Csonka’s NJPW WrestleKingdom 14 (1.05.20) Preview

WELCOME back to column time with Larry! Today, I am going to discuss and preview NJPW WrestleKingdom 14, which is a two-day mega event this year. Despite the fact that I watch so much wrestling and have been doing so for so long, I still get really excited for the big events. You simply don’t watch as much wrestling as I do unless you’re a huge fan. I love wrestling, because when the wrestling is great, it’s some of the best stuff around. While many will claim WrestleMania to be “THE big show of the year,” and I get that, there is another big show that I feel is extremely important, WrestleKingdom. On January 4th & 5th, New Japan takes center stage; and in my opinion, many times, they set the tone for the entire year. So today I will break down the card, featuring the finals of the Double Gold Dash between Kazuchika Okada, Kota Ibushi, Jay White, Tetsuya Naito; plus much more I hope that you enjoy today’s preview, and feel free to share your thoughts. It’s wrestling, we love it and will disagree. The only rules are “have a take, be respectful of other’s opinions and don’t be a dick.” Also, don’t be afraid of sharing your predictions. Have fun, and always, thanks for reading.

OBVIOUSLY, DUE TO THE TIMES THE SHOWS ARE RUNNING, THIS IS BEING COMPLETED PRIOR TO THE JANUARY 4TH CARD FINISHES. WHICH LEADS TO MORE GUESS WORK THAN THE TYPICAL PREVIEW COLUMN.

NEVER Openweight Trios Gauntlet Match: Champions Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe, & Toru Yano vs. Big Tom Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI, & Robbie Eagles vs. EVIL, Shingo, & BUSHI vs. Taichi, Desperado, & Kanemaru vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi, & Chase Owens: We open with our pre-show match, the return of the NEVER Openweight trios gauntlet, which not only gets a lot of guys on the show, but also reminds us that there are NEVER Openweight trios tiles and that they have been horribly booked since their introduction. The thing is that they weren’t the worst idea, with the various factions on top of under card guys with out clear direction, these titles could have filled a void and been viable to main event the various smaller/road to style shows. Instead, they have been largely forgotten to the point that commentary even joked about their disappearance until Taguchi wore his belt on the Road to Tokyo Dome shows. Now I am not saying a title change will fix anything, but I am calling for one here. I have seen a lot of bad and boring gauntlets in 2019, but this one has some possibility to be good as there is a lot of talent in this match, and Bad Luck Fale. I think that LIJ, CHAOS and Suzuki-gun holding the titles would be an improvement over what we have currently, and I feel a Suzuki-gun win here. WINNER: Taichi, Desperado, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Jushin Liger & Naoki Sano vs. Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee: This is Liger’s final NJPW match, and a true generational battle. Sano was Liger’s first major rival when Liger started to be considered one of the best in the world and in Japan, the Liger vs. Sano rivalry was a huge deal in 1990, setting the standard for the division. Takahashi & Lee is the evolution of the business and the standard of today. Lee &Takahashi are great and Liger can still bring it, which leaves Naoki Sano as the wild card. He’s 54, and only worked 17 matches from 2017 through 2019. I imagine he plays the hits here, which could be fine. Lee & Takahashi should really win, and judging byte way Liger has opted to go out during his retirement tour and the fact that he was reportedly refusing the retirement ceremony or any big deals being made, that’s my feeling here. Thank you for everything Liger, you will be missed. WINNER: Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee

IWGP Junior Tag Team Champions El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. Roppongi 3K: El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori have reigned as champions for over 200 days, beating Roppongi 3K, and that win was also part of the story that led to Robbie Eagles leaving Bullet Club for CHAOS. Ishimori & Phantasmo have been great champions when not over booked, and fought off the Birds of Prey during their run to make it to WrestleKingdom. 3K had to work back to the top by winning the Super Junior tag league to earn a rematch. I am a bit torn on this, because in many ways I feel 3K have run third course as a tag team, and would love to see them split and embark on singles careers, especially Sho. And they don’t need to turn on each other right away, they can remain allies in CHAOS and occasionally team and then build to the heated split. But then the junior tag division is all but dead, which I am fine with as they desperately need to transition to a singular Openweight tag team division. Fin-Juice won WTL, but I have them losing on the 4th. I think Roppongi does it again, overcomes and wins their championships back here in what at the very least will be a really good match, but also has the potential to be great. WINNER: Roppongi 3K

RevPro British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA: Zack Sabre Jr. & SANADA have had a fun on again off again feud in 2019, both jockeying for a higher spot in the singles rankings and also battling when LIJ & Suzuki-gun battle. SANADA has bested Zack at least three times this year, which is how we got here. I think that these two work really well together, as their styles compliment each other and they have developed a great chemistry over the last two-years, which is why I am excited for the match. There was fear that SANADA would miss the match due to injury, but according to all reports, he’s good to go. Zack is great and always delivers, and SANADA is a guy primed for a big 2019, even if fans have stated to backlash on him a bit (following the losses to Okada really) but also steps up his game in the big matches. I have full faith in these two to deliver, and there are a lot of title changes taking place this weekend, but not here, because it’s Zack Sabre time baby. WINNER: Zack Sabre Jr.

US Champion Jon Moxley vs. Juice Robinson: What we know is that this will be Juice challenging the winner of Mox vs. Archer from night one, which I think will be Mox (winning back the title he never lost). Mox came in, instantly felt like a star, and won the title back at the Best of the Super Jr. 26: Final over Juice, worked the G1 and held the championship for 130 days. He was scheduled for the big rematch with Juice (who beat him in the G1) at King of Pro-Wrestling, but travel issues held him from appearing and in NJPW tradition, Moxley was stripped of his championship. At King of Pro-Wrestling, Lance Archer battled Juice for the vacant championship and won. Mox would return at the World Tag League finals, attacking Archer and making it known that he wants his championship back and made the challenge. I see Mox winning on night one so that we can get back to the original plan, which is the big rematch with Juice. Mox and Juice have worked extremely well together, including the excellent title change at the Best of Super Jr. 26: Final, so if they get the time, I have no doubt that this delivers. I think that Fin-Juice fails to win the tag titles on night one, but that Juice gets his revenge here, wins back the tile and reigns once again. WINNER: Juice Robinson

NEVER Openweight Champion KENTA vs. Hirooki Goto: KENTA arrived in NJPW and looked to end the memory of Hideo Itami as he returned home to Japan. He was aligned with Shibata and immediately worked the G1, had a really strong run and made it through injury free, but was met with a mixed reaction from fans. This led to his heel turn and joining with Bullet Club, turning on Ishii and Shibata is doing so. He then won the NEVER title, and they HEAVILY TEASED a match with Shibata, but Shibata didn’t get cleared and that leads us to Shibata’s high school friend and former tag team partner Hirooki Goto going for revenge. Goto’s is a weird place right now, he an obviously still deliver in big matches and always steps up at WrestleKingdom, but many have trouble investing in him because he’s geek that always loses the BIG matches, but has found success in the NEVER division, especially at WrestleKingdom. While they may go in a different direction (if KENTA retains, if Shibata is cleared,) the story and outcome feels rather simple. Goto, with Shibata in his corner, wins, gets revenge for his friend, and takes the title in what could very well be a great match. WINNER: Hirooki Goto

Double Gold Dash Loser’s Bracket Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White: I fully expect to be wrong on the Double Gold Dash stuff, knowing NJPW booking, but I also think, it’s lame to take the expected all the time and play it safe. Plus, I think that my scenario makes perfect sense. On night one, I have Naito winning the IC Title and Ibushi winning the IWGP title, leaving Okada vs. White in the loser’s bracket. I like this rematch, because while Okada did get revenge at MSG, winning the championship back, the sting of losing to White at last year’s WrestleKingdom still hurts and he wants to avenge that on the big show. It’s a natural rematch to make, it makes sense and keeps both men in a match that feels important due to their history. And that history includes some great matches, and if they work a similar style/timeframe as last year’s match, it should be great again. You can easily tease White winning since he’s done it in the past and the heel shenanigans, but I think if you “demote” Okada from the main event, he should win here to avenge last year’s loss. WINNER: Short Pants Pop Okada

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho: The build for this started back at Dominion, when Jericho lost to Okada, best him down post match and Tanahashi go involved. If I am being honest with you, this is a match I would have been much more excited about 2-years ago. Don’t get me wrong, I love my ace and the man can still deliver top tier. MOTY caliber matches and is excellent in telling a story, but as we all know the injuries have piled up and NJPW hasn’t exactly done a lot to make me invested in the ace other than he’s the fucking ace… who was booked in a fucking geek tag team in World Tag League. But I have faith in my ace to deliver, especially at WrestleKingdom. While Jericho hasn’t exactly been delivering MOTY caliber matches, he’s been great as AEW champion and I know he will be working hard here. A motivated Jericho and a motivated ace still has a lot of potential in my eyes. Jericho has a 2-2 record in NJPW, he seems to really enjoy working there, and NJPW seems to love working with him if they are willing to pay his big asking price again, and that’s because he’s proven he can move business in terms of ticket sales and New Japan World subscriptions. While a NJPW/AEW working relationship seems less likely these days, although one can hope and there are rumors swirling again, I have the feeling that Jericho wins here as NJPW will respect him as AEW champion, likely setting the stage for a rematch at Dominion 2020, bringing the feud full circle, where Tanahashi picks up the win as Jericho won’t be champion by then. Unless there is a secret NJPW/AEW working relationship that has been agreed to, I think all of this “if Tanahashi wins he gets a title shot” bullshit is a red herring. But hey, if I am wrong and Tanahashi wins, and say AEW invades at New Year’s Dash, I will be more than happy to be wrong. WINNER: Chris Jericho

IWGP Champion vs. IWGP IC Champion Double Title Match: Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi: This is a rematch of some of my favorite matches of 2019, and while too many will say they don’t want to see it because they are afraid of then going crazy and getting hurt, they will still watch because it will be great. . If we’re being honest, Naito is, physically speaking, a shell of his former self. But in his defense, he’s also a guy who can seemingly duct tape himself together like late era TNA Kurt Angle and deliver in the big time matches and I expect that here. You can certainly make the argument that Naito, if he makes it here and no matter who he faces, should win here because the dash was his idea and because he failed to win against Okada at WrestleKingdom 12, which felt like the perfect time for him to win and the crowd was completely deflated when he lost. I get that, but I also feel that they have put too much into Ibushi in 2019. They locked him down to a contract, he beat Okada, he won the G1 after failing last year against Tanahashi, and he is 37. He still looks great, isn’t broken down, and will deliver your top tier main events. For me, it feels like the ship has sailed on Naito winning at WrestleKingdom because he’s not as over as he was when he should have won, and he’s way more banged up than he was two-years ago. Which makes me think if he wins, it’s going to be a lackluster/short run due to his physical limitations, which makes it not worth it to me because it will only come off as a, “we’re sorry we fucked up two years ago” win when Ibushi’s the hot and better hand currently. I would go with Ibushi and will pick him here even if I may be completely wrong. Don’t miss out on the prime years Ibushi has left like you did with Naito. I also think if Ibushi wins, he’s confronted post match by his first challenger, the man that beat him last year, newly official heavyweight, Will Ospreay. WINNER: Kota Ibushi

JOIN 411 FOR MY LIVE COVERAGE OF THE SHOW STARTING AT MIDNIGHT ET JANUARY 5TH!

The 411 on Wrestling Podcast returns to the 411 Podcasting Network for episode 79. On the show, 411’s Larry Csonka & Jeremy Lambert hit a quick news roundup on the Raw Wedding angle and then review the January 1st edition of AEW Dynamite. Finally, Larry’s daughter Hana joins the show to discuss her favorite things in wrestling. The show is approximately 105–minutes long.

* Intro
* QUICK NEWS ROUNDUP (NJPW off AXS TV, Charlotte & Andrade Get Engaged, Thoughts on Raw’s Wedding Angle): 2:45
* AEW Dynamite (1.01.20) Review: 21:05
* Quick NXT TV (1.01.20) Thoughts: 1:04:20
* Talking Wrestling Favorites & Opening Christmas Cards With Hana Csonka: 1:13:20

* iTunes
* Spotify
* Stitcher
* Google Play

– End scene.

– Thanks for reading.