King of Pro Wrestling took place today in the Ryougoku Sumo Hall, typically the biggest show on the road to WrestleKingdom after the G1 Climax final, this event saw a ton of big matches with a lot of storylines coming out of it. Here is the bulk of the action
King of Pro Wrestling took place today in the Ryougoku Sumo Hall, typically the biggest show on the road to WrestleKingdom after the G1 Climax final, this event saw a ton of big matches with a lot of storylines coming out of it. Here is the bulk of the action
The main event was the IWGP heavyweight title match between Kazuchika Okada and the ace of Pro Wrestling NOAH, Naomichi Marufuji. The two had a classic at the G1 Climax earlier in the year where Marufuji got the shock win over the champion, that win gave Marufuji the title shot here against the Rainmaker. This match probably lived up to the pace set by their previous encounter, with Marufuji coming up with several inventive encounters to the rain maker, however exciting they were, Okada would eventually overcome and finally hit the tombstone, followed by the rain maker for the big win. Go watch this match on NJPW, it’s a great one.
In the Semi Final, Kenny Omega once again retained his Tokyo Dome contract against the man he defeated in the G1 Final, Hirooki Goto. The match started hot with Goto getting some revenge on the Elite, attacking them with Omegas briefcase in response to a similar attack earlier in the tour. The Young Bucks and YOSHI-HASHI would continue to get involved in the early going, however when they were finally removed, we got to see Omega and Goto re-create some of the magic they shared in the G1 final. Goto once again found valiantly but ultimately succumbed to the One Winged Angel, confirming Omegas place in the title match at Wrestle Kingdom.
After the main event, Omega would enter the ring, standing face to face with Okada. He told Okada that he would treat him “like a little bitch, like they did in America..” Okada responded with “I know you beat Tanahashi, beat Naito, But I am not them. I am on another level; I will show you that level at the Tokyo Dome. The main event is ON!
Katsuyori Shibata successfully defended his NEVER Openweight title once again, this time against ROH standout Kyle O’Reilly. Shibata is a worrying case, even Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino couldn’t hide the concern in their voices when seeing Shibata, clearly not in a great state with his recent spine and nerve injuries. That said, Shibata is not one to take things lightly in this much hyped match.
The match had a MMA feel (as discussed on the podcast, NJPW sometimes likes to use this style of match) with both using jiu-jitsu maneuvers, flowing through transitions and attempting submissions. That eventually moved towards heavy strikes from both men, O’Reilly proving his is an equal to Shibata in most exchanges. Eventually Shibata managed to move into the rear-naked choke, sat KOR down for the PK, then choked him the rest of the way out. After the match, Shibata broke his tradition of standing tall over his opponents by bowing and offering his hand not only to KOR, but to his tag partner and recent opponent Bobby Fish as well.
Go Shiozaki would then come out to seemingly challenge Shibata for the NEVER belt, though he would stop short at attacking him, but as he left, EVIL would run in and take out Shibata, putting his own claim in for a title shot.
If Shibata was 100%, this match could have stolen the show, here is hoping takes some time off soon.
In Other News
Quick Results PRE-SHOW TIGER MASK W PROMOTIONAL CROSSOVER Tiger Mask W def. Red Death Mask CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Will Ospreay) def. Bullet Club (Adam Cole, Bad Luck Fale & Yujiro Takahashi) Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi & Bobby Fish def. CHAOS (Toru Yano, Jado, Rocky Romero & Beretta) Pro-Wrestling NOAH (Go Shiozaki, Katsuhiko Nakajima, Maybach Taniguchi & Masa Kitamiya) def. Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Manabu Nakanishi IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) (c) def. Ricochet & David Finlay IWGP Tag Team Championship Match Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) def. The Briscoes (Jay Briscoe & Mark Briscoe) (c) Los Ingobernables de Japón (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, EVIL & BUSHI) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Michael Elgin, KUSHIDA & Jay Lethal NEVER Openweight Championship Match Katsuyori Shibata (c) def. Kyle O'Reilly Tokyo Dome Contract Match Kenny Omega (c) def. Hirooki Goto IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match Kazuchika Okada (c) def. Naomichi Marufuji What People are saying about the show!
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