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

Takagi Shingo & Tetsuya Naito (LIJ) vs Taichi & DOUKI (SZG) – Special Match

From the start we can tell that Taichi intends to treat this match seriously as indicated by his earnest singing and DOUKI has evidently fixed his steel pipe. Shingo’s coming off the anniversary of him becoming part of Los Ingobernables de Japon and joins Naito in this tag match to exacerbate Naito’s feud with Taichi and keep DOUKI from interfering, mostly.

Naito is now bereft of his IWGP Intercontinental title after his loss to Jay White at Destruction, something that Taichi has been taunting him with at every opportunity, pulling up his shirt and looking for the missing belt. Unfortunately for Taichi, although having beaten Naito in the G1, he’s now without a title shot until fate brings him and White together. Naito, to his credit, takes this all in stride.

It’s mind games from the start, as Taichi immediately tags in DOUKI to fight Naito, who pulls his hair (rude) and then tags in Shingo. It’s an interesting dynamic, as Shingo has now officially become part of the heavyweight division, but DOUKI holds his own with a few quick strikes and an arm across the chest.

The fight dissolves in typical SZG versus LIJ style, with Taichi throwing Naito over the barricade and into the audience while DOUKI chokes Shingo with his metal pipe.

The Shingo and DOUKI dynamic is interesting, as it seems that DOUKI is earnestly testing his strength against the former junior. It could be the missed opportunity of getting to face the nearly unbeaten Shingo in Best of the Super Juniors – due to both the setup of the blocks and DOUKI’s overall disappointing tournament run – or the energy that tagging with Taichi seems to bring out of him, or a mixture of both.

Either way, he tries (and fails) twice to bring Shingo down with a lariat, which is unsurprisingly, but dazzles him with some hand gestures and then thrust-uppercuts him twice in the jaw. Shingo takes him down with a lariat of his own and they both have a moment to recover before tagging in their partners.

Naito and Taichi spend a lot of their time punching and kicking each other, respectively, gradually wearing themselves down while Shingo and DOUKI inexplicably go full tilt on each other.

Shingo nearly ends the match with a Last of the Dragon on DOUKI, but Taichi comes in and strikes him with his mic stand, disqualifying himself and DOUKI and ending the fight. This is the highlight of the match mostly because it’s a fascinating choice on Taichi’s part. He could have tried to stop the finisher physically, or break DOUKI out of the pin, or simply let DOUKI take the fall.

The aftermath of the fight is what brings the whole thing together: Naito and Taichi break out in a brawl, with Naito trying and failing to take him down with Destino, Taichi reversing it into a suplex and eventually taking Naito down with a savage powerbomb. Taichi rolls him up and, because the match is technically over, DOUKI rushes over and counts to three (the crowd counts along with him, which is cute).

He gets on the mic and tells Naito he’s weak, then leaves. So evidently, Taichi’s concern lies less with technically winning the fight but rather with winning the war — and breaking Naito down. It brings to mind the question of what’s next for Taichi, who seems to still have the intention of perhaps going after the Intercontinental title, regardless of who has it.