#or bryan vs naito

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 18 in Tokyo Dome Review (Jan 4th, 2024)

New Japan Rambo **

IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship - Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. TJP & Francesco Akira ***1/4

NJPW World TV Championship - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ****

Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura ***1/2

Shota Umino & Kaito Kiyomiya vs. EVIL & Ren Narita ***1/4

NEVER Openweight Championship - Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Tama Tonga ****1/2

IWGP Tag Team & STRONG Openweight Tag Championship Double Title Match - Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. El Phantasmo & Hikuleo ***3/4+

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. El Desperado ****1/4

Inaugural IWGP Global Championship Match - Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay ****1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson *****

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship - SANADA (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito ****1/4

Photos.

This show ruled. Full disclosure, I've fallen behind with NJPW in the last couple of years, and only really get to fully see the major shows, so going in this looked like a solid little card on paper, so my expectations weren't exactly sky high. However, the New Japan crew knocked it out of the park with an excellent, Show of the Year contender. Things started as they always do: The annual "cram everyone humanly possible onto the card" Rambo. We all know what to expect here, and this was better than a lot of previous offerings, but the surprise appearance of Fujita "Jr" Hayato in this years really raised it up for me, as I'm always super pleased to see him back in the ring after all he's been through. Takashi Iizuka turning up was also a nice surprise (absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that), and it was a kick to be transported back to 2013 with him mercilessly going after poor Shimpei Nogami on commentary. The ending though was very deja vu, as I could have sworn some incredibly similar variant of this was the outcome last year. The final four of Great-O-Khan, Taiji Ishimori, YOH and Toru Yano advanced to face off for the KOPW Title tomorrow.

The main show started in style with the prerequisite Jr Tag Title Match, which featured TJP debuting his new demon gimmick, The Aswang, because he was locked in a casket when last we saw him, you see. My English feed froze at the opening bell on the Aswang mask for ages, and by the time I'd gotten back onto the Japanese feed, I'd missed like three minutes of this, there were brawls all over ringside, The Aswang was wearing a dog collar, and Moloney was bleeding. The final 5 or so minutes I did see were pretty damn good though, so that's what my rating is based on. TJP got this win for him and Akira after he blew the dreaded Dokukiri into Drilla's face, then Catch 22 hit the double knees to regain the titles at 9:38. Next up, President Tanahashi put an end to the 365 day TV Title reign of ZSJ in an excellent 8:53 sprint. These guys always have excellent matches together, and this was no exception. They worked a fast-paced thriller, which boiled down to them hitting a sequence of cradle reversals, before Tana counter a Zack Victory Roll into one of his own, and won the belt to a big pop. President Ace thanked everyone for coming in the post match, and wished us all a Happy New Year. Godly.

Career rivals Tsuji and Uemura had their first non-Young Lion outing on a major show next. This was a very good little match, I've always been high on both guys since they were rookies, and I firmly believe they have incredibly bright futures in New Japan, and are destined to be focal points in the years to come. Even though I do wish they'd do more with Yota. The guy came in super hot, with a ton of hype, and now he's kinda just floundering in the mid-card. And more mid-carders is most certainly not something this company needs! They always have really good matches, so add this one to that list, which ended at just under 11 minutes, when Uemura got the much needed win with his beautiful Deadbolt suplex. Fellow future superstar Shota Umino drove into Tokyo Dome on a motorbike to start his and partner, NOAH "Ace" Kiyomiya's tag match against HoT goons EVIL and Ren Narita next. This was going along really nicely, the three young guys all looked great, and the crowd were very much into, until the standard shenanigans started, which lead to a fairly abrupt finish, which saw Narita deck Umino with a steel plated push-up bar, then score the pin with his Double Cross finish at the 7 minute mark.

The fifth bout saw company MVP Shingo defend the NEVER Title against Tama Tonga in a hard-hitting war, which was by far the best match on the show up to this point. The near 30K in attendance were going crazy for this as they hit all their big spots, massive Lariats and Gun Stun counters. After Takagi scored a great near fall with Made in Japan, Tama went to the Bullet Club well, hitting a Gun Stun, Bloody Sunday AND a Styles Clash, before putting Shingo away with the DSD at 13:46 to claim his 4th NEVER Championship. Excellent stuff here, though seemingly Tama announced afterwards that he's finishing up with the company at the end of the month, so him winning is an... interesting decision. The double Tag Title match followed, which was a rematch of the Tag League Final between Bishamon and GoD. This was another great match, a fun sprint which saw the STRONG Champions win both sets of belts after ELP hit Goto with CRIII, and Hikuleo came off the top with a massive, but very unattractive, Big Splash to win the belts in 9:47. Just before this match, Nic Nemeth (the former Dolph Ziggler) and his brother Ryan turned up to sit at ringside. I think we all know there's some kind of angle coming here.

Speaking of career rivals, Hiromu and Despy faced off for the Jr. Heavy Title in the next bout. We've seen many versions of this match in recent history, and they're pretty much always excellent, so this fit that mould no doubt. Things started hot as Despy hit Hiromu with a Tope con Giro as he made his entrance, and they worked 100 mph from there. The challenger worked over the champions leg to set up the Numero Dos, but it wasn't to be. The finish saw Desperado escape the Hiromu Roll, then hit a Jay Driller, kept a hold and nailed Takahashi with a second Pinche Loco to win the strap at the 14:21 mark to end another great outing. We crowned an inaugural IWGP Global champion next, as Ospreay, Moxley and Finlay had a wild Triple Threat Match. This started with Mox and Ospreay agreeing to work together for the first 5 minutes in order to take out Finlay, then turn their attention on each other, before BC War Dogs Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd ran in. The babyfaces rallied a comeback though, which saw Ospreay put the invaders through tables with a Swanton Bomb to the outside, and Moxley took a post bump and gigged himself. Which I'm sure will shock many. The finishing stretch was insanely hot as Mox kicked at one from a Hidden Blade, but was put down with Stormbreaker, only for Finlay to hit Ospreay with his new Overkill finish, which is essentially a Brainbuster into a Go 2 Sleep, to become the inaugural Global champion in 22:17. In the post match, Finlay got into a shoving match and pull-apart with Nic Nemeth at ringside, which culminated in Nemeth chasing him to the back. So that looks to be Finlay's first title programme. Finlay going over was 100% the right call, with Ospreay leaving as a full-timer, they need to start making some top guys, and he's a good place to start.

Semi final time, and a true dream match next as Okada faced Danielson in a match I'd spent a good decade fantasy booking. After their slightly disappointing first encounter at Forbidden Door in June, due in no small part by Dragon legit breaking his arm during it, they came out with a lot to prove. And they certainly didn't disappoint this time as they had a superb wrestling encounter based around aggression and emotion. As anyone who's been watching Danielson since the ROH days can attest, when Bryan has a grudge with someone (Morishima, Nigel), he goes all out with the intensity, and it usually produces classics. The pacing, the limb-work, the storytelling, the drama... everything about this was essentially perfect. After Okada broke Danielson's arm in their previous match, Dragon obsessively set out to do the same here. And it lead to his downfall. The American Dragon was coming into this one with a fractured orbital bone, so Okada worked over that for a while too. Okada kicked out of a Busaiku Knee, Danielson locked on the same arm submission he tapped Okada out with at Forbidden Door, but The Rainmaker made the ropes. Dragon then stomped his f'n head in and locked in the LeBell Lock, only for Okada to hit a Rainmaker, but he was in too much pain from his devastated right arm, and couldn't make the cover. Danielson hit a big head kick and another Busaiku Knee, but rather than go for the cover, he elected to do the "Yes!" gimmick in the corner, and try another knee, but Okada hit an Emerald Flowsion, a Landslide, then another Rainmaker to fall on top of Dragon, and score the surprise win at the 23:24 (which it felt half of, by the way). This was a masterpiece, and I was legitimately shocked when the three count came. I could have watched this for an hour, it left me very much wanting a rubber match, and this is easily the best match of 2024 so far. They bowed to each other and shook hands in the post match.

The Keiji Muto fan club imploded in the main event as former LIJ stablemates Naito and SANADA (who was even dressed like Muto circa 1995), battled for the World Title. This was an excellent match, one that I didn't have a massive amount of interested in going into this show, but they had a really great clash. It's worth mentioning that something happened to SANADA here, I don't know if it was the biceps injury he's been dealing with since G1, or if he seperated his shoulder or something, but he was in noticeable discomfort through this, and it let to some wonky botches near the finish. They tried multiple times to do a Destino counter, but they couldn't pull it off. SANADA hit Dead Fall for the double down, then an Asai DDT, but Naito escaped a second Dead Fall attempt, and went for Valentia, but SANADA countered into an O'Connor Roll for a super close near fall. A Shining Wizard followed, but Naito turned another Dead Fall attempt into one of his own, finally hit Valentia, then finished the champion off with Destino to win his first World title at 25:42. It's worth pointing out that they clashed heads on the way down on the Destino, and Naito got busted open pretty bad over his eye. With Naito having finally won again in the main event of Tokyo Dome, he was about to Finish His Story, when EVIL and Dick Togo, of all people, ran-in in an attempt to ruin things like KENTA did in 2020. However, they hadn't bargained on SANADA, who nailed his former tag partner with a Shining Wizard, and Naito sent Dick packing with a low dropkick. SANADA then let Naito finish the story a decade in the making, and do his "De-Ja-Pon!!!" roll call to end the show and send everyone home happy. Whilst I applaud NJPW for giving SANADA a go, or just giving ANYONE NEW a shot at the top of the card (it's been very Groundhog Day for a long time up there, and this is something I've been encouraging since NAito at WK8!), I don't think it payed off liked they'd hoped. SANADA is a very good worker, and amazing athlete, but he's just missing something that would make him that major star. Which is obviously something Naito has in abundance, so I'm very pleased he got his big win here, as it was pretty much last chance saloon.

This was a tremendous card, not quite as good as last year's, I don't think, but still great, great stuff and well worth checking out. Especially the Okada/Danielson match!

NDT

[blueonwrestling]

FORBIDDEN DOOR STAR RATINGS.

Zero Hour Serpentico vs. Kyle Fletcher - 1.5 stars

Kyle O'Reilly & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Gabe Kidd & Roderick Strong (w/Gedo, Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) vs. Private Party (Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen) vs. The Kings Of The Black Throne (Brody King & Malakai Black) - 2.75 stars

Tam Nakano & Willow Nightingale vs. Kris Statlander & Momo Watanabe (w/Stokely Hathaway) - 3.25 stars

Saraya (w/Harley Cameron) vs. Mariah May (w/Luther & Toni Storm) - 3 stars

Mistico & The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix) (w/Alex Abrahantes) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Hiromu Takahashi, Titan & Yota Tsuji) 4 stars

Main Card

Hechicero vs. MJF - 3 stars

Hiroshi Tanahashi & The Acclaimed (Anthony Bowens & Max Caster) (w/Billy Gunn) vs. The Elite (Kazuchika Okada, Matthew Jackson & Nicholas Jackson) - 3 stars

Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi - 4.5 stars

Toni Storm (w/Luther & Mariah May) (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa (w/Mariah May) - 4 stars

Orange Cassidy vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - 4.75 stars

Hook, Katsuyori Shibata & Samoa Joe vs. The Learning Tree (Big Bill & Chris Jericho) & Jeff Cobb - 3 stars

Mark Briscoe vs. El Phantasmo vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Lio Rush vs. Jack Perry vs. Dante Martin - 3.75 stars

Mercedes Mone (c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer (c) - 4.25 stars

Jon Moxley (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito - 1 star

Swerve Strickland (w/Prince Nana) (c) vs. Will Ospreay 4.75 stars

[unlikelywrestlingfan]

Elle's Last Minute Predictions: Forbidden Door 2024

I thought about these all earlier but am just posting them now so XD

Pre-Show Match: Kris Statlander & Momo Watanabe vs. Willow Nightingale & Tam Nakano Want: I hope they all have fun, but I suppose Willow and Tam Nakano! Prediction: Willow and Tam Nakano

Pre-Show Match: Los Ingobernables de Japón (Yota Tsuji, Titán & Hiromu Takahashi) vs. The Lucha Brothers (Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fénix) & Místico Want: I hope they all have fun! Prediction: Lucha Bros & Misitco but only to give Rey a win going into face Jay for the Owen on Wed for momentum. Otherwise I'd guess LIJ.

Pre-Show Match: House of Black (Malakai Black and Brody King) vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Kyle O'Reilly vs. Roderick Strong and Gabriel Kidd vs. Private Party (Zay and Quen) Want: Private Party Prediction: IDK it's my freebie

Pre-Show Match: Owen Hart Cup Tournament First-Round: Mariah May vs. Saraya Want: Mariah Prediction: Mariah

Ladder Match for vacant TNT Championship: Jack Perry vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Dante Martin vs. Lio Rush vs. El Phantasmo Want: Take or Dante or Lio Prediction: Jack

Owen Hart Cup Tournament First-Round Match: Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi Want: Shingo Prediction: Bryan

Trios Match: The Learning Tree (Chris Jericho, Big Bill & Jeff Cobb) vs. Samoa Joe, Hook & Katsuyori Shibata Want: Joe, Hook, & Shibs Prediction: Joe, Hook, & Shibs

AEW Women's World Championship: Toni Storm (c) vs. Mina Shirakawa Want: Toni Prediction: Toni

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy Want: I just hope they both have fun! Prediction: ZSJ

MJF vs. Hechicero

The Elite (The Young Bucks & Kazuchika Okada) vs. The Acclaimed (Max Caster & Anthony Bowens) & Hiroshi Tanahashi Want: Acclaimed and Tana Prediction: Elite

TBS Championship & NJPW Strong Women's Championship Winner Take All: Mercedes Moné (c) vs. Stephanie Vaquer (c) Want: Mercedes Prediction: Mercedes

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Jon Moxley (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito Want: Naito Prediction: Mox, because Naito makes more sense so it's won't happen

AEW World Championship: Swerve Strickland (c) vs. Will Ospreay Want: Swerve Prediction: Swerve

[wrestlingisfake]

Forbidden Door preview

Swerve Strickland vs. Will Ospreay - Swerve is defending the AEW men's world championship. Ospreay earned this title shot just three days after capturing the AEW international championship, which is not on the line in this match. In fact, Will has already promised an international title shot to Daniel Garcia on July 3, and that he'll also put up the world title if he wins it here.

After all the effort and hype to coronate Swerve in April, I think it's too soon for him to drop the belt. On the other hand, Ospreay is red-hot, and you can make a strong case for giving him the world title. Thing is, if I wanted to make Ospreay world champion in 2024, I would 1) put the belt on a hot heel, 2) keep Will out of the international title picture, 3) book Will to win the Owen Hart tournament and 4) position him as the challenger heading into Wembley Stadium on August 25. AEW hasn't done any of these things, which leads me to believe this isn't his time to win the big one.

The match itself should be epic. Ospreay has all the cool moves, and Strickland can tell great stories in the ring. Swerve insists Will doesn't have the killer instinct to be the world champion. So it will probably come up that Ospreay refuses to use the double underhook piledriver that caused Bryan Danielson to have (fake) convulsions back in March. It will probably also come up that Ospreay, despite being a huge babyface, is still aligned with the evil Don Callis, who is clearly frustrated by Ospreay's tendency to show mercy.

A possible wild card in this match is Adam Page, who seems to be setting up a big return with a video about how he's still mad at Strickland. There's no guarantee he'll be on the show tonight. But if Strickland is going to lose the belt tonight, I'd definitely do a Hangman Page run-in to make it happen.

I'm torn on this one, because I like both guys and I don't want either of them to lose right now. I can see where Ospreay may be more over, and therefore better for business on top. But I can't shake the feeling it would be terrible PR for AEW's first Black champion to fall so early into his reign. I also can't help noticing how pointless it would be to put the international belt on Ospreay right before setting him up to win the world belt. None of that proves that Swerve has to retain. But deep down I think the right move is for him to retain, and I'm going with my gut on this.

Jon Moxley vs. Tetsuya Naito - Moxley won the IWGP world title from Naito on April 12 in beautiful Chicago, so this is the rematch in that dump of a town, New York City. Naito has suggested that if he loses tonight, he will offer to let Moxley take his spot in the G1 Climax tournament. That doesn't mean Mox will accept the offer, but I don't see why he'd turn it down.

Ever since Moxley captured the gold, the big question has been how long New Japan will keep it on him, at the risk of disrupting their normal routine. Some fans (and some wrestlers) have bellyached about Mox taking the belt to AEW instead of working full-time on the Japanese tours. If he drops the belt here, everything pretty much returns to normal. But if Mox retains tonight, it's anyone's guess what will happen next, and whether New Japan fans will tolerate it.

My preferred scenario is for Mox to keep the title all the way to January, while New Japan spends the next six months building up a guy to dethrone him at the Tokyo Dome. But New Japan doesn't book for me, they book for the domestic audience, which is probably going to get sick of having a champion that only comes to Japan maybe once a month. Then again, the Japanese fans are sick to death of House of Torture matches, and that doesn't stop New Japan from booking them.

Moxley is 2-0 in singles matches against Naito, and it's real hard for me to imagine him going up to 3-0. More to the point, I think Naito tipped his hand by talking about giving up his G1 spot. I cannot believe they'd actually pull a top guy like him from the tournament with only two week's notice. I'd love to see the chaos if Moxley retains, but my better judgement says new champ.

Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa - Storm is putting the AEW women's world title on the line. But the title isn't quite as important here as Mariah May, who was closely aligned with Shirakawa in STARDOM, and is currently closely aligned with Storm in AEW. The champion and the challenger each resent May's divided loyalties, and it's pretty clear she's going to have to pick a side. Mariah keeps trying to get everybody on the same page, but it's just not happening.

I'm not really conveying the intense homoerotic subtext in this story, but you're already on Tumblr so you shouldn't have any problem finding someone else to catch you up on that.

Ever since Mariah showed up in AEW I've had the feeling that she's coming for Storm's spot, and at this point doing the match at Wembley Stadium seems like a logical move. So I've been assuming Toni has to retain here. However...Mina has had oodles of charisma in this program, to the point that I think many AEW fans would like to see her stick around. Besides, Mariah could just as easily do the "mentor vs. protege" world title bout against Storm or Shirakawa. I can't quite rule out a title change here. Still, I'm leaning 70/30 towards Toni keeping the belt.

Mercedes Mone vs. Stephanie Vaquer - Mone is defending the AEW TBS title, and Vaquer is defending the STRONG women's title. Stephanie currently holds an assortment of other championships, most notably the CMLL women's world title, but none of those are on the line here.

This is a rematch from March 21, 2023 when both women were in a tournament to crown the first STRONG women's champion. Mone was heavily favored to win the whole thing, and she beat Vaquer to advance to the final. But then she fell and injured her ankle, paving the way for Willow Nightingale to score a big upset. Mercedes avenged that loss to Willow last month, so the only loose end is that she never got hold of the STRONG belt.

I'd have zero problem with Vaquer adding the TBS belt to her collection. But it's just not gonna happen--Mercedes is too big a deal, and too early into her AEW run to start losing now. I'm not sure what Mone is going to do with the STRONG belt, but I'm pretty sure New Japan created it for her to have, and they're finally going to put it on her.

Kazuchika Okada & Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Max Caster & Anthony Bowens - The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick) have been feuding with the Acclaimed (Caster and Bowens), and down the line they should meet two-on-two with the Bucks' AEW tag team title on the line. But the special sauce in this match is an unexpected entry in the long-running rivalry between Okada and Tanahashi. Okada was a dick when the rivalry began, but gradually lightened up until he and Tana became friends and tag partners. This is the first time their paths have crossed since Okada jumped to AEW and turned heel.

As legendary as Tana is, he's 47 years old and pretty vulnerable when it comes to doing the job in big matches. It's weird to say he's the weak link on a team with two guys I never heard of five years ago. But the Acclaimed need to be protected, and so do all three guys from the Elite. So unless Caster or Bowens manages to roll up one of the Bucks, I think Tana is bound to lose this match.

Jack Perry vs. Mark Briscoe vs. Konosuke Takeshita vs. Dante Martin vs. Lio Rush vs. El Phantasmo - This match is for the AEW TNT championship, which has been vacant since the last titleholder, Adam Copeland, broke his tibia on May 26. Briscoe is the ROH men's world champion, but that title won't be at stake here. This will be a ladder match, so the TNT belt will be hung above the ring, and ladders will be placed around ringside; the first participant to climb up and retrieve the belt will be the winner and new champion.

I was hoping there would be more New Japan talent in this match. As it is we have Phantasmo, and kindasorta Lio, although Lio mainly appears on NJPW's US shows these days. It'd be easy to mistake Takeshita for a New Japan guy, but I don't think he's ever wrestled for them. In any case, these three guys probably can't win. I think Lio will need to stick around a while before they give him a belt. Takeshita and ELP are headed to the G1 Climax soon, and I don't think Tony Khan wants to send one of his champions to Japan for a month.

Perry seems like the favorite to win here, seeing as the Young Bucks were going to just hand him the belt before this match was announced to overrule them. Briscoe is getting more and more over, but he already has a title, and I don't think he needs another. Dante has the best storyline, since he broke his leg the last time he was in a ladder match. I think it'd be cool to see Dante win the big one. But my gut says he'll get super close and Perry will dick him over at the last minute to take the gold.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Orange Cassidy - These two were part of a four-way match at last year's Forbidden Door, but nothing really got settled, so now Sabre is back for more.

I didn't get the story of this until last night, when Sabre said Orange is out of ideas and "I've already won." Cassidy is supposed to be super-chill and able to bait his opponent into making mistakes. But for months every Orange Cassidy promo is about how tired or beat up he is, and his mental state is even worse since Trent Beretta and Kris Statlander turned against him. A year ago I'd have said Sabre is a hothead who will flip his lid at the first sign of Orange Cassidy tomfoolery, but now he's the one maintaining his composure.

The match should be loads of fun, but the outcome isn't in doubt. Sabre's clearly being set up for big things in New Japan sooner or later, and I'm pretty confident he's not going to lose tonight.

MJF vs. Hechicero - Hechicero is one of the CMLL guys they've brought into AEW sporadically this year, and of late he's aligned with AEW's Cage of Agony stable, for some reason. On June 19, Brian Cage randomly issued a challenge to MJF on behalf of Hechicero, so I guess this is happening. The clash of styles could be real interesting, but MJF should not be losing right now.

Bryan Danielson vs. Shingo Takagi - This is a quarterfinal match in the men's Owen Hart memorial tournament. The winner will meet PAC in the semifinals on July 3. Whoever wins the whole tournament will earn an AEW men's world title match at Wembley Stadium on August 25.

It feels like they made this match so they can say a top New Japan guy is in the bracket, but he's going to lose right away so he doesn't have to stick around for the whole thing. However, it is feasible for Shingo to go all the way in this tournament, return to Japan for the entire G1, and then do the title match in London. I don't think that will happen, but it's not impossible. It's far more likely, I believe, that Danielson will win the whole tournament, and he just wanted a cool opponent for this show.

Chris Jericho & Big Bill & Jeff Cobb vs. Samoa Joe & HOOK & Katsuyori Shibata - Cobb is the only New Japan guy in what is otherwise a straightforward AEW storyline. (I know Shibata was a New Japan guy for years, but he's been All Elite for a long time now.) Jericho, Bill, and Bryan Keith have been giving Hook and Shibata a hard time, and Joe stepped up to help the good guys out. Then Keith got (pretend?) injured so the heels needed a hand. Joe's team is developing some good chemistry, but Jericho's "learning tree" gimmick is not working for me at all. Minoru Suzuki has challenged Jericho for the FTW title, so I suppose Jericho's team should win so he can come out to build up that match, whenever it happens.

Willow Nightingale & Tam Nakano vs. Kris Statlander & Momo Watanabe - This is set for the pre-show. Statlander and Nightingale were best buddies up until last month, when Kris turned on Willow. I have completely forgotten anything I have learned about Nakano and Watanabe, but given which sides they're on it's clear who's a face and who's a heel. It's too soon to settle the Statlander-Nightingale feud, so I'd probably have one of them pin one of the STARDOM ladies.

Mariah May vs. Saraya - Another pre-show match. This is a quarterfinal in the women's Owen Hart tournament; the winner here will advance to face Hikaru Shida on July 3. The tournament winner will challenge the AEW women's world champion on August 25. That show is in London, and both of these women are English, so in my mind the winner here will be the natural favorite to go all the way.

May is, as noted above, embroiled in the Toni Storm vs. Mina Shirakawa feud. Saraya is one of those heels who storms out during a big storyline to complain that she's sick of it, which has led to her feuding with May, Storm, and Shirakawa. I suppose Saraya could win but there's far more money in having Mariah advance, so that's who I'm picking.

Yota Tsuji & Hiromu Takahashi & Titan vs. Mistico & Penta El Zero Miedo & Rey Fenix - This is the most "forbidden" match on the whole show, and they're giving it away free on the pre-show.

When AEW launched, they were shut out of the NJPW/CMLL/ROH alliance. So a lot of the luchadors they brought in, like Penta and Fenix, were top talent from CMLL's rival, AAA. When NJPW-AEW relations thawed, things got awkward, because CMLL was still not going to collaborate with a company that used so many non-CMLL luchadors. To maintain the NJPW-CMLL relationship, New Japan talent wouldn't appear on AEW shows alongside Mexican wrestlers who don't work for CMLL.

It seemed unlikely that CMLL would ever budge on this point, even when they finally started working with AEW earlier this year. So I never expected to see Penta or Fenix in the ring with any of the other four guys in this match. Apparently the new arrangement is that CMLL will co-exist with the Lucha Bros. as long as they don't work for AAA.

I don't expect any of this to affect the action during this match. I'm not even sure the announce team will acknowledge it's an issue. I also can't begin to guess what the finish would be for such a politically-charged matchup. CMLL probably wants Mistico to win, and I'm guessing AEW and New Japan want to keep them happy right now.

Tomohiro Ishii & Kyle O'Reilly vs. Malakai Black & Brody King vs. Gabe Kidd & Roderick Strong vs. Isiah Kassidy & Marq Quen - Geez, that's four matches on the pre-show. That's a lot of matches. I assume each team will be in a corner, and only two men will be legal in the ring at any given time, but they can tag anyone they want. First man to score a fall wins the match for his team. Kidd and Strong are doing an odd-couple thing for some reason. Ishii and O'Reilly don't seem to have much in common except they've both been helping out Orange Cassidy lately. Black and King are waiting for Buddy Matthews to get back from his honeymoon so they can chase the trios belts. Private Party (Kassidy & Quen) haven't had much direction lately, and I don't expect that to change here. Unless the bookers want to put over Ishii or Kidd, I figure Black and King will win.

[sithwitch13]

AEW Dynamite 6/26/24

Ooh, Danny interrupting MJF. I dig it.

MJF has had some serious Wolvwrine hair since he came back?

Oooh All In! So proud of Danny

Ospreay and MJF fighting over Danny?

BCC time! With Danielson on commentary!

LIJ! HIROMU!!!

Mox is still all wound up from Bloodsport

Naito!

Danielson coming to rescue Yuta... aaaa

I love the BCG entrance so much

Dang, I've missed Juice and his antics

Fenix time!

I wonder if Juice and Toni are both just really quiet and low key at home, or if it's like living on the set of The Muppet Show

BCG vs the Patriarchy could be fun. Strict dad and his kid and the family dinosaur vs a bunch of little scamps

BCG eggs Christian's house and teach Nick Wayne to shoplift

Bucks!

Please be Hangman PLEASE BE HANGMAN

TANA

The Conglomeration! I wasn't a fan of the name until Mark Briscoe said it out loud. It's worth it just for that.

Omg did Mark adopt Kyle

Here for Anna and Harley, less so for Saraya

Love the constant competitiveness between Toni and Mina

NOOO NOT MARIAH'S HEAD NOOOO

Oh christ the Learning Tree is here

Bryan Keith they will never make me hate you

Big Bill being a cornball is fun though

SUZUKI?!

Okay okay I can get into this

ZSJ VS KOR HERE WE GOOOOO

Ooh Gabe Kidd hanging out with Roddy and the Kingdom?

Taz so angry that between Orange and ZSJ he does not have sole control over the color or word orange

"My mother gave me the name" lol

Oooh we're getting Gabe Kidd and Roddy vs the Infantry on Friday?

Orange checking on Kyle 💜💜💜

ISHII????

Oh fuck I forgot this isn't the main event

If I had a nickel for every time someone inadvertently hit someone they didn't mean to hit tonight...

Dang they work well together though

I mean except for the part where they're still currently rivals and kicked each other

[elitehoe]

Forbidden Door Predictions

ZERO HOUR

Athena vs Billie Starkz. I wish Athena a very happy murder.

Mogul Embassy vs CHAOS and El Desperado. If Despy on the card I'm always rooting for him.

El Phantasmo vs Stu Grayson. Someone's getting their nips twisted tonight, let's fucking go ELP.

United Empire vs LIJ. These are currently my favorite factions in nooj so really either winner is perfect for me.

MAIN SHOW

CM Punk vs Satoshi Kojima. Punk is obviously winning, but it's gonna be a fun match.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs MJF. I'm so sorry Maxie but I have a strict root for Tanahashi policy that I can't stray from.

Le Suzuki Gods vs Sting, Darby Allin and Tetsuya Naito. I hope Naito obliterates Jericho but I also wish Misu a happy murder as well.

Toni Storm vs Willow Nightingale. I'm just rooting for women, BUT if Saraya touches Willow I'm not rooting for all women.

Sanada vs Jungle Boy. This is gonna be an underrated banger of a match, Sanada retains tho naturally.

Orange Cassidy vs Zack Sabre Jr vs Katsuyori Shibata vs Daniel Garcia. OC getting slutted out in this match, I'm here for the fucking honestly.

Blackpool Combat Club vs The Elite. I'm always the winner when these men fight and then you add Eddie and Ishii which I hope they wreck Claudio personally.

Kenny Omega vs Will Ospreay. I feel like Will should win it back in the Dome as a final passing of the torch, but if it happens tonight I'll definitely cry about it.

Bryan Danielson vs Kazuchika Okada. I hope Okada is the world's biggest bitch and Kaito Kiyomiya's Bryan tonight, I'm rooting for my goat big Kazu.

[kopw]

watched too few of noah the new year to pick multiple favorites but number one is kenoh vs manabu soya for sure

tjpw pro'24: 1. shoko nakajima vs hyper misao!!!! 2. rina yamashita vs maki itoh 3. raku, ram kaichow & pom harajuku vs himawari, haru kazeshiro & runa okubo

njwk18: 1. kazuchika okada vs bryan danielson absolutely no contest 2. kopw 2024 new japan ranbo 3. sanada vs tetsuya naito

might check out some of the ddt matches but... so much. and so much good! but still so much

[danwhobrowses]

Quick Wrestle Kingdom 18 Thoughts

Spoilers for the PPV just in case

It was a good show, I know I haven't done many highlights as of recent but sometimes the mood doesn't hit, and it doesn't get many views.

The first half was quite meh, I don't like the Ranbo still it remains a 'look at all this talent we don't have anything for' rumble to me, last WK I had hoped Master Wato, SHO and YOH would break out but they have kinda regressed, same with Great O-Khan. Not a single women's match too, you had Mayu Iwatani in the building but you couldn't fit a match for her? TJP's rechristening as the Aswang was kinda cool, the mask is devious looking but not too high on the dog collar, match was fair enough. Tana beating ZSJ felt like the wrong call though, the moment a wrestler comes into backstage power they should absolutely avoid putting a title on themselves it just sets a bad vibe, match ended very abruptly too, thought Tsuji should've gone over Uemera and Kiyomiya/Shota over House of Torture too. Ngl what are we doing with Kiyomiya? He looked like he was gonna get a big Okada feud but then got discarded at the G1, it feels like NJPW going 'we're very superior to NOAH' with his booking, Shota had a cool motorcycle entrance but he is another who could use a push.

Tama vs Shingo was a great match though, really threw out all the old Bullet Club finishers to put Shingo down, great final third. Glad that Hikuleo and ELP got the tag belts too, Bishamon do feel like the tag equivalent of ol' reliable. Speaking of ol' reliables, Hiromu on another Junior Heavyweight title match, love both guys but Despy was the right man to go over, need fresher challengers.

Loved Mox donning some Red Hood gear, but then Ospreay went Assassin's Creed and Smackdown Six Rey Mysterio with his entrance. Finlay winning was rather obvious though, not only because he was the only non-AEW wrestler but the whole agreement to gang up on him was narratively designed try and to put him over. The match was quite good, infamous BC interference marred it a little but can't lie Coughlin sat in the broken table was amusing, and the title looks pretty, I'll miss the US/UK red strap but returning to some IC-esque roots isn't the worst thing. Nic Nemeth getting a little scrap with Finlay looks promising too.

Okada's coat was pretty awesome, good to see them do a match unmarred by injuries but of course Okada went over, I think the next Forbidden Door or Wrestledream could be the Rubber Match. Ironic that much like Revolution last year, Bryan embracing the YES! chants led to his downfall - I don't think that was accidental - but of course it was a really good match. And finally, I loved me some SANADA when he was his Cold Skull, but 'Regular Looking Guy' SANADA, that ain't it, that ain't the gimmick. It was high time he was felled and Naito is a fitting guy to do it. Match was still good, but EVIL challenging is the wrong guy though stop trying to make EVIL happen again.

[freshlychaos]

ALL NADC

MATCHES/PROMOS

[ Matt Jackson's First Challenger ]

Matt Jackson vs Will Osprey

[Matt Jackson's Second Challenger]

Matt Jackson vs Zack Sabre Jr.

[ZSJ Promo]

[Zack Sabre Jr's First Challenger]

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Nick Jackson

[ZSJ and Bryan Promo]

[Officialization of the match]

Zack Sabre Jr. vs Bryan Danielson

Nick Jackson vs Bryan Danielson

[Nick Jackson's Second Challenger]

Nick Jackson vs Malakai Black

[Nick Jackson's Third Challenger]

Nick Jackson vs Hook

[Nick Jackson's Fourth Challenger]

Nick Jackson vs Kazuchika Okada

[Don Callis Promo]

[Okada Promo]

Kazuchika Okada vs Kenny Omega

[Kenny Omega and Vikingo Backstage]

Kazuchika Okada vs El Hijo Del Vikingo

El Hijo Del Vikingo vs Brody King

[House Of Black Promo]

El Hijo Del Vikingo vs Buddy Matthews

[Julia Hart Promo]

El Hijo Del Vikingo vs Julia Hart

[House Of Black Promo]

El Hijo Del Vikingo vs Malakai Black

[Vikingo, Bandido Promo]

El Hijo Del Vikingo vs Bandido

[Bandido, Vikingo Promo]

Bandido vs El Hijo Del Vikingo

[Bandido, Lucha Brothers Backstage]

Bandido vs Penta 0M

[Penta 0M Promo]

[Fenix Backstage Pre Match]

Penta 0M vs Jon Moxley

[Penta, BCC Promo]

Penta 0M vs Claudio Castagnoli

[Rey Fenix Promo]

Claudio Castagnoli vs Drago

[Drago, Don Callis Promo]

Drago vs Konosuke Takeshita

[Don Callis, Lucha Brothers Promo]

Konosuke Takeshita vs Rey Fenix

[Don Callis Promo]

Konosuke Takeshita vs Katsuyori Shibata

[BCC Promo]

Katsuyori Shibata vs Wheeler Yuta

[After Shibata vs Yuta]

[Katsuyori Shibata's Second Challenger]

Katsuyori Shibata vs Shota Umino

[Shibata, Toru Promo]

Katsuyori Shibata vs Toru Yano

[Orange Cassidy Promo]

Toru Yano vs Orange Cassidy

[Toru Yano Promo]

Toru Yano vs Tomohiro Ishii

[Eddie Kingston Promo]

Tomohiro Ishii vs Eddie Kingston

[Eddie Kingston, Tetsuya Naito Promo]

Eddie Kingston vs Tetsuya Naito

[Hiroshi Tanahashi Promo]

[Pre Match Interference]

Tetsuya Naito vs Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Bray Wyatt

[Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tetsuya Naito Promo]

Tetsuya Naito vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

[After The Steel Cage]

[Jericho Promo]

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Chris Jericho

[Sammy Promo]

[Sammy and Jericho Shoot Fight]

Sammy Guevara vs Chris Jericho

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Chris Jericho

[After The Match]

[Samoa Joe Promo]

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Samoa Joe

[Hiroshi Tanahashi Promo]

[Shibata, Ren Promo]

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Ren Narita

[Hiroshi, Vikingo Promo]

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs El Hijo Del Vikingo

[Kip, Penelope Promo]

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kip Sabian

[Trent Promo]

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Trent

[Yoshihiko Promo]

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Yoshihiko

[Hiroshi Promo]

[Sting Promo]

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Sting

[N and A promo]

Gold Rush Redux: NADC's Second Chance Rumble

Sting vs Penta Oscuro

[Catrina and Mil Muertes promo]

[Penta Promo]

Penta Oscuro vs Mil Muertes

[Catrina and N promo]

Mil Muertes vs Pimpinela Escarlata

[adampage]

Hey Emi! Popping on here to ask some questions in the name of ✨research✨

Who/what is your favorite?:

Male wrestler

Female wrestler

Tag team (male or female)

Faction

March of all time

Looking forward to hearing from you ☺️

-💜

okay, wink wink ;)

Favorite male wrestler(s): Hangman Page, Sami Zayn, Eddie Guerrero (all time). I would also say AJ Styles but really only in his 2016-2018 era. I also really love Tetsuya Naito but i haven't been watching new japan lately at all :(

Favorite female wrestlers(s): Bayley, Asuka

Tag team: ahhhh this one is so hard bc im trying to think in terms of recently or of all time. probably the Usos??? i love swerve in our glory and the acclaimed and the big aew tag teams too but like. probably the Usos. no female tag team that i can think of, they just dont cut it for me on aew or wwe. i dont watch enough joshi wrestling tbh and i should. i know it's badass.

Faction: does the Dark Order still count? :(

Match of all time:

mens singles - sami zayn vs adrian neville at nxt takeover R-evolution in december 2014. once the bell rings turn it off. turn it off!!!!! also any match in hangman's reign works for me. the takeshita match too, fuck it. okada vs hangman at g1 climax 2018 too even. sami zayn vs shinsuke nakamura that one time in the uk i think. eddie versus brock in 2004 to become world champ. kofi kingston versus daniel bryan at wrestlemania. aj styles vs brock lesnar. aj styles versus john cena both times. takeover matches with ricochet in them. idk man i have a lot.

tag match - hangman/kenny vs the bucks at revolution 2020

women's match - bayley vs sasha at takeover brooklyn august 2015. bianca versus sasha at wrestlemania. asuka vs bayley at takeover. bayley vs charlotte at takeover. any ember moon (athena) takeover match or toni storm takeover match. women's takeover matches were the fucking bomb.

i gave you too much. im sorry :]

[thirdworldrockout]

Fantasy Wrestling Booking

FWE: Hollowed Be Thy Name

LA Knight vs Daniel Bryan. LA powered out of a Yes Lock and hit BFT for the pin 10:11

2. Christopher Daniels vs Al Snow. Christopher pinned Snow. 7:20

3. Jeff Jarrett and Sid Vicious vs Rob Van Dam and Sabu. Sid scored a pin on Sabu after a powerbomb. 11:01

4. Kenta and Jushin Liger vs Evan Bourne and Ricochet. Liger cut short Bourne's attempt to dive outside the ring and pinned him. 7:34

5. Strong Style 10 minute time limit Match: Ryback vs Shingo Takagi. Time limit draw.

6. Demolition vs Fit Finlay and Kane. Kane pinned Ax after chokeslam. 9:49

7. Bobby Lashley vs Tetsuya Naito. Lashley got the pin. 7:55

8. Ken Shamrock vs Miz. Shamrock won by submission. 6:24

9. Jeff Hardy vs Hollywood Hogan. Hardy won by countout. Hardy was going for a top rope move, The Disciple pulled Hogan out of the ring and the two walked to the entrance ramp, Hogan was counted out. 12:11

10. Usos vs Young Bucks. Usos wins after a double splash move from the top. 11:39

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW THE NEW BEGINNING in Osaka Review (Feb 11th, Osaka EDION Arena)

Toru Yano & YOH vs. Ryusuke Taguchi & Boltin Oleg **

Bishamon vs. Great-O-Khan & Callum Newman ***1/4

Shota Umino, El Desperado, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask vs. EVIL, Ren Narita, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi **1/4

Tetsuya Naito, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. SANADA, Yuya Uemura, Taichi, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku ***

Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ****1/2

IWGP Tag Team Championship - El Phantasmo & Hikuleo (c) vs. KENTA & Chase Owens **

Bryan Danielson vs. Zack Sabre Jr. *****

10 Man Dog Pound Cage Death Match - United Empire vs. Bullet Club War Dogs *****

Photos.

Wow, what a show this turned out to be. It started pretty ordinary, but ultimately had three exceptional bouts, one of which is the best match of 2024 so far. The show opened with CHAOS teammates Yano and YOH taking on Taguchi and Young Lion Shooter, Oleg. This was perfectly fine, but only went 3:45, so there really wasn't much to mention. YOH scored the win over Taguchi with a roll up. Next, UE Young Boy Callum Newman got a chance to shine in his tag match with O-Khan against Bishamon. This was a good little sprint, with the spirited Newman looking especially good. It wasn't to be his night, however, as he was put away by the veterans at 7:37 with Shoto.

The NJPW Babyfaces took on House of Torture next. This was your typical HoT match, beginning with a brawl, before the babyfaces got their shine, only to succumb to heelish shenanigans. After Dick Togo distracted the ref, Narita hit Tiger Mask with the Metal Plated Push Up Bar Of Doom, before SHO pinned him with a Shock Arrow in 8:43. Post match saw SHO steal Despe's IWGP Jr. Belt and proclaim himself the new champion, so we've got yet another HoT stolen belt deal, and Desperado seems destined to feud with these dorks for his entire reign. This was followed by pretty much the same LIJ vs. J5G match we've seen all tour now. It was a good outing, but I can't say that I'm interested in any of this, aside from Tsuji and Uemura's Hair Match in Sapporo at the end of the match. The two youngsters carried the action in this one, which culminated in SANADA tapping out BUSHI at 11:05 with Skull End to go strong into his Title Match with Naito on the 24th.

Perhaps the final ever Okada vs. Tanahashi match followed, twelve years to the day that the Rainmaker Shock happened in this very same building that made Okada a Superstar. This was excellent, emotional stuff that was by no means the best match these two have ever had, but it was a great send-off for what is perhaps the greatest, most consistent feud ever. I've potentially gone a tad high with the rating, but I don't care, I'm sticking with it, as this one had me invested from the minute the entrances happened. The Osaka faithful were super into this, loudly chanting for Okada at the start, going crazy throughout. Tana, who's definitely in "office shape" at the moment, even turned back the clocks and hit the High Fly Body Attack to the floor, which was awesome. After getting the knees up on a HFF attempt, Okada nailed the Tombstone, but Tana turned the Rainmaker into a small package for a great near fall. After some back and forth which the crowd were totally into, Okada hit a beautiful dropkick, a Landslide, and a Rainmaker to put the President away at 16:50 with one final Rainmaker. The pair embraced in the post match, and a teary bowed to the Lion Mark and Okada bid farewell to Osaka. He only has two matches left in his NJPW career in Sapporo, which should be similarly emotional occasions, and hey, who knows, maybe he could even put someone over on his way out (nudge nudge, wink wink).

The IWGP Tag Title bout that followed was something of a dampener, to say the least. This was the opposite of the last match, the crowd were dead for the most part, and it moved at the speed of smell. It was hovering around one star territory, but things picked up once Hikuleo got the hot tag and ran wild, but it was short lived as the ref got bumped, Taiji Ishimori ran in, hit his old pal ELP with a belt, then Hikuleo, which allowed KENTA to steal the win and the titles. Look, I know New Japan likes and rewards loyalty, and Chase Owens was there for them when they needed people badly, but the notion of him holding a major title in NJPW in 2024 is all kinds of bemusing. And to say the new GoD's Tag Title reign was a bit of a disappointment would be an understatement. These guys deserve better, and I honestly don't have the strength to watch another match between these teams after the two we've already seen so far this year.

Thankfully, things turned around in fantastic fashion with an absolutely perfect display of pro-wrestling between ZSJ and Bryan Danielson. This was a rematch of their 5 star classic in AEW last October, and it managed to surpass that match and is the best bout of 2024 so far. Outstanding grappling and counter sequences throughout this, Dragon used an arm wringer to send Sabre's legs into the ropes, which he then proceeded to work over the whole match with intense kicks and leglocks. Zack fought back, working over Danielson's neck. Lots of Romero Specials, Manjigatame's and Cobra Twists, before it broke down into a stiff strike exchange. Danielson hit a big Back Suplex off the top for a near fall, then tried Cattle Mutilation, which Sabre escaped and hit a Zack Driver for a near fall of his own. Dragon hit the stomps, then locked in the crazy arm submission he submitted Okada with, but Zack fought to the ropes. Another strike battle culminated in Danielson hitting the Busaiku Knee out of a backslide, but Sabre turned a second into a European Clutch, they exchanged great cradles, before ZSJ got the pin with a crucifix at 32:46 of fabulous action. The two shook hands afterwards, and now being 1-1, Danielson challenged Zack to a 2 out of 3 falls tiebreaker backstage, which I'm 100% down for. In the ring, ZSJ signalled he wanted a belt, then called out the winner of Naito/SANADA (despite what Chris Charlton might have claimed he said). I'm all for Zack winning the belt to be fair. I've lots to say about Naito being the champion again, which I'll refrain from, but all I will say is that the guy who holds the top belt in this company sure has felt like an after thought since winning.

Then the Dog Pound Cage main event that was also Will Ospreay's New Japan swan song. Look, theres way too much to even attempt to recap, and I went back and forth about going the full 5 stars on this one, as it did feature some stuff I really wasn't keen on. BUT, at the end of the day, these 10 guys put on an absolute spectacle of bloody drama and craziness, and it's definitely not a match I'll forgot any time soon, and a tremendous post match. They had an impossible task in following the previous match, but they had an equally blow-away outing, that was the complete wrestling polar opposite. This was set up like that classic ROH vs. CZW Cage of Death from 2006, in that the cage encircled ringside as opposed to the ring itself, and was fought under War Games rules, with guys coming out every two minutes.

Ospreay and Finaly started, with Ospreay convincing Finlay to let them fight for 5 minutes. Lots and lots of crazy stuff followed, which included the heels bringing out a ton of plunder, Akira hitting an incredible dive off the cage onto the War Dogs before Connors gave him a big spear through an upright table in the corner, Gabe Kidd potatoing HENARE with table shot, that split him open bad on the top of his head, which the doctors at ringside spent a lot of time trying to patch up. HENARE got a receipt of sorts later when he hit Kidd with a super stiff slap that looked like it knocked Gabe silly. Connors hit a big spear on Ospreay through the ropes, off the apron and through a table at ringside, Jeff Cobb ran wild on everyone with his incredible power moves, TJP emerged from under the ring as the Aswang, running wild and misting all the heels, Maloney broke up a pin attempt by Drilla Killa'ing Ospreay into the pile of bodies, Coughlin took a serious wilful beating with kendo sticks, who then took a big senton through a table off HENARE from the top of the cage. Connors introduced thumbtacks, but ended up bumping into the pins. Gedo came out with a barbed wire wrapped table, but O-Khan put an end to his interference, and it was Finlay who went through the barbed wire table, thanks to an Ospreay powerbomb. Gabe Kidd responded by hitting Ospreay with a piledriver off the apron, through a ladder bridge to the floor. Moloney forked Akira in the head, who juiced heavily, but then overcame his fear of the fork, no-sold it, and stabbed Drilla in the head with the cutlery, drawing his blood of his own, then hanged Connors over the top with a dog collar.

The heels then handcuffed Cobb to the cage, removed the ring canvas and padding, exposing the boards, and what followed was absolutely terrifying, as those boards were flying around and guys were falling through the ring left and right, to the point I thought someone might get seriously hurt. HENARE hit a massive vertical suplex on Kidd to the boards, before he too was handcuffed. Akira then took a horrendous Tombstone on the boards, which left Ospreay alone with the War Dogs. Sacrificing himself to save Akira, he tried a Hidden Blade, but collapsed from exhaustion, resulting in him taking a spear into the boards by Connors, then Finlay wrapped his knee in barbed wire and hit Ospreay with his new Overkill finish to end this insanity and win for his team in 64:05 of crazy, mind-blowing action.

The Overkill finish was quite ironic given the amounts of sheer overkill in this thing, there were times when I thought/was begging it would be over, but they just kept going and doing crazier stuff. Anyone who knows me knows I love a good crazy, unhinged blood and gimmicks match, and this was one of the best there's ever been, overkill or not. In the post match, Ospreay bid farewell to New Japan, and he got the big emotional send off with the confetti and all the UE guys surrounding him. Ospreay asked that the fans not forget him, and backstage he promised he'd be back, but when was still a mystery. Losing Ospreay is a major blow to NJPW (not to mention they're also losing Okada!), but I've no doubt he'll do great things in AEW.

NDT

[blueonwrestling]

Best of for Blue 2023 - Forbidden Door 2023

AEW World Title Match MJF (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - 3.25 stars

Owen Hart Foundation 2023 Men's Tournament Quarterfinal Match CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima - 4.25

AEW International Title Four Way Match Orange Cassidy (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Daniel Garcia - 3.75 stars

IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match SANADA (c) (w/DOUKI) vs. Jack Perry (w/Hook) - 3 stars

Ten Man Tag Team Match The Elite (Adam Page, Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson), Eddie Kingston & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Blackpool Combat Club (Claudio Castagnoli, Jon Moxley & Wheeler Yuta), Konosuke Takeshita & Shota Umino - 4.75 stars

AEW Women's World Title Match Toni Storm (c) (w/Ruby Soho & Saraya) vs. Willow Nightingale - 3.75 stars

IWGP United States Heavyweight Title Match Kenny Omega (c) vs. Will Ospreay (w/Don Callis) - 4.75 stars

Six Man Tag Team Match Minoru Suzuki & The Jericho Appreciation Society (Chris Jericho & Sammy Guevara) vs. Darby Allin, Sting & Tetsuya Naito - 2 stars

Singles Match Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada - 4.75 stars

[unlikelywrestlingfan]

Elle's Forbidden Door Predictions and Wishes

✨Preshow✨

Athena vs. Billie Starkz (Women's Owen Heart Tourney Match): Want: I hope they both have fun!!! - Athena deserves the world and I want her on my tv, but it would also be cool to see Billie advance. Let's go women! Prediction: Athena - but I won't be surprised to be wrong.

United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Kyle Fletcher, and TJP) vs. LIJ (Shingo Takagi, Bushi, and Hiromu Takahashi): Want: LIJ - LET'S GOOO LIJJJJJ BOIIIIS Prediction: LIJ - Honestly, this could go either way? But LIJ shall be my guess.

Stu Grayson vs. El Phantasmo: Want: Stu - STUUUUUUU Prediction: ELP - Idk????? He hasn't won in a while.

Mogul Embassy (Swerve Strickland, Toa Liona, and Bishop Kaun) vs. Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta) & El Desperado: Want: Roppongi Vice & Despe - ALWAYS LOVE A ROPPONGI VICE REUNION. DESPE STILL SCARES ME BUT HE'S COOL. Prediction: Roppongi Vice - idk, this is just a guess

✨Main Card✨

Kenny Omega vs. Will Ospreay (IWGP US Heavyweight Title Match): Want: Kenny - MUST I EXPLAIN? Prediction: Ospreay - he lost it to Kenny at WK, now he's on the hunt for revenge and retribution, and he'll do it in Kenny's home country.

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada: Want: Okada - KILL HIM OKADA HEHEHEEEEEE - I love Bryan, I do, but I would like him to join the line of corpses that litter the path of Okada's legacy. Prediction: Bryan - Honestly? I'm not sure. But I feel like it might be Bryan. So I'll go with that.

Sanada vs. Jungle Boy Jack Perry (IWGP World Heavyweight Title Match): Want: Sanada - K I love JB, but like. I don't want Sanada to randomly drop to him. Sorry JB. Prediction: Sanada - I just cannot see Nooj giving JB the Heavyweight title on an open challenge randomly in Canada. So yeah Sanada takes this.

MJF vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (AEW Men's World Title Match): Want: Tana - LET'S GO TANAAAAAAA TEACH THAT BOI A LESSON Prediction: MJF - MJF is not going to suddenly lose the title to Tana. As much as it would be fab, it would also be very counterproductive to the story he's on.

Le Suzuki Gods (it hurt me to type that - Chris Jericho, Sammy Guevara, and Minoru Suzuki) vs. Sting, Darby Allin, & Tetsuya Naito: Want: Sting, Darby, and Naito - I love Murder Gramps, but STING STING STING Prediction: Sting, Darby, and Naito - I'M GOING BACK AND FORTH ON THIS ONE TBH

BCC & Friends (Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli, Wheeler Yuta, Shota Umino, and Konosuke Takeshita) vs. Elite & Friends Contentious Allies (Hangman Adam Page, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson, Eddie Kingston, and Tomohiro Ishii): Want: Elite and Co - I. Like I'm leaning Elite Plus Eddie and Ishii, but like. I love them all? I want Elite and Co to win. Prediction: Elite and Co - I feel like, since BCC took the big win at Double or Nothing, Elite and Co take it here. It will be very chaotic.

CM Punk vs. Satoshi Kojima (Men's Owen Hart Tourney Match): Want: Kojima - Uh. I don't really know Kojima, but I'm not very fond of Punk atm so. Kojima. Prediction: Punk - Punk is definitely winning this.

Orange Cassidy vs. Katsuyori Shibata vs. Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Daniel Garcia (AEW International Title Match): Want: OC - This is a match full of so much amazing awesome ahhhhh but I want OC to retain. Prediction: OC - OC?

Toni Storm vs. Willow Nightingale (AEW Women's World Title Match): Want: Willow - THAT'S MY GIRILE!!! Toni is fab, don't get me wrong, but I am all about the Girl With the Power Prediction: Toni - her title is on the line, and I don't expect her to drop it yet. Especially when there's a chance Hayter could recover in time to win it back at All In.

[wrestlingisfake]

Wrestle Kingdom 18 preview

SANADA vs. Tetsuya Naito - Sanada is making his 5th defense of the IWGP world heavyweight championship. Naito earned this title bout by winning the 2023 G1 Climax tournament. This will only be their fourth one-on-one encounter--Sanada is currently 2-1 against Naito, whose only singles victory came in 2018.

For ten years, Naito has been on a quest to get the last word at Wrestle Kingdom in the Tokyo Dome. In 2014 he qualified for the main event, but a fan vote bumped his title match to second from the top, and he lost besides. The disappointment soured his relationship with the fans and ultimately led to him joining CMLL's Los Ingobernables faction and creating his own spinoff. Los Ingobernables de Japon propeled Naito to superstardom as a top babyface. By the time he secured his Wrestle Kingdom main event in 2018, Sanada was a loyal member of LIJ. Of course, Naito lost again, so the quest continued.

When Naito finally won the Wrestle Kingdom main event in 2020, he began closing the show with a promo. Before he could complete his signature LIJ roll call, KENTA did a run-in, ruining his moment. Since then Naito has been singularly focused on getting back to the tippy-top, closing Wrestle Kingdom, doing the roll call, and finishing with "Los Ingobernables de Japon!" with the crowd joining in on the last three syllables. If you've heard that Naito's only goal is hearing "DE! JA! PON!" and you had no idea what the hell that meant, now you know.

Naito's journey has been full of near misses. He headlined Wrestle Kingdom in 2021 as the defending champion, but lost again. In 2023 he won a Wrestle Kingdom main event, but it was in Yokohama Arena, not the Tokyo Dome. Then he won a main event at the Tokyo Dome, but it was Keiji Mutoh's retirement show, not Wrestle Kingdom.

Along the way, Sanada has gone from part of the LIJ roll call to Naito's greatest obstacle. People had high hopes for Sanada when he joined NJPW in Naito's faction, but by 2023 he seemed like an also-ran. That changed in the New Japan Cup, when Taichi of Just 4 Guys found a way to motivate him. Sanada defeated Taichi, and then went on to knock Naito out of the tournament, before declaring his intent to jump from LIJ to J4G. As the ace of Just 5 Guys, Sanada reinvented himself and finally won the big one against his longtime nemesis Kazuchika Okada. Naito is too chill to act like he takes any of this personally, but nevertheless his mission is now to go through his former teammate.

Sanada's run on top has not been well received. There's a general perception that he's failing as world champ and needs to be moved back down the card unless he can turn things around. So he really needs a statement win over a tippy-toppy guy like Naito, at a tippy-toppy show like this one. But at the same time, time is running out for Naito to get his big moment, and if he can't get it done against a weak champion, then it seems like it'll never happen. Basically something's got to give, and one side or the other will end the night with bitter disappointment.

My gut feeling is that Sanada needs the win more than Naito, but Naito is more likely to get it. Where that leaves Sanada is a question to work throughout the rest of 2024. But New Japan appears to be making moves to signal that they're righting the ship, so a title change in the Tokyo Dome would fit in with that message.

Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson - This is a rematch from AEW's Forbidden Door in June 2023. Danielson won the match, but broke his arm in the process. On October 25, they met again in an AEW tag team match--neither man was involved in the finish, but Danielson's team won. Bryan went into the match with a broken orbital bone, but the storyline is that Okada caused the injury. So the idea is that Danielson won twice but got injured twice, so he's the one ought for revenge.

The match should be great, and very well could upstage the main event. But the finish isn't in much question. Danielson is in his final year as a full-time wrestler, and he's coming onto Okada's home turf. It makes no sense for him to beat Okada again unless it's to set up another rematch. It's time for Okada to get his win back, and Danielson will make him fight for it, but he's going to get it.

Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay - This is a three-way match to determine the first IWGP global champion. Whoever scores the first fall on either opponent will win the match and the new title.

The global title is intended to replace the IWGP United States championship, which Ospreay won in June. In August Will decided he didn't want to represent the US, and unofficially restyled himself as the IWGP United Kingdom champion, complete with a new version of the belt. Ospreay had both belts on hand in November, when he attempted to issue a challenge for Jon Moxley. But then Finlay ran in, attacked both guys, and destroyed both belts with a sledgehammer.

This is one of those three-ways where the hype is for A vs. B, and C is just there to be involved the finish. Moxley and Ospreay have an issue going back to the botched pin in April 2022. But Finlay has nothing to do with anything...except that he's the only one who'll be full-time with New Japan going forward, so it'd make sense to put the new belt on him. I can't say they won't put the global belt on Ospreay or Moxley, but it feels like it's Finlay's time to shine.

Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado - Hiromu is the IWGP junior heavyweight champion, and this is his 8th defense. Since he returned from excursion in 2016, he's had seven singles matches against Despy, and the series is tied 3-3-1. Despy's three wins were all in 23 minutes or less; Hiromu's three wins came at 28 minutes and up.

I'm up for seeing these two go at it one more time, but no matter who wins they need some fresh meat in this division. Both guys have beaten just about anyone who might step up to challenge the winner. Unless someone new is coming in, I think Desperado has to win.

Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. El Phantasmo & Hikuleo - Bishamon (Goto and Yoshi) are defending the IWGP heavyweight tag team title, and ELP and Hiku are defending the STRONG tag team title; it is champions versus champions, title for title.

Goto and Yoshi won both the IWGP and STRONG titles back on June 4, but lost the STRONG belts, but lost them to Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd a month later. Around the same time, Phantasmo was turfed out of Bullet Club and taken in by the Guerillas of Destiny, and he began teaming with Hikuleo. The ELP-Hiku team captured the STRONG title from Coughlin and Kidd in October.

This is the third meeting between these teams. They face off fought in their first block match in 2023's World Tag League tournament, and Phantasmo and Hikuleo scored the win. Both teams made it to the final, where Bishamon won a 40-minute war to win their third straight WTL trophies. So this is the rubber match.

My preference would be to see Phantasmo and Hikuleo get a big career-making win, but I don't know if we'll get it. Bishamon has been building a dynatsty for years, so they have to be the heavy favorites. But as long as we get another intense battle like the December 10 match, I'll be happy. I'm going with Bishamon to win.

Shingo Takagi vs. Tama Tonga - Shingo beat Tama for the NEVER title on October 28, so this is the rematch. Their only other singles encounter was a time limit draw in the G1 Climax, so Tama really needs to prove he can beat this guy. However, Shingo has already been running his mouth about wanting to fight big names in AEW, so I suspect the bookers are already looking past this match. Shingo should probably retain, while Tama goes back to tag team action with his brother.

Shota Umino & Kaito Kiyomiya vs. EVIL & Ren Narita - Narita turned on Umino at the end of the World Tag League tournament, and joined Evil's lousy House of Torture faction. I guess the House of Torture has been bother Kiyomiya over in Pro Wrestling NOAH as well. All four of these guys were in a 12-man tag match on Noah's big January 2 show. I don't expect anything to get settled here, so I'm thinking Evil and Narita win with a fuck finish, and Chris Charlton whines about it on commentary the entire time.

Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura - Both men returned from excursion this year. Back in their Young Lion days, these two wrestled all the time in opening matches. Their first 21 (!) one-on-one matches ended in ten-minute draws. Tsuji was the first to score a win, and by April 2021 he led the series 15-10-22. This is their first singles match since graduating from the dojo, and now they've got thirty minutes on the clock, not ten. I'm kinda thinking Tsuji will just win again, but New Japan has the chance to do something really funny here. So what the hell, I'm rooting for a 30-minute draw.

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - Sabre's NJPW World television title is on the line. The belt, named after the NJPW World streaming site, was introduced a year ago, when Zack won a tournament to become the first champion. Since then he's racked up sixteen defenses so far. Title bouts in New Japan traditionally have a 60-minute time limit, but the TV belt is always contested with a 15-minute time limit.

I always think Sabre has Tana's number, but in singles matches Tana is 6-5 against the champion. Only two of those matches went under 15 minutes, and Tana won both of them. So it might behoove Sabre to use the clock and seek a draw, but he hates doing that. My guess is that Sabre will score the win, and make a big deal out of beating the new president of the company.

Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors vs. Francesco Akira & TJP - Moloney and Connors are defending the IWGP junior tag team championship. The team formed when Moloney betrayed Catch 2/2 (Akira and TJP) on June 4 to align with Bullet Club. A month later, Moloney and Connors won the tag title from Catch 2/2. Akira and TJP came up short again in their second clash during the Super Jr. Tag League tournament. Catch 2/2 nevertheless won the tournament, to earn this title rematch, but Connors and Moloney laid them out shortly afterward. On December 22, Catch 2/2 lost a third time to Connors and Moloney, in a coffin match. So the challengers really need a win here. I think they'll get it.

New Japan Ranbo - This is a gauntlet battle royale, so two participants start in the ring, and each additional participant enters at one-minute intervals. The match ends when all but four participants are eliminated. Eliminations can occur by pinfall, submission, or exiting the ring over the top rope to the floor. The last four left in the match are declared co-winners, and advance to a match on January 5 to determine first possession of the KOPW belt in 2024. Whoever holds the belt at the end of the year will be the KOPW 2024 champion.

Basically, this is just a clusterfuck battle royale at the start of the show, so all the guys who aren't booked elsewhere get something to do. They'll probably bring in a few old-timers for a couple of spots. It really doesn't matter who wins here, so I guess I'll just pick...let's see...Taichi, SHO, Toru Yano, and Great-O-Khan.

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Forbidden Door ranked

1. Bryan vs Shingo

2. Ospreay vs Swerve

2.5 ZSJ vs Orange

4. LIJ vs Lucha

5. Mina vs Toni

6. Naito vs Mox

7. TNT Ladder Match

8. MJF vs Hechicero

8.5 Willow and Tam vs Kris and Momo

10. Vaquer vs Mone

11. Elite vs Scissor Ace

12. Four Way Tag

13. Mariah vs Saraya

14. Hook's Violent Dads vs Learning Tree