WhiteTail Wrestling

New Japan Pro Wrestling kicked off 2024 with their traditional January 4th show from The Tokyo Dome with Wrestle Kingdom 18. While NJPW is nowhere near their peak where in 2020 just before the pandemic they were able to pack over 70,000 into the dome over two nights Wrestle Kingdom this year drew a solid crowd of 27,422.

The show itself while not at the level of the greatest Wrestle Kingdom shows was of a very high quality and contained three matches which were at the level of match of the year contenders including a very memorable technical battle between Kazuchika Okada and Bryan Danielson. In addition to these matches there were another two matches that I would recommend.

After the almost traditional New Japan Ranbo battle royal the main card kicked off with Catch 22 (Francesco Akira and TJP) defeating Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Maloney) to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Championship in a match that was slightly disappointing and featured TJP become some mythical creature based off his Flipino heritage. The new president of New Japan Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Zach Sabre Jr in a very good match to become the NJPW World TV Champion. This was a well paced match with Tanahashi even at the end of his career showing once again his ability to work a quality match despite being limited due to injury and age.

Two future stars faced each other in a good match as Yuya Uemura pulled off the upset victory over Yota Tsuji which is Uemura’s first big singles win since returning from excursion late last year. Tsuji needs to get a push soon but with his ability and charisma this defeat won’t hurt him too much. I rarely enjoy watching the House of Torture ( EVIL & Ren Narita) and this match certainly wasn’t all that great but it wasn’t awful despite the usual nonsense and it does make sense in that Narita needs to built up as he just joined HOT after earlier teaming with the man he defeated Shota Umino who teamed up with Kaito Kiyomiya in this match.

Tama Tonga defeated Shingo Takagi to become Never Openweight Champion in the first great match on the card. Putting the belt on Tonga who later revealed he is leaving NJPW at the end of the month doesn’t make a lot of sense but the match was pretty damn good. This had your typical New Japan style building to an exciting climax with hard hitting moves and near falls with the crowd invested in the action. Takagi is a genius in these sort of matches and Tonga is a good wrestler in the right match and the right opponent.

The new Guerrillas of Destiny (El Phantasmo & Hikuleo) defeated Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) for the IWGP Tag Team Championship in a good match but I have to say for this level of match I expected better. Hikuleo for instance is an improving wrestler but I have doubts in his ability to reach a higher level and there is going to be a ceiling to his matches.

After a long reign Hiromu Takahashi was defeated by El Desperado in the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match. This was great and showed how good these two are when they face each other in a big match in which they rarely miss. This division lacks depth with these two men virtually carrying the division in recent years. It will be interesting to see where they go from here firstly with Desperado and how he can perform in this reign and the length of it and secondly with Takahashi who has done everything in this division and probably needs to consider a move to Heavyweight where he can feature in new stories and new matches and he would be a great addition to the G1 Climax later this year.

David Finlay was the third wheel in what should have been a classic match between Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay. Finlay wins the new IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship which was perhaps understandable given that Moxley is an AEW wrestler and Ospreay is soon going to be the same. However it would have been perfectly possible for Ospreay to drop the title to a future star such as Moxley’s protege Shota Umino who would have been a perfect person to win the title off Ospreay. Instead Finlay will hold the title despite being a lifetime midcarder that lacks the star power to be taken seriously at the top of the card. Despite Gedo’s best efforts Finlay is never going to be a star and the rub from Ospreay is completely wasted on him. In terms of the match. It was awesome when Ospreay and Moxley were in the ring with some epic sequences of action but not as good when Finlay was in the ring with Finlay well below his opponents and having his War Dogs Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd interfere in the match. A contender for match of the year but was soon outclassed by the next match when it could have been better with some brave booking.

Kazuchika Okada defeated Bryan Danielson in a classic dream match which improved on their previous encounter which was hampered by Danielson breaking his arm. This was a technical classic which you would expect from Danielson but the match also featured big match Okada with some awesome action sequences and a great drama filled finish. Danielson was obviously delighted to fulfill a dream and wrestle a big match at the Tokyo Dome and it really showed. An early favorite for match of the year.

The main event and finally a chance for Naito to get another Wrestle Kingdom moment and perhaps his roll call after KENTA had ruined his moment in 2020 when he defeated Okada. In this match he worked against his former LIJ companion SANADA who had left for the new faction Just 5 Guys and held the title since defeating Okada at Sakura Genesis last year. This was an awesome match. SANADA has struggled as champion despite being relatively popular in Japan he does not have the charisma nor the wrestling style and ability to be a truly great champion. He is a very solid worker capable of putting on a great match with the right opponent and if he has his working boots on which he certainly did today. The crowd were truly epic here making an immense amount of noise for their hero Naito. Naito is coming to the end of his career but he was also up for it in this match pulling off all his big moves and finally winning the title to the delight of his fans. As he was about to give his roll call when he was jumped by EVIL and Dick Togo but SANADA saved the day and left the ring to Naito with a rematch coming up at New Beginning the show finished with the Naito roll call and the crowd left happy after a memorable Wrestle Kingdom. 

Match Reviews

New Japan Ranbo – **

Catch 22 vs Bullet Club War Dogs - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship – **

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Zach Sabre Jr – NJPW World Television Championship – ***+

Yuya Uemura vs Yota Tsuji – ***

House of Torture vs Kaito Kiyomiya & Shota Umino – **

Tama Tonga vs Shingo Takagi – Never Openweight Championship – **** – Recommended Match

GOD vs Bishamon – IWGP Tag Team Championship – ***

El Desperado vs Hiromu Takahashi – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship – **** – Recommended Match

David Finlay vs Jon Moxley vs Will Ospreay – IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship – ****+ – Recommended Match

Kazuchika Okada vs Bryan Danielson – ***** – Recommended Match

Tetsuya Naito vs SANADA – IWGP World Heavyweight Championship – ****+ – Recommended Match

Wrestler Awards

Kazuchika Okada – Platinum – 10 Points

Bryan Danielson – Platinum – 10 Points

Tetsuya Naito – Platinum – 10 Points

SANADA – Platinum – 10 Points

Jon Moxley – Platinum – 10 Points

Will Ospreay – Platinum – 10 Points

David Finlay – Gold – 5 Points

El Desperado – Gold – 5 Points

Hiromu Takahashi – Gold – 5 Points

Tama Tonga – Gold – 5 Points

Shingo Takagi – Gold – 5 Points

Hiroshi Tanahashi – Silver – 2 Points

Zach Sabre Jr – Silver – 2 Points

Yuya Uemura – Bronze – 1 Point

Yota Tsuji – Bronze – 1 Point

El Phantasmo – Bronze – 1 Point

Hikuleo – Bronze – 1 Point

Hirooki Goto – Bronze – 1 Point

YOSHI-HASHI – Bronze – 1 Point

Promotion Awards

NJPW – Platinum – 10 Points