Follow along with our review of the NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11 pay-per-view.
On Wednesday night, New Japan Pro Wrestling will present the Wrestle Kingdom 11 event. This is set to take place from the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. This is considered NJPW’s WrestleMania, or their top event of the year. The heavily hyped feuds and just about every top star will wrestle at the show, including someone making their company debut.
The main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11 will see Kazuchika Okada defend the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kenny Omega. This is Okada third consecutive title match at this show, but it’s also his second straight year he’s defended the belt. Omega is new to the top title picture for NJPW. He won their G1 Climax event in the summer to earn this opportunity, and will look for a chance to capture the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time.
Cody Rhodes will make his NJPW debut as a member of the Bullet Club. Now known as the “American Nightmare,” Cody (as he’ll be known as due to WWE trademarking ‘Cody Rhodes’) will face fellow former WWE star, Juice “CJ Parker” Robinson. Will Cody get his first-ever win in Japan?
Kyle O’Reilly and Adam Cole will have a rematch for the ROH World Championship as one of the undercard bouts. This comes a little over one month after O’Reilly won the belt off Cole at the Final Battle pay-per-view. Can Cole bring the belt back to the Bullet Club?
Next: 15 WWE Predictions for 2017
The show will kick off at 3:00 a.m. ET with the New Japan Rumble. The full match card will then get underway as the show stretches into daylight in the United States. Some of the matches seen at this show will be among the best of 2017, so get ready and follow along with our review and catch up with the show online!
New Japan Rumble
Result: Michael Elgin wins by last eliminating Cheeseburger.
The New Japan Rumble is somewhat different from your standard over-the-top-rope match. Wrestlers can get pinned or submitted in this, which happened on a few occasions.
Billy Gunn and Michael Elgin competing against each other in this match is the pairing you never knew you wanted (not really). It was a random combination of wrestlers from completely different eras, but made for some fun back and forth for about a minute or two.
Here’s Japanese wrestling legend Kuniaki Kobayashi making his way to the Rumble:
Scott Norton would make a surprising appearance during this match. He is a former two-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion, having stints with NJPW in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
Elgin would win by last eliminating Cheeseburger. He ran the table by being the first one to enter and the final one remaining.
Tiger Mask W vs. Tiger Mask the Dark
Result: Tiger Mask W defeats Tiger Mask the Dark via pinfall.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
This is NJPW’s anime match, something that’s very much popular in Japan. Kota Ibushi is actually under the Tiger Mask W mask and has been for the past few months since “returning” to NJPW. ACH is also Tiger Mask the Dark.
Not too much to note here. This match was about promoting a show in Japan and only used to warm up the fans for Wrestle Kingdom 11.
IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship Match
The Young Bucks (c) vs. Roppongi Vice
Result: Roppongi Vice defeats the Young Bucks via pinfall to win the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Before the match started, the Young Bucks started calling out Matt and Jeff Hardy. They are feuding for the ROH World Tag Team Championships in ROH. Commentary also noted how they have called out other tag teams, including multiple WWE duos.
The Bucks had one of the craftiest fakeouts I’ve seen. They walked out of the ring, lured Roppongi Vice to them on the stage, superkicked them, and ran to the ring. Beretta and Romero would make it back, though.
The ending would see Roppongi get the win with the quick pin as the Bucks looked for More Bang for Your Buck. They would become the IWGP Je. Tag Team Champions.
NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship Gauntlet
Result: EVIL, Bushi, and Sanada win the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship.
This would see David Finlay, Ricochet, and Satoshi Kojima defend their belts against a handful of other teams.
After coming out last, the champions would get bested by EVIL, Bushi, and Sanada for the win. This came off Evil hitting his finisher to get the win.
Cody Rhodes vs. Juice Robinson
Result: Cody Rhodes defeats Juice Robinson via pinfall.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Cody made his debut here, also as a member of the Bullet Club. So, he had to do the customary, “I’m going to make a gun hand gesture to show I’m a Bullet Club member,” which every wrestler in the faction does. This then led to an early opening beatdown from Cody.
Rhodes and Robinson would trade offense for most of the rest of the match. However, after a Cross-Rhodes, Cody would win. This turned into a solid taste of what the former WWE star could do in NJPW going forward. He may make for an intriguing member of the Bullet Club.
ROH World Championship Match
Kyle O’Reilly (c) vs. Adam Cole
Result: Adam Cole defeats Kyle O’Relly via pinfall to win the ROH World Championship.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Hands down the most shocking part of Wrestle Kingdom 11 (so far) is Cole taking the ROH World Championship off O’Reilly. This comes after reports of O’Reilly not being under contract with ROH coming to light.
O’Reilly had just won the belt at Final Battle, his first-ever world title reign in ROH. It made for a crowning moment and potentially set up a long run into 2017. However, this obviously wouldn’t be the case with the loss just four days into the new year.
Speculation will probably begin on O’Reilly going to WWE since he lost the belt and isn’t under contract. This would be him following Roderick Strong and Nigel McGuinness, both of whom left for the Leader in Sports Entertainment over the past few months.
IWGP Tag Team Championship Match
Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa (c) vs. Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii vs. Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma
Result: Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii win via pinfall to become the IWGP Tag Team Champions.
Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
A pretty big shocker here with Yano and Ishii being the “wild cards” here, as commentator Steve Corino noted. They surprisingly ended the reign of Tonga and Loa and outlasted Makabe and Honma, two formidable duos in the NJPW tag team division.
This represents the fourth title change of the morning as every match title match has seen this happen. Is it too much?
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship Match
KUSHIDA (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi
Result: Hiromu Takahashi defeats KUSHIDA via pinfall to win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
An early Takahashi attack on KUSHIDA set the tone for this match. It would turn out to be a wild affair between these two wrestlers, which got borderline dangerous at times with what they did for about 15 minutes.
KUSHIDA took about four bumps to the back of the head during this match, the worst of which can be seen below. Takahashi hit a sunset flip powerbomb onto the floor and had officials checking on KUSHIDS for a legitimate injury.
After that, these two would continue to go all-out with high-flying moves that either made you cringe or be in awe with their athleticism.
This title change would be the fifth one of the evening, with every single match seeing the belt swap hands. With three more championships on the line, are we going to hit a perfect eight for eight?
NEVER Openweight Championship Match
Katsuyori Shibata vs. Hirooki Goto
Result: Hirooki Goto defeats Katsuyori Shibata via pinfall to win the NEVER Openweight Championship.
Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Shibata is one of the hardest hitting wrestlers in the business. His MMA background always comes through in his matches, with what we saw at Wrestle Kingdom 11 being the case once again.
Goto played to Shibata’s neck and shoulder injuries throughout the match. Shibata’s body was pretty much taped up from a variety of ailments, which commentary played up as thinking he may not be anywhere close to fully healthy.
As always with these Shibata matches, he and his opponent just beat the living daylights out of each other with stiff shots, brutal punches, and likely a handful of bruises given. Certainly the best match of the night so far from what we saw between these two.
For the sixth time, the challenger took the championship, which is almost unheard of. There’s still the top two belts in NJPW left to be defended as well with four of the biggest stars in the promotion set to battle for then.
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?
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega
Result: Kazuchika Okada defeats Kenny Omega via pinfall to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
Rating: 5 stars
Where to begin. Man, oh, man, where to begin with this.
The match started slow, sure. That was my initial reaction, but to think this wouldn’t end up succeeding in the end is ludicrous because this is Kenny Omega and Kazuchika Okada we’re talking about, two of the best wrestlers not just in NJPW, but in the world.
From the start, we had the Omega entrance that saw him come out as Terminator and smash anything Triple H did at WrestleMania 31. If you ask who did it better, check one off for the Canadian star.
Getting down to the match. The most notable part of the first quarter of the match may have been this brutal dropkick that Okada took to the back of the head. It was the first of many (with an emphasis on many) hard-hitting bumps taken in this match.
Omega added what would be his first of many highlights with this ridiculous moonsault. The guy pretty much leaped onto the top rope and dove OVER the barricade and onto Okada in one fell swoop. Go watch this GIF over, and over, and over again.
Following a tope suicida from Omega, things went into a second gear. This quickly led to tables being brought into the equation with Omega placing one onto Okada and stomping on him.
However, Omega’s table would come back to haunt him. As he went for a move, Okada tossed Omega like a feather over his shoulder, over the ropes and through the table at ringside. Even for a babyface performing this, it looked dastardly and cold-blooded, but made for one hell of a moment.
Then came the ending sequence of the match, which you MUST go back and watch. It’s worth the $8.00 and change that it costs for a monthly subscription to New Japan World.
Everything about this was off the charts. Literally everything. It started with Omega picking up a head of steam after going through a handful of counters with Okada. He tried for the One-Winged Angel, but never could pull it off. This led to Okada hitting a Rainmarker, before Omega kicked out on an excellent false finish that seemed like the champion had this in the bag.
Then came another Rainmaker, but Okada couldn’t get to the pin. Following this would be a third one, which didn’t lead to the four-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion placing himself on top of Omega either.
In between this all was the two Tombstones from Okada, so many counters from the two men that you couldn’t keep track of it, and just pure insanity.
It stems from this dragon suplex from the top rope:
This wild sequence:
Another dragon suplex:
One Rainmaker:
And another Rainmaker.
Sure, this seemed like the prime time for Omega to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Amazingly, though, he got protected throughout all of this. A historic match will do this, but he never once hit the One-Winged Angel, so this finisher never got kicked out of, unlike the Rainmaker being hit four times. That should be a testament to what NJPW thinks of Omega, what Okada was willing to do to get him over, and to give the Bullet Club leader the ultimate treatment in defeat. It really can’t get better for anyone else like that when they lose.
This match will go down as one of the best ever at Wrestle Kingdom. Yes, it was that good.
Five-star classic.