NJPW King Of Pro Wrestling 2017 Preview

Credit: NJPW1972 Twitter

New Japan Pro Wrestling holds its major October show this Monday, King of Pro-Wrestling; a stacked card leads into an epic double main-event featuring the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and his potential Tokyo Dome challenger, the G1 Climax winner Tetsuya Naito. Can NJPW put on yet another successful ‘Big Four’ event? Here’s a rundown of the card:

Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Leo Tonga and Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA, BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi)

Hype-meter: 1/10

Getting the rest of the LIJ boys on the card, this is a bit of a nothing six-man to kick things off. It seems Ospreay’s straight-right sent Hiromu from the Jr. Heavyweight Title picture to the opening act. Shouldn’t be a weak display, just not a lot to be buzzed about for this kickoff match.

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto and Toru Yano) vs. Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr.)

Hype-meter: 4/10

Minoru Suzuki’s NEVER Openweight Championship run has taken a fair bit of criticism recently. Now he’s back where he started, taking on Hirooki Goto and likely laying the groundwork to complete their trilogy at Power Struggle. Pretty straightforward, but it’s always cool to see Suzuki and Zack as a twosome. The sensei/student relationship is reminiscent of when Suzuki was the protege of Yoshihiro Takayama.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: Funky Future (Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K

Hype-meter: 10/10!

New Japan currently have one of the greatest performers on the planet locked down in the Jr. Tag division. Normally, that would represent weak booking, but Ricochet doesn’t seem to be batting an eyelid. He’s going in there with The Young Bucks and Suzuki-Gun, putting on show-stealing performances left and right.

More importantly, NJPW can be criticised for being too strictly-regimented, resulting in countless rematches. There are only three or four legitimate junior teams left on the roster, making Roppongi 3K a much-needed addition, whoever they are. Logic dictates the ‘Tempura Boyz’ (former NJPW Young Lions Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu) will make their return to the company under Rocky Romero’s management. Whatever it is, this is the first full-time roster addition since Suzuki-Gun resurfaced, and it is most welcome.