NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10

Highlights of the pre-show Rumble. KING HAKU WRESTLING, Jado winning, the girl with Jado, Taguchi and Koshinaka dominating with ass attacks, and the wacky Daraeomon stuff.

It's time for a HAPPY NEW WRESTLE KINGDOM! IWGP Jr tag is the first match, NEVER Trios tags are the second match, ROH World Title is match three, while Omega-Kushida is the fourth. Doc and Anderson vs. Makabe and Honma is after that, while Naito-Goto follows that. Ishii vs. Shibata is the seventh match, while AJ vs. Nakamura is the semi-main and Tanahashi vs. Okada is the main event. The opening video closes on Okada crying after last year's main event and then we see him in a slick pinstriped suit being all cocky. Striker and Kevin Kelly are our English commentators, along with Yoshitatsu as the translator.

Young Bucks are out first, with new Randy Savage-esque tassels all over their ring jacket. ROPPONGI! ROPPONGI! ROPPONGI VICE! Rocky Romero is a 19 year veteran, which is crazy. Ricochet and Sydal have matching gear and Striker plugs him being on Lucha Underground...well, he'll probably be the guy with Ricochet's tattoos. Kevin Kelly says that Sydal and Ricochet have known each other for many years, and always supported each other even when they were in other companies. reDRagon is out last and they start out with the Bucks. Yoshi says that when he returns, he will beat the Bucks as the Bullet Club Hunter. Kyle hits a sick kick on a Buck on the apron, and Striker buries Yoshi for...pointing out that Fish is still in his T-shirt.

Outside-in flip rana by Sydal to Fish. Kyle gets an axe kick, while Sydal gets the Miz lariat against the rope. Romero holds up Sydal for a Trent double stomp. Double suck it to the Bucks. Tatsu says that Sydal and Trent were his driving partners in WWE, while Kevin says that they buried Yoshi for being a terrible driver. He opposes this viewpoint, and God bless him, but he's not good as a commentator. Stream goes wonky. Double superkick party to Baretta for 2. THE BUCKS DO A HOLD! THE BUCKS DO A HOLD! Ground sleeper! FRONT FACELOCK! Double team craziness by Sydal and Ricochet on a buck. Double standing SSP by R/S. Double middle kick party to a buck by reDRagon as the buck tries to fly to the floor. Kyle gets a rope-assisted armbar, but a superkick ends that.

 Razor's edge to Ricochet by Cody to the pile on the floor. Steen corner flip by a buck. Rope-assisted swanton gets 2 for the Bucks. Ricochet gets 2 off a 630. Bucks are down for a double SSP by R/S. reDRagon prevents that and the smash machine runs wild. Everyone suplexes everyone in a pretty goofy spot. Double SSP by R/S gets a nearfall for the Bucks since they tried to steal it. More Bang For Your Buck gets the win! They're now 4-time IWGP Jr. Tag Team Champions!

Takahashi is out with an okay-looking chick. Haku was in the NJPW Rumble earlier and is a Bullet Club member. The Underboss looks ungodly bad with this new year. Tonga is being teased for a split by being cocky and saying "I" a lot in the press conference. Toru Yano has the TOP DVD IN JAPAN! "The Producer" Toru Yano! Briscoes are out with replaced music. SANDY FORK BY GOD DELAWARE is represented on their vests. Mark crazily lariats Yujiro. BANG BANG Froggy Elbow by Mark gets a minor ROH chant. Tama scares Yano, and he runs into a Fale forearm. Yano with dark black hair looks odd. Fale gets 2.9 by sitting on Yano. Not a whole lot going on here. Jay goes for a super back suplex, They do an electric chair and the doomsday device gets the win.

Elgin is out and Kelly talks about Elgin having his title dreams dashed by Lethal and that he rebuilt his career in  New Japan this year. Lethal is out in his white, red, and black gear. Big German by Elgin, second one. Lethal stops it, but eats a lariat and we get an SSP bump off that by Lethal. DEADLIFT SUPERPLEX, NO FALCON ARROW FOR 2! Buckle bomb hits, but a Doctor bomb leads to a head bonk with the Book of Truth. Lethal Injection hits for the win. Well, this wasn't given nearly enough time - but it was good-ish for what it was.

Taguchi is out as Doc Brown for KUSHIDA! Omega gets a Terminator-esque theme and intro. Bucks jump KUSHIDA! Cartwheel spit by Omega. Cold spray to the eyes of KUSHIDA. Baseball slide dropkick to Omega leads to the Bucks hitting him with a trash can. One man more Bang with a trash can by Omega. Big backbreaker by Omega leads to the Bucks acting as bongo players while Omega sets up and then hits a big flip dive. Gorgeous! Fameasser-style bulldog by Omega gets 2. Pele kick by KUSHIDA! A pair of apron kicks by KUSHIDA leads to more mid-ring kicks. Tilt a whirl FUTURE LOCK by KUSHIDA, but Omega's on the ropes. Yakuza kick to the arm of Omega. Modified Koppo kick by KUSHDIA. Standing swanton off the top to the floor by KUSHDA! Moonsault press gets 2 and leads to an armbar attempt, which Kenny counters with a high back suplex. KUSHIDA gets a bicep cutter while the Bucks try to pull him to the ropes. Taguchi attacks with the trash can. KUSHIDA hits a discus elbow and Omega gets a nasty standing knee. ONE WINGED ANGEL POWERBOMB GETS 2! Jumping knee lands and then a rope-mounted one hits even harder. One Winged Angel is countered with a sloppy rollup for 3, even with Kenny's arm off the mat.

 

 

Nice pop for Makabe and Honma, while the Bullet Club is out in white. Anderson says he's in his eighth Wrestle Kingdom - THAT'S UNDERTAKER STYLE MOTHERFUCKER. Amber Gallows has the NWA Women's title. Karl teases a big headbutt, but misses a senton. I love his new Jigen-style beard. Makabe runs wild on him. Striker says he's always right "TAKE THAT HATERS!" Pump kick to Makabe by Karl. Honma's in and chops away, but eats a running TKO for 2. Makabe prevents a Magic Killer and sends Doc to the floor. Makabe tags in and lands a double lariat. Gallows Pole hits for 2. Dueling lariat gets a "FUCK YOU" from Doc, who eats a big Makabe lariat. DOOMSDAY DEVICE HEADBUTT! Honma slam leads to the headbutt and the King Kong Kneedrop by Makabe for the win! HONMA GETS HIS TOKYO DOME WIN! The crowd is going nuts for this!

 

Goto vs. Naito is up and Yoshi says that it being the only non-title match makes it important for the story. EVIL has cool laser stuff with him. EVIL's guyliner is something else. Striker compares himself to Naito because he also "flips off the haters!". Not much happening early, but Naito gets the outside-in springing dropkick. Enzuguri and koppo kick land for Naito. Super rana gets 2 for Naito and then they exchange big forearms. Oshi Korishi neckbreaker hits, but Gogo is too hurt to cover. Goto gets the Hellevator for the win! Not really  much to this one.

 

Ishii vs. Shibata is up, but I've got to head to work - so I'll be resuming coverage after I get back. Striker says he loves Shibata's simplistic look. TONS of stiff forearms get exchanged by each guy. They go back and forth on snapmare position kicks voluntarily - peaking with Shibata doing the Indian style bit first. Shibata wins this war and lands a big flying one-legged kick out of the corner. Sleeper into an abdominal stretch by Shibata. Vicious Octopus hold with the elbow in the spine too. Face wash in the corner leads to some corner chops. This opens the door for Ishii to get some offense and face wash him after a sick forearm shot. More back and forth forearms. GROUNDED CORNER FOREARMS BY SHIBATA! Lariat by Ishii leads to Shibata popping up for a dropkick and then a double-down.

Cross armbar into a triangle attempt by Shibata leads to a triangle armbar, but a rope break saves him. Cocky kicks by Shibata to a grounded Ishii. They exchange big boots and release Germans. Billion and one kicks by Shibata. A bit Ishii lariat sends both me down. Ishii gets a stacking powerbomb for 2.5. Armbar/Kimura up top by Shibata. Ishii gets a dropkick off the top and a lariat for 1! Sliding lariat gets 2.5. Pitbull driver is countered by a knee to the head and a suplex by Shibata. Shibata gets 2 off a DVD and tries to choke Ishii out. PK IS CAUGHT and Ishii headbutts him down. Shibata lands a dropkick and Shibata eats a lariat for 1. PK HITS for the win! Back to back wins, and title wins, for Shibata!

 AJ is in ridiculous Bullet Club paint, or a mask - hard to tell. Fairly nice intro for AJ - not much for Nakamura beyond a shiny red shirt. AJ's in white and black gear that looks good. Kick to the inner thigh by Nakamura. Nakamura dominates a bit and he does an AJ kneedrop along with AJ's pose. AJ feigns a back injury and jumps Nakamura. Muta lock by AJ. They exchange forearms and knees before AJ gets a flying forearm in the corner. Striker talks about how AJ has evolved since his Wildside days - and having seen him then, it is amazing. Shot to the back by Nakamura leads to a charge into the barricade back-first. A pair of kicks to the ribs by Nakamura leads to a high enzuiguri. Running corner knee to the back by Nakamura gets 1.

Striker buries Yoshi for his commentary. AJ gets the springboard forearm. AJ's back gives out on two standing suplexes, but snap suplexes him into the buckle. Calf killer is setup with some leg work. Pair of big kicks leads a Regalplex attempt that AJ counters, but eats after a one-legged lung blower. Calf killer is locked on after avoiding a bom ba ye! Nakamura turns it into a cross armbar. AJ goes for the moonsault DDT, but falls short and gets a forearm and a torture rack powerbomb for 2. Nakamura avoids the Clash and lands a flying knee off the top! Mid-ring forearm and slap exchange turns into all forearms. Back suplex into a facebuster gets 2 for AJ. Pele hits, but a standing Nakamura lands another knee for 2.5! AJ gets 2 off a crucifix and AJ lands the bom ba ye! Sloppy 450 hits for 2.9! AJ goes for Bloody Sunday, but Nakamura blocks it and gets a flying armbar. Nakamura gets a triangle. AJ turns it into a Clash for 2.9! Since it wasn't perfectly-done, you've got the perfect excuse for the move not winning. Smooth Bloody Sunday hits. Nakamura's down and can't even be lifted for the Clash. AJ goes up for a Super Styles Clash! High kick into a super Cradle Shock for 2! BOM BA YE TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD! One to the head for the win!

Low key intro for Tanahashi leads to...Okada's getting a lights out botch, and then a ton of lighting and rainmaking.Yoshi picks Tanahashi, while Kelly picks Okada. Striker picks Okada as well. They start with basic tie-ups. Big forearms by Okada lead to him taking him down with a headlock. Tanahashi starts to work on the knees and gets a standing high fly flow on it. TRIANGLE DROPKICK BY OKADA TO THE BACK OF THE HEAD LEADS TO A FLIP BUMP BY TANA! Dang. Giant barricade diving crossbody by Okada on the floor. 16 count on the floor for that one. Swanton attempt misses by Tana. DDT by Okada leads to a nip up with no knee selling. Straightjacket choke by Okada. Dropkick to the knee of Tana - resuming that attack. Big boot attempt by Okada is countered by a dragon screw. DRAGON SCREW AGAINST THE RING CONNECTOR POST! What's worse is that it's the other knee - so now both are weakened. ROPE DRAGON SCREW ON THE RIGHT LEG! Slingblade on the apron! High fly flow crossbody off the top to the floor - just like last year. Okada is in at 19! Second rope High Fly Flow onto the knees! Cloverleaf attempt by Tana - but Okada holds onto the boots and Okada gets to the ropes.

Okada gets a Kryptonite Krunch onto the knee, but Okada is down due to the knee. Big forearm exchange mid-ring. Big dropkick from Okada! More dropkicks get 2. Nearly-full coast to coast dropkick by Okada gets 2! Flying elbow lands, but the Rainmaker is countered as is a tombstone, into a victory roll for 2. Dragon screw to Okada! Okada dropkick is countered by a ground-based dragon screw and the cloverleaf is finally locked on - but still not perfectly. Tanahshi gets the Ego Trip and a Silngblade! High Fly Flow misses! Tana counters the tombstone and lands another neckbreaker, but Okada hangs on and lands the tombstone!

OKADA HITS A HIGH FLY FLOW FOR 2.5! RAINMAKER FROM TANA! Tana strikes the knee off the mat and does so standing as well. SLINGBLADE BY TANA! Bridging Dragon Suplex gets 2.5! HIGH FLY FLOW ON THE BACK! HIGH FLY FLOW TO THE STOMACH GETS 2! Standing high fly flow is met with a dropkick. Tana slaps him, so Okada dropkicks his face off. Rainmaker is counted, but Okada gets a German, and gets slapped! ONE RAINMAKER! TWO! WINDUP AND THE PITCH. THIRD RAINMAKER IN A ROW GETS THE WIN! Okada retains and finally beats Tana in the done! Amazing match and another top-notch show from New Japan - might've even better better than last year.

Screens -
http://www.imagebam.com/gallery/4buch0oznxhn1nnucypyoplsse9kp2cu