Top 5 NJPW matches to watch at Wrestle Kingdom 14

With NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 just around the corner and covering two days, there are even more matches to look forward too from all your favourite New Japan stars. Here are the top five matches to look forward to during the company’s biggest shows of the year.

As the new year is celebrated across the world, it can only mean one thing for New Japan Pro Wrestling fans: Wrestle Kingdom.

Fans of Shin Nihon Puroresu have even more to look forward to this year after the company announced that it would not only be running their Jan. 4 Tokyo Dome show but extending it to January 5th.

This not only means more matches, but also more chances to see all of your favourite wrestlers from seasoned veterans, up and coming stars to the Young Lions from both Japan and LA. Not to mention that these are Jyushin Thunder Liger’s retirement matches. You don’t want to be missing one second of the action from the opening matches through to the main event.

With so many matches to watch throughout the weekend, here are five matches that you should definitely watch out for!

Here are just a few matches to look forward too and there are so many other matches to quench your 2020 wrestling thirst. You can find a preview of both nights here.

Zack Sabre Jr v SANADA (Revolution Pro Heavyweight Championship) – January 5th

This is a match that fans have been anticipating since the G1 in August when Sanada pinned the British Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr in the opening night in America. Since then the company has been constantly teasing us with the match up, then making us think it wouldn’t happen. After pinning Zack, Sanada went on to challenge Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight title and ZSJ seemed forgotten. That was until Cold Skull managed to pin the Vegan Hydra in not one, but two tag team matches and the match was set.

New Japan has been very smart in the lead up to Wrestle Kingdom in the preview matches. In both singles matches the two had in the Road to Tokyo Dome shows, each one scored a pin fall over the other – through a roll up no less. It means that nobody really has any momentum going into the biggest show of the year. As well as the amazing lead-up match wise, the two just seem to have this chemistry out of it. Whether it’s ZSJ complaining about the colour of Sanada’s trousers (whether they’re white or purple) or even the little smirk Sanada has when he pins Zack – it’s just magic.

Fans can expect a wrestling masterclass on the 5th January and it has the potential to be match of the night. Both men are both extremely well versed in traditional wrestling styles whether it’s British catch wrestling or Sanada’s Mexican influences.

On top of that, Sanada is so athletic and can fly as well as any Jr Heavyweight in the company and Zack might be one of the best defensive wrestlers in the company. What also raises the stakes is that, even though Sanada has pinned ZSJ a number of times, he is yet to submit the Submission Master. So, not only is it a fight for the more prestigious British title, but also a proving match that Sanada can’t just beat ZSJ through luck and good timing.

It’s a recipe for success no matter who wins and I think it will be match of the night, or even the whole weekend.

TBC v TBC (IWGP Heavyweight Championship and Intercontinental Championship) – 5th January

Even though we don’t know the two competitors who are going to be taking part in this bout, it is the match most people are talking about and looking forward to!

After Tetsuya Naito made the declaration in January that he wanted to become the first dual IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental champion, this is the outcome of that. Four men all fighting over the two days at the Tokyo Dome for the chance to be in this match to walk out double champion. The four men being: IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada, Intercontinental Champion Jay White, G1 contract holder Kota Ibushi and of course, Tetsuya Naito.

On the first night Jay and Naito will fight for the Intercontinental title whilst Ibushi challenges Okada for the Heavyweight title. The winners of the two matches will then go on to battle each other on night two and the rest is going to be history: literally! Whoever wins the night two match will walk away from the Tokyo Dome with two beautiful belts, not only making history but cementing their place at the top of the company.

What is the most exciting is trying to predict or guess what combination of wrestler’s we are going to see. All men have history with each other and it ranges from Ibushi v Naito and White v Okada’s with their long-standing rivalries to the newer ones like White v Ibushi. All four are amazing wrestlers with very distinct personalities and styles which work perfectly together.

So, no matter who we get, it’s going to be an amazing match. Whoever wins this is going to make New Japan history and who doesn’t want that? With all men probably suffering from fatigue from the previous night’s matches, there’s more on the line than ever before. The two men who make it to the main event of January 5th will put their blood, sweat and tears to go out carrying two of the most prestigious belts in professional wrestling.

Jyushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano v Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee (Liger Retirement Match II) – 5th January

When the legend Jyushin Thunder Liger announced that he was retiring from wrestling in March 2019, there was a collective gasp from wrestlers and fans around the world. However, if Liger has to go out, his Wrestle Kingdom matches are the best way, especially this one on the second night at the Tokyo Dome. After the special 8-man tag match on night one, bringing together wrestlers from Liger’s past, this match blends the old and the new in the best way possible.

Teaming with the man himself, we have another Japanese legend in the form of Naoki Sano. After returning from his own New Japan excursion, Sano cemented his legacy in the company with the rivalry he had with Liger battling for the IWGP Jr Heavyweight title before heading out and cementing his legacy in other worldwide companies.

These two wrestlers were pioneers of the division and made it what it is today. On the other side, we have another two men whose rivalry for the illustrious Jr title is also one for the history books. Like Liger and Sano, Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee have this amazing history stemming all the way back to Hiromu’s days in Mexico and CMLL. Both men have a very similar high-risk style, but also an out-of-ring chemistry that is based on mutual respect and adoration. It’s a very odd relationship, but entrancing.

So, you’ve got the veterans of the Jr division fighting the newest generation of Jr Heavyweights which is so significant and pretty beautiful. You’re bringing together the old and the new. Also, all four will have very distinct styles blending Japanese Strong Style, Mexican Lucha Libre, high flying and also solid mat-based wrestling.

Unlike all of the other matches, the winners of this match doesn’t really matter. It’s all about celebrating the career of a wrestling legend and bidding him a farewell on the grandest stage possible. By getting one of his most famous rivals and two of the most popular men in New Japan, it’s really the best thing for Liger and a fitting way to say goodbye.

Will Ospreay v Hiromu Takahashi (IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship) – 4th January

After Will Ospreay beat Bushi to retain his IWGP Jr Heavyweight Championship at the climax of the Power Struggle Jr Tag League, it seemed as if the Aerial Assassin had gone through pretty much the entire Jr division. Who was left to challenge Ospreay?

The answer came on that night from the ever eccentric Hiromu Takahashi who was returning to New Japan after a neck injury that put him on the shelf for over 500 days and was seen as career ending. Los Ingobernables’ de Japon Ticking Time Bomb returned in a very Hiromu-esque fashion and put out the challenge for the title he had to reluctantly vacate in 2018.

Unlike many of the other title matches during the weekend, this one is slightly different in the fact that there is no real animosity and hatred between the two. On the contrary, it’s as far from that as humanly possible. They’re frenemies in some way, but more friends that enemies, if that makes sense? Whether it’s during the press conferences, or on Twitter, these two can be described as major flirts with each other from the teasing, the compliments and the gifts (I mean everyone remembers New Beginning press conference where Hiromu cooked Will chicken).

However, even with all this love, there’s no denying the fact that these two are pure magic when they’re in the ring together. Hiromu and Ospreay have this in-ring chemistry that people could only dream about. Both men have a very similar high risk and sometimes reckless offence.

They have crowds on the edge of their seats and sometimes hiding behind a pillow with the things they do. No matter how serious Hiromu’s injury was, he doesn’t seem to have changed that style and is still as unpredictable as ever before.

Will Ospreay, on the other hand, has evolved during Hiromu’s absence. He still has this aerial offence but is now a lot stronger and more brutal using the Hidden Blade and Storm Breaker finisher.

This match is going to be everything you love about this style of wrestling: high risk, dangerous and full of action!

El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori v Roppongi 3k (IWGP Jr Tag Team Championships) – 5th January

This match might be one of the most underappreciated and underhyped matches on the entire NJPW Wrestle Kingdom card and that makes me really sad for so many reasons.

For one thing, the history and story behind this match runs as deep as any match on the card and I think that this is sometimes forgotten. It was the newly formed team of El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori who beat Roppongi 3k in May to take the IWGP Jr tag titles and bring it to Bullet Club. This rivalry then spanned the year until October and the Super Jr Tag League during the Power Struggle Tour.

Not only did the Chaos duo manage to pin ELP and Ishimori, but the managed to beat Suzuki Gun’s El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the league for the third time. However, the win was short lived as the Bullet Club pair came out and took the trophies. Since then, it’s been a battle between the teams with the attacks getting more vicious. Sho and Yoh want to take back their titles, be defending champions and give it the prestige we all know it deserves.

It’s personal.

Apart from that, if you look at the four wrestlers in this match, they are some of the best in the world regardless of weight class. They are all extremely diverse athletes and, working with their partners, they all create perfect teams. On the champions side, you have the athleticism and rule breaking tendencies of El Phantasmo who nobody can deny is one of the best in the world. Teaming him with the powerhouse, hunk and veteran Taiji Ishimori gives them both the speed, strength and power.

You could say the same thing about Roppongi 3k. Sho is definitely the powerhouse of the team with this crazy strength and ability to combine that with this amazing speed and agility. On the other hand, we have Yoh who is not only athletic but also has this very traditional Japanese style using dragon suplexes, dragon screws and an amazing form of the Calf Crusher.

This match will give you everything you could possibly want in a Jr tag match and more. Don’t underestimate it because of its place on the card because it will surprise you.