NJPW King of Pro Wrestling 2019: Results, Highlights and Analysis

NJPW’s King of Pro Wrestling 2019 wrapped up on Sunday with three titles and a contract on the line. We found out who is headed for the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14, witnessed the culmination of Thunder Liger and Suzuki’s feud, welcomed back a couple of familiar faces, and more! 

Less than an hour before NJPW King of Pro Wrestling was scheduled to begin, an announcement was made that both Jon Moxley and Zack Sabre Jr. were unable to travel to Japan due to Typhoon Hagibis.

Last minute changes in the card resulted in Lance Archer taking Moxley’s place (with the IWGP US title vacated by Moxley’s absence) against Juice Robinson. In addition, Ryusuke Taguchi and BUSHI were dropped from the event altogether and DOUKI tagged with Taichi against Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito.

The most important matches were the title and contract defenses. El Phantasmo challenged Will Ospreay for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title, Juice Robinson and Lance Archer fought for the now-vacated IWGP US Heavyweight title, and SANADA took his shot against Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight title. EVIL, as well, fought Kota Ibushi for the contract to challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight title at Wrestle Kingdom 14.

The card was stacked with potential already, but there was also El Desperado’s comeback match, a special singles match between Minoru Suzuki and Jyushin Thunder Liger, and a scattering of tag matches.

Here’s some brief recap and analysis on each match of the event, which can be watched on NJPW World.