NJPW/GFW Wrestle Kingdom 9 Review

NJPW.co.jp

Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe for the NEVER Openweight Championship

This match was advertised as a brawl, a “slobberknocker,” if you will, and it came through on that from the beginning.

The match started with attempted shoulder tackles, punches, and resounding chops.

They really played to Ishii’s role as the fan-favorite, as he took a serious beating in this match, yet showed an amazing amount of fighting spirit. Don’t worry though, because he dealt out a good bit of punishment too.

Makabe looked fantastic though, and pulled out all the stops, finally putting Ishii away with a knee drop off the top rope, leaving the crowd stunned.

Makabe defeats Ishii via pinfall to win the NEVER Openweight Championship.

4 out of 5 stars.

Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

Taguchi controlled the early going in this match, but The Young Bucks provided the first example of Bullet Club’s interfering ways, something which doesn’t happen much in NJPW, and Omega took over.

Omega who is never short on antics, was full on them in this match. He shouted out many random things, and did his very odd chainsaw maneuver, which Matt Striker had a great explanation for on commentary.

This match was filled with the wonderful junior heavyweight wrestling that NJPW can provide. One of my favorite parts of a show like this is getting the junior heavyweight tag team match, with eight bodies flying around and putting on a show, then getting this match where there’s only two moving parts, not counting The Young Bucks, who really didn’t do too much.

Taguchi fought hard to try and combat The Young Bucks, but in the end, they certainly impacted the match, and Omega hit One Winged Angel, an electric chair driver.

It wasn’t a perfect match, but it was damn good.

Omega defeats Taguchi via pinfall to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

3.75 out of 5 stars.