NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 Review: Kazuchika Okada vs. Kenny Omega

IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Result: Tetsuya Naito defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

Rating: 4.75 out of 5 stars

Naito went to work on Tanahashi’s legs in the early part of this match, using different holds and smashing this body part against the mat multiple times. Tanahashi somewhat played this up, but moved around sort of well still. Once Naito played to the leg later in the match, then Tanahashi sold it a little more.

Some of the most brutal falls of the night were taken by Naito. The first came with a sling blade on the apron and the second with the top turnbuckle cross-body from Tanahashi, which made Naito land hard on the floor. The officials had to check to see if he was alright, but of course, they continued on.

What a match, though. Naito and Tanahashi were pretty much expected to put on something great and they did. In what’s turning out to be a three-match show, the second of the three delivered as the top one of the night for NJPW’s No. 2 title. It took about four Destinos from Naito (throughout the match) to put away Tanahashi, including two at the end.

Tanahashi dropping two consecutive Wrestle Kingdom matches is pretty much unheard of, but at age 40, the tides are turning. Naito, Kazuchika Okada, and Kenny Omega are some of the new faces taking over NJPW with Tanahashi starting to take a secondary role. How will this develop in 2017?