Update: Wrestle Kingdom 14 may be in the books, but you can read a review of both shows by clicking here. Enjoy!

Over the last four years, New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s marquee event has gotten bigger and bigger. From the spectacle of seeing stars such as Shinsuke Nakamura and AJ Styles compete, to the absolute clinics put on by Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada and Kenny Omega, as each year passes it seems that the stakes are raised for an even better night of wrestling. So how is the company aiming to top themselves this year? They’re going to do so by turning a night of wrestling into two nights, culminating with one truly undisputed champion.

Since I last wrote about New Japan Pro-Wrestling, quite a lot has happened. Kota Ibushi won the G1 Climax, El Phantasmo won the Super J-Cup, Kazuchika Okada managed to survive against a bitter Minoru Suzuki, The Rock and Roll Express showed up(!), KENTA has found great success despite rejection from the crowd post-WWE, Jon Moxley won the United States Championship before vacating it due to a thunderstorm, and so much more that I’ll most likely be getting into during this preview. The main thing to know, though, is that everything that’s happened in 2019 – as is the case every year – properly culminates at Wrestle Kingdom, and believe me when I say that’s an understatement for the 2020 event. Make sure to catch both shows on NJPWWorld.com – And if you don’t have a subscription already, I’d advise not signing up until January 1st as doing so before then will mean you’re charged for the full month of December despite the few days remaining as well as the entirety of January.

Night 1 – January 4th, 2020

IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match:

Kazuchika Okada vs Kota Ibushi

The main event of Night 1 will see The New Ace and (once again) the Final Boss of New Japan, Kazuchika Okada – who is seeking to make it five successful title defences in a row as he aims to better his record run from 2016 to 2018 – go up against the winner of the twenty-ninth G1 Climax and the man who beat him to get to that particular final, Kota Ibushi. Okada has always been destined to be a champion from those awkward days in TNA up to his first encounter with Hiroshi Tanahashi. Ibushi on the other hand, is intent on winning the title it’s long been expected he’d never grasp, given his previous refusal to commit to a full-time contract with NJPW and with that being the case, I expect you’d agree that this is a bigger match for Ibushi than it is for Okada even with the main event of the second night hanging over this one. Of course, considering how Okada wants to be the absolute best, the fact that Ibushi is the only man he hasn’t defeated this year (a year that’s seen him overcome the likes of ‘Switchblade‘ Jay White, Chris Jericho and SANADA) it is quite important for Okada’s character that he gets his win back on the biggest stage. As far as how these two will work against each other in-ring, there’s a trilogy of matches that give us an idea, with the first happening in DDT in 2013 and the second taking place a year later at New Japan’s 42nd Anniversary Show where Okada got his second consecutive win over the Golden Star before the score was made 2-1 in the G1 semi-final. The big difference to this upcoming main event and these three matches though is that the previous three saw Okada and Ibushi have at least some semblance of respect for one another. Their brawl during the World Tag League Finals show showed that there’s a lot of tension between these two and that this isn’t just going to be a spectacle of a match, it’s going to be a brutal fight to get to Night 2.

Prediction: Kazuchika Okada retains the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.

IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match:

“Switchblade” Jay White vs Tetsuya Naito

For as good as Okada vs Ibushi is guaranteed to be, this is the match that I’m anticipating the most, and likely the one that’ll have my heart racing rapidly. On January 4th 2018 Tetsuya Naito finally got his main event match in the Tokyo Dome after years of rejection, dejection and smashing title belts. He lost. To this day it’s one of the more frowned upon booking decisions from New Japan’s head writer, Gedo, but this match is potentially the first step in ‘correcting’ what many consider to be a missed opportunity. I’d be confident of Naito winning, but he just so happens to be going up against one of Gedo’s major projects: The Switchblade. Yeah, Jay White has had a hell of a run in the company since returning in December 2017 and threatening to kill Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 12. He’s since beaten Tana, Kenny Omega, Okada and Naito multiple times (the latest win over the latter coming at Destruction to win the Intercontinental Championship) and he’s improving more and more with each match, which is great as the matches become more important and I expect a good one here, albeit not a blow away on the levels of Okada vs Ibushi. White’s also got his unfinished business with Okada, as while it can be argued their feud ended in Madison Square Garden this past April when Okada dethroned him as IWGP Heavyweight Champion after a month, you wouldn’t count out New Japan wanting to end such a bitter rivalry in Japan and at their biggest event for the two top prizes rather than in a (very famous) arena in the United States.

So what we’ve got with this one are two stars that have scores to settle with both Okada and Ibushi – remember, Ibushi beat White in the G1 final and Ibushi and Naito spent a good majority of 2019 trying to kill each other (and very nearly succeeding) over this very championship. White is despised and wanted by nobody to win a title let alone the company’s top two, and the other is someone fans have wanted to to close out Wrestle Kingdom a champion for years now. I can’t say with certainty that White won’t win this, but I can only hope and pray Naito is in that main event on night two.

You see what I mean now when I mention how this one will have my heart racing?

Prediction: Tetsuya Naito regains the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match:

Will Ospreay vs Hiromu Takahashi

It’s the match I never thought would happen. It was the moment I started to believe would never happen. After over a year out of action following a broken neck, my favourite wrestler in the world, Hiromu Takahashi exploded back into the fold at Power Struggle, and after recklessly sprinting into a few railings, he came face to face with arguably the best wrestler on the planet today, Will Ospreay. The relationship and rivalry between these two is an interesting one, as it’s actually a friendship built half on respect and half on Ospreay thinking Hiromu is an absolute lunatic (if you were the only person to have had any doubt, seeing him launch himself into turnbuckles on his comeback from a broken neck should have confirmed it), but a lunatic who cooks good chicken – if you’re unfamiliar with this reference you may need to Google that. So, Ospreay has beaten just about everyone this year, with title retentions over Dragon Lee (the man who injured Hiromu, but more on that in a bit), Robbie Eagles and El Phanstasmo, as well as that NEVER Openweight Championship win over Kota Ibushi. He also ended Shingo Takagi’s undefeated streak in New Japan to win the BOSJ in one of the matches of 2019. Despite all of that though, he’ll only be truly justified as Junior Heavyweight Champion in this reign if he can beat the man who took the title from him in their amazing match at last year’s Dominion. This will be spectacular and I can’t wait.

Prediction: Ospreay retains.

Texas Death Match for the IWGP United States Championship:

Lance Archer vs Jon Moxley

I mentioned at the start of this guide that Jon Moxley lost his United States Championship because of a thunderstorm, and while I expected him to be back in New Japan at some point in the near future, I didn’t expect him to pop up at the World Tag League Finals confronting Archer and telling him, “you didn’t beat me, Delta Airlines beat me!“. Obviously, it was Juice Robinson who Archer beat, coming into the match as an impromptu replacement and winning his first singles title in the company. Lance Archer has been really impressive during this singles run in NJPW and it’s nice to see him rewarded for his efforts. That being said, I think it’s better that this is Texas Death Match over a standard singles as I personally wouldn’t have had overly high expectations of them wrestling to their full potential given the restrictions. The implementation of the stipulation and its rules of win by ten count KO or submission only allows for the two, Moxley in particular, to go all out and for Moxley to further show what he can do with no restraints, as his recent matches in AEW against Kenny Omega and Joey Janela have proven.

Prediction: Moxley regains his title.

Tag Team Match for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships:

GoD (Tama Tonga + Tanga Loa) vs FinJuice (David Finlay + Juice Robinson)

For a moment it seemed like we were destined for another GoD vs EVIL + SANADA match, given the dominance of the LIJ duo in the World Tag League. Surprisingly though, we’re going to get a really fresh tag match at Wrestle Kingdom as Juice Robinson and David Finlay seek to put the New Japan tag division on lockdown. For Juice, title matches in the Tokyo Dome are nothing new, with him dethroning Cody to win the United States Championship earlier this year, but for Finlay this is finally an opportunity to win some gold in the company and most importantly in my view, to make himself a star on the level of Juice. I don’t expect an amazing match, in fact I figure this will be very basic, but if Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa can be dastardly enough, with how loved Juice is by the New Japan audience, this should definitely be a lively affair.

Prediction: FinJuice win the Heavyweight Tag Team Championships.

Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke + Tiger Mask vs Naoki Sano, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, Shinjiro Otani + Ryusuke Taguchi

The final multi-man contest of Jushin Thunder Liger’s three decade long and four-thousand+ match career is set to bring out a boat load of legends to emphasise how special this moment is and how important this night is. Teaming with Fujinami, Sasuke and Tiger Mask, Liger’s final tag match will give fans the opportunity to say that they saw these legends wrestle at least once in their lives, regardless of whether they’ve “still got it” or not. Of course, the four men they’re going up against need a mention as well. It’s great to see Taguchi involved in this, as while his comedic antics and, well, silliness can come across as a bit much and annoying to some (honestly it took me a while to appreciate him) he’s been a fundamental piece of the New Japan puzzle for many years now, so it’s great to see him involved in such a special match. As for the three men he’s teaming with, I’ll admit I know very little about Sano, Takaiwa and Otani, but I’m very happy to learn more about them and watch them perform in the ring.

Prediction: Team Liger win on this night.

What else is on the card?:

CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano + YOSHI-HASHI) vs Bullet Club (KENTA, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi + Chase Owens) :

The first of two previews for the second night, this one is all about Goto and KENTA who’ll be looking to size the other up in preparation for their NEVER Openweight Championship Match. This should be fun, as Ishii and KENTA had an intense feud earlier in the year and, well, a match with Ishii going up against anyone is worth watching. And of course, this is (at the moment) the only chance to see Toru Yano do whatever it takes to win on Wrestle Kingdom weekend, so can you really afford to miss this one?

Prediction: CHAOS win

: The first of two previews for the second night, this one is all about Goto and KENTA who’ll be looking to size the other up in preparation for their NEVER Openweight Championship Match. This should be fun, as Ishii and KENTA had an intense feud earlier in the year and, well, a match with Ishii going up against anyone is worth watching. And of course, this is (at the moment) the only chance to see Toru Yano do whatever it takes to win on Wrestle Kingdom weekend, so can you really afford to miss this one? Los Ingobernables De Japon (SANADA, EVIL, BUSHI + Shingo Takagi) vs Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi + El Desperado):

While the above match is about the NEVER Openweight Championship, this one is a teaser for the British Heavyweight Championship Match set to take place between current champ ZSJ and SANADA who’ll be looking to do the same things as KENTA and Goto. Another aspect between the two matches that’s similar is that this is currently the only match featuring Minoru Suzuki on the two nights, and you can definitely expect good confrontations with EVIL and Shingo – the Suzuki/Shingo battle is what I’m looking forward to most from this one.

Prediction: Suzuki-gun take the win.

While the above match is about the NEVER Openweight Championship, this one is a teaser for the British Heavyweight Championship Match set to take place between current champ ZSJ and SANADA who’ll be looking to do the same things as KENTA and Goto. Another aspect between the two matches that’s similar is that this is currently the only match featuring Minoru Suzuki on the two nights, and you can definitely expect good confrontations with EVIL and Shingo – the Suzuki/Shingo battle is what I’m looking forward to most from this one. Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe + Tomoaki Honma), Yuya Uemura + Yota Tsuji vs Toa Henare, Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors + Karl Fredericks:

There’s not much to this pre-show match that was added on December 16th other than a chance to see Young Lion talent from the New Japan and Los Angeles Dojos and potentially spot future top stars in the process. I expect this one to be a basic match that simply eases us into the right mood and builds us up for the night ahead.

Prediction: Team GBH wins.

There’s not much to this pre-show match that was added on December 16th other than a chance to see Young Lion talent from the New Japan and Los Angeles Dojos and potentially spot future top stars in the process. I expect this one to be a basic match that simply eases us into the right mood and builds us up for the night ahead. Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan + Satoshi Kojima) vs Yuji Nagata + Manabu Nakanishi:

While the match above it is (Makabe, Honma and arguably even Henare excluded) a Young Lion showcase, this one is all about the old guard, and though I’m certain this won’t be their last Wrestle Kingdom, it could possibly be one of the last times these four will share the ring together. I don’t have high hopes for the match quality, as with the exception of Nagata (who’s making it 27 ( ! ) consecutive Tokyo Dome appearances) these men have lost their step just a tad – even Nakanishi, one of my absolute favourites in New Japan. Like the Young Lions showcase, this one on the pre-show will just be about getting us comfortable and invested in a night (or day depending on where you are) of wrestling.

Prediction: Tencozy get the win.

While the match above it is (Makabe, Honma and arguably even Henare excluded) a Young Lion showcase, this one is all about the old guard, and though I’m certain this won’t be their last Wrestle Kingdom, it could possibly be one of the last times these four will share the ring together. I don’t have high hopes for the match quality, as with the exception of Nagata (who’s making it ( ) consecutive Tokyo Dome appearances) these men have lost their step just a tad – even Nakanishi, one of my absolute favourites in New Japan. Like the Young Lions showcase, this one on the pre-show will just be about getting us comfortable and invested in a night (or day depending on where you are) of wrestling. There’ll also be a special match from Stardom taking place as the World of Stardom Champion, Mayu Iwatani tags with the Wonder of Stardom Champion, Arisa Hoshiki to face the currently feuding duo of Giulia and Hana Kimura. Unfortunately this will be an untelevised dark match that only fans lucky enough to be inside the Tokyo Dome early doors will see. Regardless of that though, you may be aware that women’s matches are a huge rarity in New Japan Pro-Wrestling, so the fact that this is happening is a big sign of change from the company as far as the future of women’s wrestling is concerned in NJPW.

Prediction: Iwatani and Hoshiki defeat Giulia and Kimura.



Night 2 – January 5th, 2020

Match for both the IWGP Heavyweight + IWGP Intercontinental Championships:

Kazuchika Okada or Kota Ibushi vs “Switchblade” Jay White or Tetsuya Naito

So like I said above, closing out the weekend will be one of these four men holding both of New Japan’s top championships high. Is it the biggest match in the company’s history? I’d say it’s most certainly up there, but the bigger question is whether it’ll live up to such hype regardless of which two men will be in there. I’m confident in the in-ring abilities of all four men to put on an astounding matchup and like I’ve mentioned, all four have unfinished business with one another that will make whatever match it is compelling if it wasn’t enough already.

Prediction: Naito defeats Okada, retaining his IWGP Intercontinental Championship and winning the IWGP Heavyweight Championship to finally send the Tokyo Dome audience home as the champion.

And as the losers of their respective matches from the night before will also be facing each other in a special singles match, I expect Jay White to get the win over Kota Ibushi.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Chris Jericho

Now who said there was a strained relationship between New Japan and All Elite Wrestling? The ‘Painmaker‘ is back in New Japan and he’s coming in with the intent to retire The Ace of New Japan. It’s a match that I feel is a lot more interesting on a company warfare perspective than it is an in-ring one. Not to say this one will be poor – Tana and Jericho always seem to bring their best on these big occasions – but with the older the two get this obviously won’t be what it could’ve been a few years back. Not to worry though, it’ll be thoroughly entertaining as Jericho’s bound to be playing the man you love to hate and I can already see him holding a camera and flipping Tana off as The Ace writhes in pain on the outside as the Tanahashi adoring crowd show their disdain. When it comes to Tokyo Dome matches, The Ace usually never loses so you shouldn’t back against him, but with Jericho only holding one win over the rest of (what was in 2018) New Japan’s big four: Okada, Naito – who he would then lose to at last year’s Wrestle Kingdom – and Omega, is it time Jericho got a very convincing win against one of New Japan’s elite? Truth be told, the more I write about this match and the more I think about it, I’m actually getting really excited to see it happen – even more so now that Tana has said if he wins he’ll open the “forbidden door” and challenge Jericho for the AEW World Heavyweight Championship. Will Tanahashi be playing air guitar at the end of this one? Or will Jericho be standing over Tana’s broken body enjoying a little bit of the bubbly?

Prediction: Le Ace beats Le Champion.

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship:

Lance Archer or Jon Moxley vs Juice Robinson

I’ll be honest in saying that the announcement of this match nearly passed me by, but it’s one that makes complete sense. As Moxley was initially supposed to defend against Juice at King of Pro-Wrestling, it’s only right that the fans should get to see that match should he survive against Lance Archer on Night 1. If anything, this makes me even more sure that Moxley will be winning on Night 1 (admittedly a dreaded mistake when Gedo is booking) and now I’m expecting him to do even more reckless deeds during that Texas Death Match given he could be fighting twice in two days. It’ll be surprising to see how damage done to Moxley or Archer will impact the crowd’s reactions to Juice. Remember, I said earlier that the crowd loves him, but they don’t respect anyone taking cheap shots against injured opposition, so there’ll be a fascinating dynamic in this match. I’m also a lot more interested now to see whether Juice’s Heavyweight Tag Team Championships match will end in a victory for him and Finlay. Is it out of the question to think he could be winning two championships on this weekend? I don’t think it is.

Prediction: Juicy TwoBelts does have a ring to it, doesn’t it?

Tag Team Match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships:

Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori + El Phantasmo) vs Roppongi 3K (SHO + YOH)

Another fresh tag team championships match in comparison to what we’ve gotten in recent years at Wrestle Kingdom. We’re still bound to see a fantastic display of Junior Heavyweight wrestling though as Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo look to retain their titles against the duo they defeated six months ago at Kizuna Road to win them. SHO and YOH got this opportunity by beating Wrestle Kingdom regulars Despy and Kanemaru at Power Struggle in the Super Jr Tag Tournament Final and I’m really looking forward to seeing what these four can do. RPG 3K are two of the finest athletes in the company and since their return in 2017 they’ve almost always been involved in the titles picture putting on excellent matches. Likewise, Taiji returned to the company last year and has since excelled against the likes of KUSHIDA and Hiromu, and while Phantasmo may seem like the odd one out in comparison to these other three, he’s been built very strong in his time in the company, picking up wins over Will Ospreay and Bandido. Taking all of this into account it’s easy to think this will be an enjoyable match, but it’s not crystal clear who’ll be taking home the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships.

Prediction: RPG 3K lost their Junior Tag Titles match last year, I don’t think they’ll lose two years running.

NEVER Openweight Championship Match:

KENTA vs Hirooki Goto

What we’ve got with this match is one of the most hated men in New Japan (the fans now really hate KENTA after he assaulted Shibata) going up against one of the men NJPW fans love to support the most and it’s one that you can expect to be extremely hard-hitting. Since arriving in NJPW, KENTA has been deadly in the ring, so deadly in fact that he managed to defeat Tomohiro Ishii despite getting knocked out in the process, and he’s brought bitterness with him as well. So much bitterness that in the build up to this match he’s been brawling with Goto (not always a wise decision) during backstage interviews, at press conferences and after matches. You know as well as I that when a match is being built up like this, the match itself is likely to be brutal.

Prediction: KENTA retains.

British Heavyweight Championship Match:

Zack Sabre Jr. vs SANADA

What happens when a submissions expert comes across someone with one of the deadliest submission finishers in the company? That’s what I’m looking forward to with this one, as I’ve done with their previous two matches in the G1 Climax and in the New Japan Cup. Usually when SANADA locks in Skull End that’s the end of the match, but when he’s facing someone who has – how many is it? – 854(?) different holds and different ways to get out them, you can expect a riveting end to this one let alone the full match in general. And that’s what I think makes the aforementioned preview tag match on Night 1 so important, even if it doesn’t look like anything special, as it’ll essentially be the first half that leads to this second being even more explosive.

Prediction: ZSJ retains.

Jushin Thunder Liger + Naoki Sano vs Hiromu Takahashi + Ryu Lee

The official announcement of what Liger’s final match would be was a surprising one. Of all potential challengers I didn’t expect Dragon Lee to be the ‘one’ – and I also didn’t expect him to change his name to Ryu Lee. I also didn’t think Liger would end up making this a tag team match after stating he wanted to go out against Hiromu (a singles match between these two I could’ve imagined) and consequently make The Ticking Time Bomb team up with the man who he was facing when he suffered his broken neck in July 2018. Liger on the other hand teams up with one his opponents from the first night in Naoki Sano, but while this match is really all about Liger, I’m more interested in seeing if there’s any friction between new LIJ teammates Takahashi and Lee – did I mention that those two had a love-hate relationship (as in they love to hate the other) before the injury? – as Rush introduced Lee as a new member of Los Ingobernables at ROH’s Final Battle show. That being the case, it’ll be interesting to see if this is more than just a one off for Hiromu and Lee as a tag team. This match is kicking off Night 2 (As is Liger’s match on Night 1) so Wrestle Kingdom 14 is set to start in a thunderous way.

Prediction: Hiromu + Ryu Lee send Liger out on his back.

What else is on the card?:

Gauntlet Match for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships:

The Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe, Toru Yano + Ryusuke Taguchi) vs CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI + Robbie Eagles) vs Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens + Yujiro Takahashi) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (EVIL, Shingo Takagi + BUSHI) vs Suzuki-gun (Taichi, El Desperado + Yoshinobu Kanemaru)



The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Titles gauntlet is a Wrestle Kingdom tradition, but let’s be honest, it’s usually the worst match on the card by a long shot. With matches that are usually very short and overstuffed, it tends to be a dud on a card filled with great matches. Regardless, this is an opportunity for some good old fashioned faction warfare and also to get several stars onto the show’s card. This was added on December 16th, so while it makes my earlier comments about only seeing Yano the once redundant, I’m happy to know we’ll be seeing him and Taguchi as the mad men duo while Makabe looks on in what only can be described as a confused disappointment. Additionally we’ll get more hoss fighting between Ishii and Fale, and any chance to see Shingo Takagi is one that you don’t want to miss, despite how poor the match is likely to be.

Prediction: LIJ win the titles.

Wrestle Kingdom 14 is nailed on to be two stupendous nights of pro-wrestling, and it’s all but guaranteed to be the biggest weekend in the history of New Japan Pro-Wrestling given we’ll be seeing one undisputed champion crowned, whether it’s Okada, Naito, Ibushi or White. There’s also that Brand Warfare with the invasions of AEW World Heavyweight Champion Chris Jericho against Hiroshi Tanahashi and Jon Moxley against Lance Archer and potentially Juice Robinson (don’t count out a Jericho/Moxley confrontation either what with their recent interactions in AEW). Those are just a drop in the ocean of a momentous weekend too, one where the career of Jushin Thunder Liger will be celebrated and great wrestling will be had by all.

Remember it’s live on on NJPW World on January 4th and January 5th. Don’t miss out.

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