Once again, Wrestle Kingdom has set the bar high for the year 2020.
What a fantastic show overall. I don’t necessarily feel that the two-night aspect is needed, as several matches could’ve been cut from the card; however, I was never bored during both shows at any point and time.
First, what an honor to have witnessed Jushin “Thunder” Liger’s matches throughout the years. The veteran has been a pioneer for the Junior Heavyweight division for decades and I wish all the best for the former multi-time Junior Heavyweight champion going forward.
I do wish that Liger’s Wrestle Kingdom matches had more meat to them. I like that the 55-year-old put over Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee; however, neither of his matches had any consequences or stakes which made them a bit lackluster. Perhaps Liger could’ve faced the winner of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship match from Night One.
Speaking of Takahashi, what a phenomenal match he had against Will Ospreay on Night One. The “Aerial Assassin” had a spectacular 2019 and his performances continue to be awe inspiring. For a guy that had a career-threatening injury, Takahashi doesn’t seem to have missed a beat and I tremendously look forward to his matches in the future.
Match of the weekend for me was Tetsuya Naito vs. Kazuchika Okada. Ospreay/Takahashi was my second favorite. Though, Kota Ibushi vs. Okada was another gem of the weekend.
I will admit, had Naito lost to either White or Okada then I wouldn’t have been happy. However, that’s how invested I was in Naito’s arc to become the main eventer that he deserves to be. What an emotional moment and hopefully the double champion gets a lengthy title reign.
I didn’t hate KENTA attacking Naito in the end. In fact, the former NEVER Openweight Champion has worked his ass off and deserves to be thrust into the main event scene. However, KENTA shouldn’t have lost since the plan was clearly to elevate him as the first challenger for the belts.
The story of Hirooki Goto called for him to get a happy ending, thus KENTA should’ve at least won the New Japan Cup to get the right to challenge Naito for the championship. At the moment, he just doesn’t feel like a worthy challenger.
What made Wrestle Kingdom 14 great was the variety of strong matches. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA was different from Chris Jericho vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Hirooki Goto vs. KENTA (which had an awesome final few minutes). Both Jon Moxley matches were parallel to each other. The Texas Death Match was a war.
However, Robinson vs. Moxley was all about clash of styles. The IWGP US Champ wanted to make the match an anything goes fight, but Juice forced Moxley to play the wrestling game. I’m excited to see what Minoru Suzuki and Jon Moxley could do.
Overall, Wrestle Kingdom 14 flew by with ease. Yes, there were matches that didn’t need to be on the pay-per-view card; however, nothing was terrible and the inconsequential matches didn’t last too long.
I do wish that guys like Shingo Takagi and Tomohiro Ishii got some more love for Wrestle Kingdom 14. Yes, Takagi won the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles; however, he was not in a high profle match.
Also, I wish there was some kind of pay off for KENTA’s repeated assaults on Katsuyori Shibata. Perhaps the former NEVER Openweight Champion could’ve stopped KENTA from cheating or nail the final blow after the match. I just feel that story needs to be wrapped up with KENTA getting his comeuppance in the end.
I look forward to seeing what happens in New Japan Pro Wrestling in 2020. Hopefully, both AEW and New Japan officials can mend their issues backstage and get a partnership going.