United States Championship just a day after this hellacious Texas DeathMatch.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling is kicking off 2020 with their biggest event of the new year, Wrestle Kingdom 14. For the first time ever, Wrestle Kingdom will be a two-day event, with shows in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th and 5th. This event will be available to watch on their live streaming service, NJPW World, as well as Fite TV. Both platforms enable a choice between English or Japanese language commentary.

Pre-show start times are the following. The main show starts one hour after the listed time. Note that the dark match will start at the listed time, but it will not be live streamed, so the live stream will begin after the first match ends.

• Pacific USA: January 3rd, 11PM
• Eastern USA: January 4th, 2AM
• UK: January 4th, 7AM
• Japan: January 4th, 4PM
• East Australia: January 4th, 6PM

Stream Links

• NJPW World (English Commentary)
• NJPW World (Japanese Commentary)
• Fite TV

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 1 Card

(Dark Match) STARDOM Women’s Wrestling Exhibition Match: Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki def. Hana Kimura & Giulia
This match was not aired on NJPW World or televised, due to television airing conflicts. Mayu Iwatani pinned Hana Kimura after a dragon suplex and a moonsault.

Pre-Show Eight Man Tag Team Match: Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura vs. Toa Henare, Clark Connors, Karl Fredericks & Alex Coughlin
This was the first broadcasted match of the WK14 pre-show. The young lions from both teams looked motivated to perform in front of the Wrestle Kingdom crowd, and were working stiffly, especially Yota Tsuji against Toa Henare. The match was fairly brief but worked at a fast clip and the crowd was loud for it. Toa Henare pinned Yota Tsuji with the Toa Bottom. (7:36)

Pre-Show Tag Team Match: TenKoji (Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan) def. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi
It was interesting to see these once-main eventers now working a pre-show match, but probably preferable to having them still main event given their varying states of physical condition. Kojima went for his signature top rope elbow drop but Nakanishi threw him to the mat. Nakanishi put him in a torture rack, but Kojima got out of it and hit a lariat for the pinfall victory. (5:47)

Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match I: Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi def. Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV
Kero Tanaka, the NJPW ring announcer from the 1990s, was here to announce the entrants for this match. Norio Honaga, one of Liger’s rivals from that same period, was the special guest referee as well. Most of the men in the match were clearly in the twilight years of their athletic ability, but they tried their best to pull off the spots they were remembered for decades ago, such as Sano’s dive through the ropes, Otani’s facewash, and Fujinami’s dragon screws and dragon sleeper. It was a very heartfelt match, despite the age showing, or perhaps because of the age showing, as it exemplified the effort these men were putting in for Liger’s sake. Ryusuke Taguchi pinned Liger with the Dodon. Afterwards, Liger’s team hoisted him up and celebrated as his music played. Jushin Thunder Liger’s last ever match is tomorrow. (8:52)

Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & El Desperado) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI)
Notably, the Suzuki-gun team entered to Zack Sabre Jr.’s music, even though Minoru Suzuki is usually considered the faction leader. Zack defends his Revolution Pro British Heavyweight Championship against SANADA tomorrow, and the match was centered around those two. The other wrestlers will be participating in the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship gauntlet match tomorrow, with the exception of Minoru Suzuki, who does not have a match tomorrow. Hard-hitting exchanges between Shingo and Taichi were the arguable highlight for this match. Shingo was exceptional at playing to the Dome audience, despite it being only his second time wrestling for an audience of this size. Zack Sabre Jr. locked a Jim Breaks Armbar on BUSHI to get the submission victory.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) def. Bullet Club (KENTA, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi)
KENTA is defending the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hirooki Goto, while the rest of the participants are participating in the NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Championship gauntlet match. Highlights of this match were Toru Yano trying to outpower Bad Luck Fale, whose “Ready for War” t-shirt may be unsavory considering current events, and Goto easily overpowering KENTA, but using Bullet Club’s help to even the odds, and Ishii suplexing Fale. Goto hit the Ushigoroshi and GTR to pin Yujiro for the win, but will he win tomorrow?

IWGP Tag Team Championship Match: FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) def. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c)
Juice and Finlay bravely stood outside the ring and tried to attack the Guerrillas of Destiny before the match began, but it backfired on them, leaving Juice laying after taking a painful-looking back body drop on the ramp. From there, G.o.D. dominated the early going, befitting of the fifth most dominant IWGP Tag Team Champions of all time, but they may have played with their food a bit too much. They hit the Magic Killer on Finlay but he kicked out of it, only to hit another for Juice to break up the pin, and receive a Magic Killer of his own for his trouble. G.o.D set up the top rope power bomb, but Finlay reversed it. Juice hit a punch to knock out Jado on the ring apron, enabling David Finlay to hit the Acid Drop on Tama Tonga. Juice Robinson and David Finlay are the new IWGP Tag Team Champions! G.o.D.’s reign ended at 312 days and 7 successful defenses.

IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Texas Deathmatch: Jon Moxley def. Lance Archer (c)
Jon Moxley came out wearing jeans, as is customary for a match with a hardcore stipulation, whereas Archer was wearing a leather jumpsuit and brandishing spray-painted trash can lids. Lots of weapons were used in this match, including a gnarly shot to Archer’s head with said trash can lid, and a suplex through chairs. Archer dived over the top rope and chokeslammed a young lion onto Moxley. A reverse crucifix powerbomb onto four chairs put Moxley down for a count of 8, but Moxley managed to trap Archer with an armbar. Archer put the EBD Claw on Moxley with a plastic bag on his hand, but Moxley was not defeated yet. Lance Archer set up two tables outside the ring, but he paid for it, as Moxley hit a Death Rider from the apron, putting them both through the two tables. Moxley was able to recover before the count of ten, but Archer could not. Jon Moxley wins back the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship that he never lost in a match to begin with. After the match, he said that he would settle the score with Juice Robinson. (14:26)

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi def. Will Ospreay (c)
Both men in this match put a lot of effort into their entrance outfits, with Ospreay having a white tiger’s head on his shoulder and Hiromu resembling a peacock more than a wrestler. As the match began, it looked like Ospreay was a step ahead of Hiromu at every turn, blocking his moves and stuffing his attempt at the apron sunset flip powerbomb. Ospreay made an effort to focus his offense on Hiromu’s head and neck, with this being his first major match since breaking his neck in July 2018. Arguably the highlight of this match was Ospreay going for the Sasuke Special and missing it, only to have Hiromu throw him through the ropes, after which he finally hit the move in one fluid motion. Ospreay hit the Oscutter for a near fall, and went for the hidden blade once again but missed, then being felled by a pop-up powerbomb. Hiromu hit another Canadian destroyer, but Ospreay blocked the Time Bomb. Ospreay finally hit the hidden blade, but Hiromu blocked the Stormbreaker to hit another Canadian destroyer, followed by the Time Bomb, but Ospreay kicked out of it. Hiromu hit a sliding forearm followed by a move that I can’t describe to finally get the victory. Hiromu Takahashi becomes the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.

IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match: Tetsuya Naito def. Jay White (c)
As Jay White bailed from the ring to start the match, Naito left as well to grab Gedo by his beard, which the audience enjoyed. Nevertheless, Gedo was there to hold onto Naito for brief moments, enabling White to take advantage. White was incredibly smug in this match, showboating and gloating to the crowd when he wasn’t working over Naito’s knees or his neck. Naito was able to outsmart Jay at times to take control back, and the crowd was almost entirely with him. Naito was able to reverse White’s offense at times, but his damaged knee slowed him down at times, which White capitalized on. White locked in the same leglock that submitted Tanahashi to win him the IWGP Heavyweight Championship last February, but Naito made it to the ropes, garnering a thunderous ovation. Naito managed a rolling kick into a pop-up spinebuster to make a labored but effective comeback. Naito spat in his face and then hit a top rope Frankensteiner, followed by the Gloria for a near fall. Gedo tried to hit Naito with a chair, but Naito stopped him with a kick to the groin, but left an opening for White to hit him with a chair. White followed up with sleeper suplexes, but Naito hit a flash Destino that he was too tired to capitalize on, followed by a reverse rana and another running Destino. White went for the Blade Runner, but Naito blocked it and hit a final Destino for the pinfall victory. Tetsuya Naito wins the IWGP Intercontinental Championship for the fifth time, an accolade only matched by Shinsuke Nakamura. (33:54)

IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match: Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Kota Ibushi
Kota Ibushi’s entrance music was slightly remixed, but Okada’s entrance was so over-the-top it has to be seen to be understood, but it included a white, glow-in-the-dark robe. Underestimating Ibushi, Okada attempted his first Rainmaker mere minutes into the match, but Ibushi dodged it easily. Ibushi never really seemed to intimidate Okada, who invited him to hit Okada harder. Okada locked in the Red Ink submission but Ibushi got his hand on the bottom rope to break the hold. Okada signaled the Rainmaker coming with his trademark pose, but Ibushi flattened him with a dudebuster and a double footstomp on his chest, followed by a triangle moonsault outside the ring and a missile dropkick off the ropes. Okada landed uppercuts and slaps on Ibushi, but Ibushi stood still and retaliated, even standing up after a front dropkick. Ibushi laid into a fallen Okada with strikes as the crowd began to boo him. Ibushi tried to throw Okada into the ring post from the apron, but Okada countered and hit an apron tombstone piledriver. Ibushi laid outside the ring until nearly getting counted out, only for Okada to pounce on him as he finally entered the ring. Ibushi countered with an incredible lariat and blocked Okada’s Rainmaker with another huge lariat of his own. Ibushi hit the Kamigoye but Okada barely kicked out of it, and gave him a dropkick when Ibushi attempted another. Okada attempted a missle dropkick, but Ibushi countered it into a sitout powerbomb. Ibushi went for a phoenix splash, but missed, leaving Okada the opening to hit the Rainmaker, which Ibushi kicked out of. Okada kept the pressure on and hit another piledriver followed by the Rainmaker for the win. Kazuchika Okada retains the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. (39:16)

After the match, Tetsuya Naito entered the ring to confront Okada. They posed with their respective championships, and Naito left peacefully, as Okada cut a go-home promo to end Day 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 14.

New Japan Pro Wrestling events are no longer airing on AXS TV. There are also no plans for NJPW events to air on American television at any point in 2020. According to comments made recently on Wrestling Observer Radio, the reason NJPW is no longer on AXS TV has to do with them not agreeing to enter into a working relationship with Impact Wrestling.

“What ended up happening was that Impact and AXS basically said that you can stay on the station if we get a working relationship going and New Japan turned down the working relationship,” said Dave Meltzer on the show.

Dave Meltzer, Fumi Saito, and Jim Valley would continue to talk about how not having American television will impact NJPW’s attempts to run shows in the United States in 2020.

The Toronto-based company, Anthem Sports and Entertainment, owns both AXS TV and Impact Wrestling. They purchased AXS TV in 2019 and Impact in early 2017.

NJPW recently revealed on social media that there are no plans to air NJPW events on American television in 2020. Events continue to air live and on-demand on NJPW World with English commentary, however.

NJPW of America

New Japan announced in 2019 the formation of an American subsidiary, NJPW of America with the plan to run events in American cities.

• NJPW Announces USA Subsidiary, NJPW of America

Ahead of his IWGP Intercontinental Championship clash against Bullet Club leader Jay White, Tetsuya Naito sat down with njpw1972.com to discuss his Double Dash Gold opportunity. Naito was clear about why he wanted to be the one to walk away on Sunday with both titles: to make history.

Naito was the first in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) to begin openly talking about being a double champion last year. For him, it’s all about making history and breaking old records.

“But when you’re the first to do something, that stays forever,” he explained. “I was trying to think of something that’s never been done before, that I could be first at. And then it hit me; double IWGP champion.”

He explained how “[…] there’s always been a distinction between the two titles; people wrestling for the Intercontinental Championship haven’t mixed with the Heavyweight contenders. So rather than have people think that I’ve gone back to just wrestling for the IC title, I wanted to say, no, I’m going to have this and wrestle for the heavyweight title as well.”

Tetsuya Naito’s Day One Ambition

The Los Ingobernables de Japon leader shared how he wanted to get rid of the idea that those competing for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship never move away from that scene. He reiterated how he’s never had any genuine interest in that championship, with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship always being his “number one belt.”

For Naito, defeating Jay White and once again becoming Intercontinental Champion is a means to an end. That end being the Heavyweight gold. Despite his goal, however, Naito stressed how “[…] the thing that I want the absolute most right now is the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. Remember, that’s what I’ve said since day one: I want to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship while holding the Intercontinental.”

Tetsuya Naito faces off against Jay White this Saturday on Night One of Wrestle Kingdom 14. The winner of their championship bout will go on to face the winner of Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship on Night Two.

Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place this weekend on 1/4 and 1/5 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.

This Saturday, during Night One of New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestling Kingdom 14 event, Tetsuya Naito gets his opportunity at reclaiming the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. He faces Bullet Club leader Jay White for the gold.

Despite his Double Gold Dash opportunity, the Los Ingobernables de Japon leader revealed in an interview with njpw1972.com that for approximately six months he considered ending his wrestling career.

“I don’t want to go into specifics, but for a while, I thought I couldn’t wrestle anymore,” Naito stated. “Truth is for about six months, maybe since May, I had this kind of crisis of confidence.”

He continued, “From about May, I’d felt something was up, and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I thought I could cover it up, but I think the result was that it did come through. I was constantly wrestling in that state of unease. I hate going to the hospital, but I really wasn’t myself for a time.”

Tetsuya Naito’s Mental Strain

Reflecting on that time, Naito compared his mindset to having an injury. He noted how “things don’t get back to 100%”. When it comes to this particular issue he’s managed to recover thanks to some time off. He stressed that, 100% or not, he felt he was close to zero due to the mental strain, believing he might not be able to get into a ring again.

If successful in his match against White, Naito would go on to compete against the IWGP Heavyweight Champion on Night Two of Wrestle Kingdom 14. Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibush clash for that title on Night One.

Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place this weekend on 1/4 and 1/5 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.

New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s IWGP United States Champion Lance Archer has shared his unsettling intentions with Jon Moxley ahead of their championship clash at this weekend’s Wrestle Kingdom 14 event.

In a video uploaded to NJPW’s YouTube account, Archer discussed their forthcoming Texas Death Match in front of a fire pit, his precious championship belt next to him as he burns an image of Moxley in the flames.

“Jon Moxley…You Will Die”

Lance Archer told Moxley, “Let me tell you a story about a lunatic who thought he could try to be strong style. He left his safe little cage, he left his friends, he left the protection of a shield, but that shield of protection is gone.”

Archer continued, “I’m talking about Jon Moxley. You lost something because you couldn’t show up to Japan. A little wind scared you away, and it was in my favor.”

“Now let me tell you about me. The Murderhawk Monster. The one you should be afraid of. The one that you shouldn’t underestimate because I’ve been coming up for eight and a half years and this is my time, and not you or anybody else—no little s***—is going to come in and take my title.”

He continued, “In this Texas Death Match, I don’t have to pin you, I just have to hurt you, so you never get up again. I’m going to do to you what your friends say they’re going to do: I’m going to set you ablaze; I’m going to burn you to the ground. I’m going to make you wish that you never showed up in New Japan Pro-Wrestling. […] I don’t care who you think you are. I don’t care if you think you’re a lunatic. I don’t care how crazy your fans think you can be. You’re not me. Jon Moxley, you will die…because everybody dies.”

Lance Archer Championship Victory

Moxley was initially stripped of the IWGP United States Championship after he was unable to attend last October’s King of Pro-Wrestling show due to Typhoon Hagibis. Lance Archer defeated Juice Robinson that night to claim the vacated title. Since then, Moxley issued his challenge to Archer for the championship.

Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place this weekend on 1/4 and 1/5 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. Archer and Moxley will clash in a Texas Death Match on Night One.

If you use any quotes from this article, please provide a H/T to SEScoops.

G1 Climax winner Kota Ibushi is ready for his IWGP Heavyweight Championship opportunity against reigning champion Kazuchika Okada. The two will face off for the gold this Saturday during Night One of New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 14 event.

Speaking with njpw1972.com, Ibushi addressed the Double Gold Dash conditions of this upcoming weekend. The winners of the IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Championship matches on Saturday will subsequently compete against one another on Sunday. The winner will then claim both belts.

Double Champion Ambitions

Looking to what it would mean to emerge victorious on Sunday as a double champion, Ibushi stated how “Whenever I’ve talked about wanting two championships, it’s always been with the dream in mind of furthering professional wrestling. Having two titles would make for the ultimate platform for that message.”

Despite the magnitude of these championship opportunities, Ibushi is clear that he has no interest in cheating or fighting dirty to ensure victory.

“I don’t want to be fighting dirty, or for there to be any doubt,” he said. “This is all about furthering wrestling in my opinion, and it has to be done the right way. […] I have faith in my own style of wrestling to do what I want to do.”

Broadening Pro Wrestling As A Medium

Ibushi confessed that one of his driving motivators in coming away with both belts lies in his ambitions to “broaden the very idea of what pro-wrestling is as a medium.” He explained, “There are so many possibilities for professional wrestling and that’s why I want to broaden it. But I don’t have a belt at the moment. I don’t have the platform that a champion has. At the moment it’s all just empty talk. That’s why the two titles are so important.”

He noted how pro wrestling has “more potential than any other sport” and how he really wants to explore these “infinite” possibilities if given the opportunity—one Kota Ibushi believes can’t be denied if he were to hold both the IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Championships.

Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place this weekend on 1/4 and 1/5 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. 

Bullet Club leader Jay White is scheduled to face off against Los Ingobernables de Japon leader Tetsuya Naito this Saturday during Night One of New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 14 event. The two will clash over White’s IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The winner of Jay White vs. Naito will challenge the winner of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship bout between Kazuchika Okada and Kota Ibushi in a Double Gold Dash match. The final victor claims both belts.

Talking with njpw1972.com, White addressed his opponent and why he wants to become a double champion in NJPW. He also discussed how he feels he has been mistreated as a champion by the promotion. 

Jay White vs Tetsuya Naito

With their match only days away, Naito has become more and more vocal about his intentions for Wrestle Kingdom 14.

White confessed he was “a little surprised when he showed a little bit of life. Myself, and the fans have come to expect somebody that’s a little bit too tranquilo. At the end of the day though, he can put all the life into this that he wants, but it’s about Wrestle Kingdom January 4. Against anybody else, maybe he can toy with their minds, but I’m on another level, especially mentally, and especially compared to Naito. Maybe he’s made things a bit more exciting, but it’ s not going to make a difference.”

Mental Edge

White then addressed how, despite being IWGP Intercontinental Champion, Jay White has not been featured in the promotional material for Wrestle Kingdom. To him, NJPW is mistreating him as they attempt to take “the mental edge away.”

“You can see, by this piece of gold right here that I’m the champion. Wouldn’t you think that as the champion, if there’s a championship match that my face would be on the graphic instead of the challenger alone? In fact, not alone! My belt was in the picture! On the mat! With Naito holding his eye open, looking at it! All that was there was my name. That’s NJPW, taking a mental edge on me, and taking the mental edge away from me. They can’t stand the thought of me being the first ever double IWGP Intercontinental and Heavyweight Champion, so they’re giving him the edge.”

Double Gold Dash

The Bullet Club leader then confessed his driving motivation in becoming a double champion. If victorious, he believes that NJPW won’t be able to “deny” him anymore. White blamed the fans for Naito being given this opportunity despite, in his opinion, not being deserving of it. 

“So why do I want to be double champion? It’s so the fans, the office, the other wrestlers, nobody will be able to deny that I am what I say I am. The best wrestler in the world.”

Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place this weekend on 1/4 and 1/5 from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 is just days away and the early betting odds for some of the top matches are out. 

NJPW will hold the Wrestle Kingdom 14 event over the course of two nights on January 4 and January 5 at the Tokyo Dome. 

By looking at the betting odds, for the first night, the odds show that IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, and IWGP Junior Heavyweight champions will all change hands. 

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Betting Odds

The (-) or smallest number indicates the favorites while the bigger number and (+) indicates the underdogs. Here are some of the betting odds: 

Night One

• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay +220 vs. Hiromu Takahashi -300
• IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny 7/10 vs. FinJuice 7/10
• IWGP US Champion Lance Archer 5/4 vs. Jon Moxley 11/20
• IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada +100 vs. Kota Ibushi -130
• IWGP Intercontinental Champion Jay White +300 vs. Tetsuya Naito
• Jushin Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, Great Sasuke and Tiger Mask 1/4  vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Ryusuke Taguchi 5/2
• EVIL, SANADA, Shingo Takagi and Bushi (LIJ) 11/20 vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr. and El Desperado (Suzuki-gun) 5/4
• Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Yoshi-Hashi (CHAOS) 13/10 vs. Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, KENTA, Yujiro Takahashi (Bullet Club) 13/25

Night Two

• Hiroshi Tanahashi -130 vs. Chris Jericho +100 
• IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Taiji Ishimori and Phantasmo 5/4 vs. Roppongi 3K 11/20
• British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. 9/10 vs. SANADA 4/5
• NEVER Openweight Champion KENTA 7/10 vs. Hirooki Goto 7/10
• Jushin Liger and Naoki Sano 7/10 vs. Ryu Lee and Hiromu Takahashi 7/10

This is widely considered the biggest event of the year for New Japan Pro Wrestling as it’s their version of WWE’s WrestleMania show. Wrestle Kingdom will air on NJPW’s streaming service, NJPWWorld.

• Full Cards for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14

Kenny Omega recently appeared on the Young Bucks’ “Wrestlers Ordering Room Service” YouTube show and spoke about the issues between him and his former promotion, New Japan Pro Wrestling.

“I was the lowest-paid guy on the roster for like a year and a half,” Omega said regarding his time in NJPW.

Omega and the Bucks then spend some time talking about the last couple of years they spent in New Japan. Omega then addressed his final Wrestle Kingdom match against Hiroshi Tanahashi.

“There is a huge long story with the build-up to my match with Tanahashi how they completely changed the narrative,” Omega said. “At first, it was supposed to be a 50/50 story between myself and Tanahashi, people were supposed to be torn.”

Omega has it specifically written into his AEW contract that he can wrestle with NJPW. Despite this, Omega has not returned to the company since.

“Once they knew that I was going they did whatever they could to do a complete media blitz to make it look like I was this terrible person,” Omega continued. “Once I started to pick up on that it actually inspired me to make the video that I made.”

• Kenny Omega Confirms NJPW Wasn’t Behind Japan Travel Issues

In a recent interview with Tokyo Sports, Hiroshi Tanahashi insinuated that he should get a shot at Chris Jericho’s AEW World Championship if he is victorious over him at Wrestle Kingdom. Jericho and Tanahashi will meet on the second night of the event, January 5th, 2020 inside the Tokyo Dome.

Jericho recently published a video on Instagram responding to Tanahashi’s comments. In the video, Jericho agrees to give Tanahashi an AEW World Championship match if he beats him at Wrestle Kingdom.

“What you don’t know is I speak and read perfect Japanese,” Jericho says in the video. “I read what you said about the Tokyo Dome. You said if you can beat me that you will enter the forbidden portal and request a title shot for the AEW Championship. I thought it’s a great idea. So, Le Champion asked the chairman of the board, the owner of AEW Tony Khan if it is ok to grant your request and he said yes. If you can beat me in the Tokyo Dome, I will give you a championship match for the AEW title.”

Jericho’s video can be viewed below:

• Hiroshi Tanahashi Wants AEW Title Shot If He Beats Chris Jericho At Wrestle Kingdom

“If the Tanahashi wins and develops into a championship, the relationship between the two organizations may be new,” a loose translation of some of the article reads. 

New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that there are currently no plans for their events to air on American television in 2020. NJPW confirmed that this includes the 2-night Wrestle Kingdom event from January 4th to 5th, 2020.

The promotion took to Twitter to confirm the news:

NJPW events had previously aired on AXS TV albeit on a delay. The station is focused more heavily on Impact Wrestling now, however, as Anthem Sports and Entertainment owns both companies. Anthem purchased AXS TV earlier this year and became the new broadcast home for Impact Wrestling.

NJPW events will continue to air on New Japan World live and with English commentary, however.

While no official word has been given from AXS TV on the matter, it does appear as though the relationship with New Japan which began in 2014 is now over.

NJPW also announced the formation of NJPW of American this fall.

• NJPW Announces USA Subsidiary, NJPW of America

Wrestle Kingdom Lineup

• Full Cards for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 1 (January 4, 2020)

• Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match #1: Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (with El Samurai) vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhiko Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi (with Kuniaki Kobayashi) (Special Referee: Norio Honaga)
• Eight Man Tag Team Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) vs. Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado)
• Eight Man Tag Team Match: CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Bullet Club (KENTA, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi)
• IWGP Tag Team Championship: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (c) vs. FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay)
• IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Texas Deathmatch: Lance Archer (c) vs. Jon Moxley
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Jay White (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kota Ibushi

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 2 (January 5, 2020)

• Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match #2: Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano (with Yoshiaki Fujiwara) vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee (formerly known as Dragon Lee)
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)
• Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. SANADA
• IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Lance Archer OR Jon Moxley (c) vs. Juice Robinson
• NEVER Openweight Championship: KENTA (c) vs. Hirooki Goto
• Singles Match: Loser of IWGP Heavyweight Championship match vs. Loser of IWGP Intercontinental Championship match from the previous day
• Singles Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho 
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: IWGP Heavyweight Champion vs. IWGP Intercontinental Champion

World Wonder Ring Stardom, a women’s wrestling promotion in Japan, held their Year-End Climax 2019 event today at Korakuen Hall, in Tokyo. During the show, the promotion announced that their wrestlers would be participating at New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 14 event on January 4th, 2020 in the Tokyo Dome.

STARDOM wrestlers will participate in a dark match on the first day of NJPW’s two-day Wrestle Kingdom event. The participants and type of match have yet to be announced. The match will not be televised or recorded in any form: only the live attendees will see it.

Bushiroad, the parent company of NJPW, purchased STARDOM in October 2019, and this is the first instance of collaboration on a major event for the two promotions. The STARDOM wrestlers who participate in this special dark match will be the first women to wrestle in the Tokyo Dome since Joanie Laurer, better known as Chyna, wrestled on an NJPW Tokyo Dome show in 2002.

Hiroshi Tanahashi will take on Chris Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom next year. Jericho vs Tanahashi is scheduled to take place on night 2 of the event, January 5th, 2020. In a recent interview with Tokyo Sports, Tanahashi said that if he is victorious over Jericho he will then ask for a shot at the AEW World Championship.

Tanahashi’s comments in the Japanese-language interview are available here.

A loose translation of Tanahashi’s comments includes that if he beats Jericho on January 5th, 2020, he would open “the forbidden door” by asking for a shot at the AEW World Championship. The article continues to speculate that Tanahashi beating Jericho could lead to a new relationship between the two wrestling promotions.

“If the Tanahashi wins and develops into a championship, the relationship between the two organizations may be new,” a loose translation of some of the article reads.

Wrestle Kingdom Nights 1 & 2 Lineups

• Full Cards for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 1 (January 4, 2020)

• Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match #1: Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (with El Samurai) vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhiko Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi (with Kuniaki Kobayashi) (Special Referee: Norio Honaga)
• Eight Man Tag Team Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) vs. Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado)
• Eight Man Tag Team Match: CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Bullet Club (KENTA, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi)
• IWGP Tag Team Championship: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (c) vs. FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay)
• IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Texas Deathmatch: Lance Archer (c) vs. Jon Moxley
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Jay White (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kota Ibushi

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 2 (January 5, 2020)

• Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match #2: Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano (with Yoshiaki Fujiwara) vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee (formerly known as Dragon Lee)
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)
• Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. SANADA
• IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Lance Archer OR Jon Moxley (c) vs. Juice Robinson
• NEVER Openweight Championship: KENTA (c) vs. Hirooki Goto
• Singles Match: Loser of IWGP Heavyweight Championship match vs. Loser of IWGP Intercontinental Championship match from the previous day
• Singles Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho 
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: IWGP Heavyweight Champion vs. IWGP Intercontinental Champion

New Japan Pro-Wrestling has confirmed the full cards for their annual Wrestle Kingdom event in January at the Tokyo Dome. For the first time ever, Wrestle Kingdom will be a two-day event, taking place on January 4th and 5th, 2020. It will be a 16-match event spread over two eight-match shows. Both shows will be streamed live with the option of English commentary on NJPW World.

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 1 (January 4, 2020)

• Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match #1: Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask IV (with El Samurai) vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhiko Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi (with Kuniaki Kobayashi) (Special Referee: Norio Honaga)
• Eight Man Tag Team Match: Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, EVIL, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) vs. Suzukigun (Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado)
• Eight Man Tag Team Match: CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. Bullet Club (KENTA, Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi)
• IWGP Tag Team Championship: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa (c) vs. FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay)
• IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Texas Deathmatch: Lance Archer (c) vs. Jon Moxley
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
• IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Jay White (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kota Ibushi

Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 2 (January 5, 2020)

• Jushin Thunder Liger Retirement Match #2: Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano (with Yoshiaki Fujiwara) vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee (formerly known as Dragon Lee)
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)
• Rev Pro British Heavyweight Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. SANADA
• IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: Lance Archer OR Jon Moxley (c) vs. Juice Robinson
• NEVER Openweight Championship: KENTA (c) vs. Hirooki Goto
• Singles Match: Loser of IWGP Heavyweight Championship match vs. Loser of IWGP Intercontinental Championship match from the previous day
• Singles Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: IWGP Heavyweight Champion vs. IWGP Intercontinental Champion

Jon Moxley has made his return to NJPW (New Japan Pro Wrestling). 

He did so when he made a surprise appearance at the NJPW World Tag League finals on Sunday where he was looking for his IWGP US Championship.

Moxley made his way through the crowd where he would attack Lance Archer and Minoru Suzuki as he connected with the paradigm shift to both stars. He would get a microphone in order to issue a challenge to Archer in a Texas Deathmatch for the IWGP US Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 14.

The segment ended with Archer and Moxley brawling. 

Jon Moxley Plans To Wrestle For NJPW For The Rest Of His Career

Moxley was stripped of the title in October because he was forced to miss the NJPW King of Pro Wrestling card due to weather issues (Typhoon Hagibis hitting Japan). He was supposed to defend the title against Juice Robinson at the show.

As a result, NJPW made changes to the card with Archer stepping in and winning the title.

NJPW’s biggest event of the year will be two days at the Tokyo Dome on January 4 and January 5. As of this writing, there’s no word yet on which night this match will take place at the show.

All Elite Wrestling’s Jon Moxley recently discussed if he would wrestle in Japan again in the future while appearing for an interview with Chris Van Vliet.

The former IWGP US Champion said that as long as he will be wrestling, we can expect to see him perform in the East Asian nation. “As long as I’m wrestling, I’ll still wrestle in Japan,” Moxley said.

He added that since AEW allows wrestlers to appear for other promotions, fans will be able to see more of him in New Japan Pro Wrestling.

Jon Moxley in New Japan Pro Wrestling

Jon Moxley made his debut for New Japan Pro Wrestling in May 2019, challenging Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States Championship at the final night of the Best of the Super Juniors 26 event on June 5. He went on to defeat Robinson to become the US Champion.

He also participated in the G1 Climax 29 Tournament and won his first five matches against Taichi, Jeff Cobb, Tomohiro Ishiii, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito. He would then go on a sort of a losing streak, and fail to advance to the finals with a final standing of 10 points.

Moxley was stripped of his US title as he was unable to defend it in on King of Pro Wrestling due to travel issues from Typhoon Hagibis.

NJPW President Harold Meij recently sat down with Fox Sports Australia. During the conversation, Meij spoke about a possible future relationship between his New Japan Pro Wrestling and the upstart All Elite Wrestling league.

Meij did not rule out the possibility of the two wrestling promotions working together someday. “We’re very open to working with anyone, we don’t exclude anyone. But it does take time to create that trust between companies,” Meij said.

“And right now AEW is still in the exploratory phase; they’re trying to establish themselves as a brand, what is that brand?” he asked. “They’re about one year in, and we’re starting to see what their brand is all about. Then we’ll have to see if that brand fits our brand of course.”

Meij would continue to say that as of right now, the AEW style is different than NJPW’s.

“At this stage, they still have different styles than we do, and that’s the only thing. We’re looking at what their brand positioning is and whether it complements ours.”

NJPW’s Relationship With Ring of Honor

According to comments Meij made during this interview, the relationship between ROH and NJPW is still strong. He was asked if the newly formed New Japan of America promotion will hurt their alliance with ROH.

“I actually think it complements a lot of the relationships that we have, especially with ROH for example,” Meij responded. “As we do these shows and more fans fall in love with our product, as we do more joint matches with ROH – whether ROH comes to us or we go to them – the value of the total package increases. They would see that our wrestlers are very good and so are the ROH ones.”

When asked if ROH and NJPW will continue to share talent, Meij stated that they would.

“Oh yes. We’re here for the long run with partners that we tie up with.”

The full interview can be read here.

It turns out that former WWE Superstar Enzo Amore appears to have genuine issues with New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Tama Tonga.

In an interview with Chris Van Vliet, Amore opened up about his problems with Bullet Club’s “Bad Boy.” He stated how it all stems from Tonga figuratively taking food off his plate.

Tonga was one of the men involved during Amore and Big Cass’ run-in during the ROH/NJPW co-promoted G1 Supercard show back in April. Amore and Cass would jump the barrier following a tag team match involving The Guerrillas of Destiny. The teams were allegedly not aware that they would do this, causing confusion amongst wrestlers and fans worldwide.

“I’m Going To Walk Up To You And Put My Hands Up”

“There’s a guy, Tama Tonga, who took food off my plate, so if I ever saw him out in public, same thing with Joey [Janela],” Amore said, referring to his altercation with Janela at a blink-182 concert.

He continued, “I’m going to walk up to you and put my hands up. The difference is I don’t think Tama’s going to walk away and I don’t give a damn because if you book him on the same thing as me, you ain’t getting me because that’s his doing. If you’re going to blackball me, Tama Tonga, the ‘gatekeeper’ of New Japan [Pro-Wrestling], throw a hissy fit, got upset, he got worked just like everybody else did that day, that’s what we love about pro wrestling.”

“Now, if you’re not in on it and you get upset about it, and you have the nerve to throw shade at my name, who didn’t do anything to you, except take spotlight from you, alright, that’s all I did. If you have a problem with getting over, that ain’t my problem. That ain’t my problem.”

Amore confessed that, although he isn’t completely tuned into the pro wrestling business at the moment, he has watched a few AEW matches. He also made sure to watch Finn Balor vs Brock Lesnar. He noted that he still has a foot in the industry, teasing he could have something planned for the future.

H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

All Elite Wrestling’s Jon Moxley may be returning to Japan for New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom event in January. 

It was noted by Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter that there is word Moxley could be heading back to NJPW. If he does, it is speculated he could be working one of the two Wrestle Kingdom dates. 

“It hasn’t been announced but the belief is Jon Moxley is working the Tokyo Dome. From those in AEW, they believe that to be the case but weren’t 100 percent on it.”

He noted that Moxley could be returning to wrestle for the IWGP United States Championship against current champion Lance Archer.

Vacated Championship

Moxley was forced to vacate the title after he was unable to travel to Japan due to weather conditions for October’s King of Pro Wrestling event. He was scheduled to defend against Juice Robinson. Archer stepped in instead at the last moment, subsequently winning the first major singles championship of his career.

NJPW’s recent Showdown in San Jose show reignited issues between the two after Archer defeated Robinson’s friend David Finlay. Meltzer added that New Japan could settle on a triple threat match for the championship between Moxley, Robinson and Archer.

Wrestle Kingdom 14 takes place from Japan’s Tokyo Dome. The event will take place over two days on January 4th and 5th, 2020.