NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 1-4-20 Night 1 Live Coverage

Tonight sees the first part of the grand event, with Okada battling Ibushi to determine who goes into 1/5 as IWGP Heavyweight Champion against the winner of Jay White versus Tetsuya Naito. Naito has been pushing for the title unification and after failing in his bid to win the IWGP Title from Okada two years ago at WK 12, he's the front-runner to take it all. Of the four involved, he seemingly has the least amount of prime years left. White has little to gain from being a double champ now - and has already solifidied himself as a mainline IC titleholder alongside a quick run with the IWGP Heavyweight Title last year and holding the US, IC, and IWGP Titles since beginning as Switchblade two years ago.
 

Young Lion tag is up first with Toa Henara, Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, and Karl Fredericks out to face GBH, Uemura, and Tsuji. It's amazing how Honma can even work after what he went through. I don't want to see him wrestle in anything but 8-man tags, but it's still incredible. The announcers tell the tale about this being a battle of dojos and each dojo wanting to show its supremacy. THE PRELIM 8-MAN TAG is given more logical importance than anything in WWE. Connors grinds away and Chris talks about the decision to open up seats behind the screens before a big chop combo in the corner.

Goddamn these young lions are so good. Tremendous uppercut combos lead to giant forearms and elbows. Homa comes in for some really light corner punches before Makabe gets a northern lights for 2. Chris talks about Okada starting the decade for 2010 and now we'll see him in the main event - who knows where these men will end up. Tsuji gets a Boston Crab on Henare, who thankfully is wearing more normal shorts and not jungle getup. HE EATS A TON OF CHOPS before letting go. Henare hits a murderous lariat and a Toa bottom ends it! This was so great. Goddamn!

TenCozy faces Nakanishi and Nagata. I'm trying to think of anything on Earth slower than Nakanishi. Nagata should still at least be in the NEVER Title picture since he can still go at a major level. Chris talks about Nagata being at a 1/4 show every year since '94 and this is his 44th match in the Dome. Tenzan ankle watch...still all wonky. WHY WON'T HE GET SURGERY TO FIX THIS!? Nakanishi dumps them both on their heads and shoulders off a double Northern Lights before Tenzan gets a tag in and hobbles wild. BREAD CLUB CHOPS IN THE CORNER TO NAKANISHI! He goes up top and eats a ballshot and then Nakanishi clubs everyone. Nakanishi is just the perfect Burly Pro Wrestler-type. He does next to nothing, does it slowly, but goddamn is he great at it. Kojima hits a big lariat and wins it. They shake hands and hug - this felt like a great Tokyo Dome sendoff for all of them or at least Nakanishi, who they all focused on and who did the job.

 
An epic Tokyo Dome history video package starts things off. Kero Chan is out with a tremendous suit. Taguchi's theme keeping the '70s porno NJPW music alive is great. Takawa's out in a Zero One shirt while Otani has his usual red and black jacket on. Sano's out and Chris puts over his work in Pro Wrestling Masters.  Sasuke's out in his retro black and red outfit with a half-Sasuke/half-Liger mask. It's amazing that Fujinami is still not only wrestling, but still looks about like what he did in the '80s.

 

Ring intros put over every single person in this. SANO HITS A SUICIDE DIVE TO LIGER! Otani being a dick heel is never not great. Face wash! RUNNING FACE WASH TAKES OUT SASUKE! SHOTAI! Takawa's chops to Tiger Mask are un-goddamn-real! Taguchi's in and runs wild with hip attacks before MORE CHOPS TO TIGER MASK! Sasuke misses a swanton to Takawa. Sano misses a double stomp off the top and thankfully doesn't shatter his ankles. Liger ranas Tagushi off the top! Liger cradles him for 2, but eats an enzuiguri! BUMAYE GETS 2! DODAN ENDS IT! So logically, the youngest person with the brightest future beats the legend on his way out. Everyone hugs Liger and shows him love as he goes out to his theme. AND HE STILL HAS ONE MORE MATCH LEFT!  He gets walked around the ring and this is just perfect.

BUSHI's out in a cool suit and Shingo, Sanada, and Evil face off against Suzuki-gun. EVIL has the best gear in the biz. Evil takes Suzuki down and bronco busts him in the corner for 2. ZSJ and Minoru double-team Evil on the floor. Shingo comes in and kicks ass for a bit before mangling Taichi with chops and lariats. ZSJ eats a mid-air dropkick and sells it PERFECTLY by just bouncing off the feet of Sanada. They trade cradles and ZJS uses leverage for a 2.9. ZSJ gets an umaplata and a double armlock tapout. ZSJ refuses to release it until Sanada forces him off.

Goto has the best, most epic theme for a guy whose matches absolutely don't live up to that theme. RETURN TO THE ORIGINAL FANG REVIVES Never change, Japan. Yano hits Fale and TACKLE-MANIA! Chase Owens is cursed with Josh Barnett's genetics. Fale avoids a suplex and slams Ishii. Fale and Ishii just club away for a bit. Ushigoroshi on Yujiro ends it!

FinJuice is out and Tiger Hattori is officiating in one of his final two Dome shows. FinJuice are out dressed as 1987 - so they've got a pretty low ceiling in New Japan. He looks like a low-rent Fandango. They brawl on the ramp and Juice gets backdropped. Tama murders Juice with a stinger splash in the corner before he turns to Finlay and beats his ass. Tanga Loa is perfect in this team in that it hides his shortcomings, but thanks to Tama, he still comes off as having charisma by association. Juice slugs away. Basement lariat gets 2 for the faces. END! This match is devoid of good.

Batista bomb by Tanga leads to a crazy Sting-like splash off the top from Tama Tama's out of control frantic movements during his stinger splashes and top rope splashes are perfect - very much what I liked about Sting dives in that he'd throw his whole body into them. Magic Killer hits, but Juice saves. Superbomb turned into a rana by Finlay! Sloppy cradle gets 2 and Jado kendo sticks him for 2.9! Finlay gets a stunner, but Juice tells him to cover and gets shoved into the over to end that. Jado eats the left hand of God before Tama eats lefts and rights and the Pulp Friction leads to the acid drop and the win. This had some good moments early, dragged, but damn was this a great closing five minutes. Juice wins this and could win the US Title tomorrow too - good stuff.

Moxley vs. Archer US Title death match is up. 10 count knockout or verbal submission ends it. Mox grabs stuff from under the ring. Archer's out looking badass in red. Mox lunges and lands corner shots before a suicide dive. Archer's tramp stamp looked stupid in 2005 and looks even worse in 2020. Mox eats a chair to the face and a pair to the back. Cane shots to the head lead to a choke. Regal knee hits for Mox! Apron bomb by Archer leads to him using a young lion for a torpedo chokeslam off the apron!

 

This gets to a near-end count. A chair bridge is set up and ARCHER HITS BLACKOUT ON IT! EVD claw is on, but Mox turns it into an armbar. Sloppy border toss into the corner! Chokeslam turned into a Death Rider! Missed some of the match due to a streaming issue and see Archer caning him a bit. Now he's got DREADED JAPANESE TABLES! SPIKED HELMET TO THE FACE OF MOX! Blackout off the top is avoided and Mox hits a Death Rider off the apron through two tables! That ends it and Archer's covered in blood because the tables slashed his arms up. Mox gets a mic and says he's a gambler. He came to either leave with nothing or leave with everything. He and Juice settle it all tomorrow.

 

 

Hiromu's out looking like THE MAN. ELEVATED IS BACK FOR OSPREAY! White, orange and purple is certainly...a color scheme for Ospreay's gear. Tons of flips lead to a blocked superkick to the neck and a club by Hiromu. Apron bomb and I think an apron-jumping shotgun dropkick but the camera misses it. Giant draping DDT hits and gets 2 on Hiromu. Neck draping over the barricade leads to a neckbreaker.

Stiff kick to the gut from Ospreay before a dropkick and falcon arrow hit for Hiromu. Space flying tiger drop leads to a fakeout off a German, then a Hiromu belly to belly into the ring that Ospreay turns into the actual tiger drop! Now that was nuts! Hiromu lands the shotgun dropkick! Kick combo in the corner for Ospreay leads to a 619. Double stomp to the neck hits and a missile dropkick to the neck thankfully misses for 2.

Hiromu drops to avoid a hidden blade and the crowd goes absolutely apeshit for Hiromu JUST LYING DOWN. Lots of Ricky Morton in Hiromu's selling here - it's incredible to see. SUPER VICTORY BOMB BY HIROMU GETS 2.9! DYNAMITE PLUNGER GETS 2.9! Corner DVD is avoided leading to a backflipping dropkick and then an enzuiguri before a Robinson special. Oscutter avoided and leads to a MADE IN JAPAN FROM OSPREAY! SSP TO THE BACK GETS 2! OSCUTTER leads to a perfect tree-fall sell and a 2.9! Hook kick into a hidden blade leads to Hiromu avoiding the blade and getting a pop-up powerbomb! Kneeling forearm shots!

Standing forearms center ring! Hiromu wins that war, but loses to a high kick. DESTROYER HITS FOR HIROMU AND GETS 2! Ospreay absorbs a superkick, eats a second HOOK KICK HITS FOR OSPREAY! Stormbreaker avoided, but a C4 gets 2.9!! HIDDEN BLADE TO THE NECK! Stormbreaker inito a sunset bomb gets 2 for Hiromu! INSIDE OUT LARIAT! TIME BOMB HITS AND GETS 2.99999! 

 

What a classic this is. Hiromu builds up a massive head of spead for a kneeling forearm and then a massive head-dropping tombstone-style ermerald frosion hits and ends it! This is the greatest comeback singles match ever. It's hard to believe Hiromu came back from a broken neck and is THIS GOOD. I hope we get Hiromu with his belt and then Liger wears the Jr. 1st belt akin to Kobashi getting a ceremonial GHC Title since he defined it.

 

Naito's out and dude is over! THE ENTIRE BUILDING IS CHANTING HIS NAME! White is such a great prick heel mocking Naito. Naito snaps the neck of White on the floor before Gedo distracts him and White uses this as a chance to dominate. Jay White is so good at playing the music between the notes and he's only 27. Unreal. New Japan's formula is completely untouchable. Muta lock by White leads to him yelling him to smile for the cameras and forcing a smile. Inverted DDT/backbreaker into a headscissor/necklock.

Naito gets him in the rope so Jay being a chickenshit yells loudly for the ref constantly. Naito's knee buckles, but he slaps some life into it and goes for two flying forearms to no avail. Every single thing that Jay White does isn't meant to get him over - it's to get Naito over. It's incredible. Naito goes up top and eats the buckle. Jay stomps a mudhole into the knee. Nasty Saito suplex over the top to the floor from White to Naito. White avoids the run-up DDT when the knee gives out and a sambo suplex gets 2 for White. Kiwi crusher is avoided and slams Naito on the knee before hitting a revolving door brainbuster for 2.

 

White gets the TTO in and the crowd lives and dies with everything Naito does. PERFECT rope reach by Naito. Naito takes out Gedo and gets a kinda-sorta run-up DDT! Gloria hits for 2. This feels like one final great Dome match for Naito. Well until tomorrow's actual next great possibly final big Dome main event for Naito. Ref bump and Gedo has a chair, but NAITO ATTACKS HIM. White gets a low blow, but eats a dragon suplex. GEDO GETS KICKED IN THE BALLS! NASTY CHAIR THROW BY WHITE TO THE HEAD! SLEEPER SUPLEX TO THE NECK OF NAITO! DESTINO HITS!

Double-down off the exhaustion. Blade Runner into a slap into a poison rana by Naito! DESTINO HITS AGAIN AND GETS 2.999999! UNREAL! Destino turned into a blade runner into a frosion by Naito and then another DESTINO hits and ends it! Jay White isn't even old enough for "old school" and does it better than anyone in the business - yes, including Revival.

 

Ibushi's out and man, no company makes its stars feel like STARS like New Japan. Remember when Ibushi worked B show openers as Tiger Mask W against ACH as Black Tiger? Yeah - now he's main eventing Wrestle Kingdom against Okada for the title. A giant umbrella showcases THE RAINMAKER. He beats two giant tron monsters and then we see his gorgeous white glow in the dark getup. Goddamn this is great!

 

They start things off nice and slow with matwork. Chris talks about Ibushi basically being self-taught and didn't like being in a dojo. Okada was in the dojo and went across the world to wrestle. Ibushi gets a camel clutch and a NASTY kick to the back from Ibushi! Okada's in new gear and Rocky talks about how that can take time to get used to. Barricade draping DDT to Ibushi on the floor! Dropkick to the top from Okada leads to a nice Red Ink.

Giant HBK elbow hits for Okada. BASTARD Driver hits for Ibushi! NASTY caveman double stomp by Ibushi! TRIANGLE MOONSAULT BY IBUSHI! GODDAMN DROPKICK hits and then the tombstone! Okada lands a European uppercut and Ibushi sells it by just plummeting to the mat. Ibushi absorbs more uppercuts! Shotgun dropkick and IBUSHI DOESN'T SELL IT. Take notes, Bray Wyatt. MANY MANY NOTES. Actually fuck it, just impersonate Ibushi's matches move for move. THIS IS HOW YOU NO-SELL!

Ibushi lands a sick head kick and then socks him hard with a punch to the head. Now he's going all PRIDE-style on him! Ibushi wants a lawndart on the apron BUT EATS A TOMBSTONE ON THE APRON. JESUS! He's down and out at 18, 19! HE BARELY BEATS THE 20! NASTY German by Okada! Ibushi avoids the rolling Rainmaker, but eats a giant lariat! Ibushi wants more shoot kicks and gets them to the back BEFORE A POWER GERMAN OFF THE MIDDLE ROPE GETS 2.9!

Corkscrew German hits for Okada! RAINMAKER LEADS TO A WINDUP LARIAT FROM IBUSHI THAT SENDS OKADA FLYING! Bomaye hits for 1! Bomaye to the neck gets 2! Cro Cop kick hits and the Kamigoye gets 2.9! Kamigoye meets the dropkick! Shaking off that dropkick counter to the kamigoye. GODDAMN!

They're both down and hurt. Each landing slow forearm smashes to the jaw. MASSIVE SLAP AND KNEE COMBO LEADS TO A HEADKICK! Ibushi beats the shit out of him with more kicks! Ibushi sets up a super butterfly suplex, but Okada lands forearms and a missile dropkick is Ligerbomb-countered for 2.9! Phoenix splash misses, Okada gets the spininng rainmaker and then follow up for a big Rainmaker to get 2.99999! Best nearfall of the night! Okada grabs the wrist and lands a giant lariat. SECOND ONE HITS! V TRIGGER HITS FOR IBUSHI, but the kamigoye leads to a sitout tombstone and the rainmaker ends it! This was ungodly great! Okada battles Naito tomorrow and White battles Ibushi. What a night this was. Goddamn!

 

 

Naito comes into the ring and puts the IC belt down. He says that two years, he lost in the Dome and now he's back to redeem himself. He'll do something that no one has done - including Okada, and that's leave the Dome with both belts. Okada thanks the 40,008 that have packed the Dome. He thanks Ibushi for the toughest match of his career. Two years ago, he beat Naito in the Dome and he'll do it again and doesn't care what Naito wants - HE'S THE STRONGEST IWGP Champion of all time! And he wants the Dome to be fully sold out - holds and all! New Japan is using two Dome shows and actually using the 1/4 show to logically not only make 1/5 better, but a bigger show. Imagine WM over two nights - they'd have a sellout the first night and then half the city's population would get run over as tourists flee the city to avoid going to night two.