NJPW Wrestle Kingdom Day 2! Is there more to care about than Okada vs Ospreay? Let’s find out!

Well Day 1 was underwhelming but still left me with remnants of hope. However, as soon as we’re told that there’s 3 dark matches born from the Ranbo and Day 1 results, I immediately don’t care. When I actually see who is in these matches, I’m bored, confused and mad all at once.

So Day 2 on paper now has me doubting its validity as entertainment. Hopefully the Stardom girls, US Championship and main event are enough to keep me invested because I’m really not sure how to feel about this anymore.

Well I guess we should get this started.

Ratings:

• Gedo, Jado & Bad Luck Fale vs Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Yuji Nagata: Honma wins via Middle Rope Kokeshi – ** ¼
• TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) & Master Wato vs Suzuki-Gun (TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado): Wato wins via Inverted Lotus Lock – ** ¾
• Suzuki-Gun (Taichi, ZSJ & DOUKI) vs LIJ (Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI): Shingo wins via Last of the Dragon – ***
• IWGP Junior Tag Titles: Mega Coaches (Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi) vs Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & ELP) vs Flying Tigers (Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask) (c): Eagles retains via Ron Miller Special – ***
• Stardom Tag: Saya Kamitani & Tam Nakano vs Starlight Kid & Mayu Iwatani: Saya wins via Phoenix Splash – *** ½
• KOPW 2022: Chase Owens vs CIMA w/Stronghearts vs Minoru Suzuki vs Toru Yano (c): Suzuki wins via Gotch Style Piledriver – ** ½ – Trophy CHANGE!!
• NEVER Openweight 6 Man Titles: CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & YOH) vs House of Torture (SHO, EVIL & Yujrio Takahashi) (c): HoT retain by typical crap – ½*
• SANADA vs Great-O-Khan: SANADA wins via Japanese Leg Clutch – ** ½
• Jeff Cobb vs Tetsuya Naito: Naito wins via Destino – *** ½
• NoDQ IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: KENTA (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi: Tanahashi wins via High Fly Flow through Table off Ladder – *** – TITLE CHANGE!!!
• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay vs Kazuchika Okada (c): Okada retains via Rainmaker – **** ¾

Results:

They added 3 dark matches? I have a feeling this will involve a lot of stuff I should have just gone back to sleep for. Talk about starting off on the wrong foot.

Gedo, Jado & Bad Luck Fale vs Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Yuji Nagata

Oh did you expect anything of merit? Fale is big, there was a “he’s too big to throw around” moment. Nagata neutralized people trying to interfere, Makabe and Honma had a few tandem attacks on the likes of Jado and Gedo, Honma hit…I think all of his Kokeshis. Then he goes for the middle rope Kokeshi on Gedo, actually hits it and picks up the win! Honma’s year might have already peaked.

TenCozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima) & Master Wato vs Suzuki-Gun (TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado)

So…the Junior Heavyweight champ, who semi-mained the first day…is now in a dark match? Am I being Punk’d? Is Despy being Punk’d?

We start off with a brawl since Wato wants to prove himself to Despy. But it devolves into TenCozy playing the greatest hits, while TAKA and Kanemaru bump quite a bit but get in a few cheap shots. However, it does end up as Wato versus Despy. Despy absorbs a lot of Wato’s strikes, hits a few big moves but TenCozy breaks up the pin and then hits a TenCozy Cutter. Wato goes for the RPP, but he misses. Despy sets up for Pinche Loco, Wato flips out, goes for a Sunset Flip pinfall, Despy goes to reverse the cradle, but then Wato turns it into a submission? Like some leg braced inverted Lotus Lock or something?

Despy did need a challenger, but the fact they’re finally giving Wato a shot is a little shocking.

Suzuki-Gun (Taichi, ZSJ & DOUKI) vs LIJ (Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI)

Well now, if I thought Despy was bad enough now Shingo and Hiromu are both in this Dark match? Just Wow. If the “main card” isn’t tremendous after relegating these guys to dark matches, I’m not really hopeful for NJPW in 2022.

This was a bit of a cluster in a good way. Hiromu picked a fight with ZSJ, tried his hand at catch wrestling, but it was definitely heavier into the comedy aspects of World of Sport. Taichi and Shingo faced off a bit, but as soon as we saw DOUKI in this match we knew it was done.

LIJ needed the win since they have their faction battle against KONGOH for the January 8^th NOAH crossover show. KONGOH currently holds the top two belts in NOAH, so LIJ couldn’t limp into that fight looking like punks. Double team action from Shingo and Hiromu, DOUKI is rocked, Last of the Dragon and Shingo wins!

Those dark matches were surprisingly decent, except for the first one. Now let’s just hope the official card keeps up the momentum.

IWGP Junior Tag Titles: Mega Coaches (Rocky Romero & Ryusuke Taguchi) vs Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & ELP) vs Flying Tigers (Robbie Eagles & Tiger Mask) (c)

So this was chaotic, it was like a lucha rules match. Tiger Mask got dumped out early, a lot of fun high spots and counters from Eagles. We saw the dual Avalanche Back Rakes from the Bullet Club group, and it was just entertaining. It looked like they were setting up a pile up spot for El Phantasmo, but Tiger Mask came back into the match, hits an Avalanche Tiger Suplex into a Tiger Driver, but the pinfall gets broken up.

ELP pulls off some impressive moments, including a Splash nearly fully across the ring. ELP tries to pull off Sudden Death, Robbie counters it and makes ELP kick Taiji. Then everyone else holds down ELP, reveals the metal in the boot, so the referee disqualifies the Bullet Club team and makes it a 2 on 2.

Cradles everywhere, some generally amusing situations but it ends with Rocky and Eagles, Rocky tries to find an opening but Eagles grabs his legs and ties him up. Pulls off the Ron Miller Special out of the Turbo Backpack, and Rocky is forced to tap out.

Stardom Tag: Saya Kamitani & Tam Nakano vs Starlight Kid & Mayu Iwatani

Starlight and Saya start off, Starlight drops Saya and wipes out Tam, then tags in Mayu. We see a bit of MK Sisters throwbacks, so I’m not sure if this is a Starlight ploy, or if they are doing this more for the betterment of Stardom and their own personal factions.

Tam really went after Mayu for her own personal vendetta, Starlight and Saya tried to prove themselves as the youngest and it was a very fun match. Tam showed off her striking ability and general resolve. Mayu and Starlight went back into the MK Sisters bag a few times. After an Endless Waltz-esque moment where Saya and Starlight traded Rolling Cradles which Saya got the best of after a Deadlift Schoolboy Suplex. Star Crusher set up for the finish and then Saya hit the Phoenix Splash for the win!

Stardom looked quite good and each woman got across their own style and personality.

KOPW 2022: Chase Owens vs CIMA w/Stronghearts vs Minoru Suzuki vs Toru Yano (c)

So El Lindaman and T-Hawk come out with CIMA, so that’s a bit unexpected to see Stronghearts in New Japan. Chase, Suzuki and CIMA continue the gang up on Yano idea. Then it devolves into everyone wanting a piece of Suzuki. CIMA versus Suzuki is entertaining and unexpected, but we get small tastes of things and that’s a good way to do this match.

Everyone gets a few moments to shine, Yano nearly steals the match after a low blow, but Suzuki kicks out, knocks Yano’s head off with that chasing single leg Dropkick, Sleeper into Gotch, and The King…well…is The King of Pro Wrestling 2022 so far.

NEVER Openweight 6 Man Titles: CHAOS (YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & YOH) vs House of Torture (SHO, EVIL & Yujrio Takahashi) (c)

Not gonna lie, including the 3 dark matches this is the seventh match of the show…and none of it really matters. I’m already sick of this show and we’re going into a match with EVIL’s garbage.

Typical House of Torture crap mixed with typical 6 man strategy that we’ve already seen a few times. This match is worthless. I’ll rank it slightly higher than the NEVER from yesterday because the SHO and YOH thread is alright. But even that feels stupid now.

This crap is part of the reason why New Japan has been nearly unwatchable for the last few months.

Thankfully NOAH invades the Tokyo Dome stakes their claim lead by Keiji Mutoh. Shingo comes out to reply a bit with Kenoh, but he eventually relaxes to the back since LIJ is out numbered. Kenoh and Kaito Kiyomiya shake hands right before NOAH leaves the ring to show solidarity for the company and they’re putting their differences behind them for 1 day.

SANADA vs Great-O-Khan

SANADA is on the early receiving end, then we get one of the dumbest exchanges I’ve ever seen with dueling Mongolian Chops/Block with return attempted chops. It’s stupid because it’s not a move that looks good from SANADA. Mongolian Chops are better from bulkier guys, not athletic pretty boys.

We see SANADA gain some momentum after a low Dropkick, but a lifting Flatliner sends SANADA powdering. O-Khan again hints at wanting to do a plancha, but the referee and Aaron Henare don’t want him to do it. SANADA gets up and challenges him to do it, O-Khan finally says screw it and pulls off a gorgeous Plancha to SANADA’s disbelief. They trade submissions for a while, counter holds, counter strikes, moving out of finishers…but heavily uninspired.

O-Khan tries to surprise SANADA again with a perfect middle rope Moonsault, he goes into the Eliminator but SANADA sits out, kicks O-Khan’s legs out from under him, hooks the legs with his feet and executes the Leg Clutch from the ground for the pinfall.

This was a low impact special singles mid card match. Who – cares.

Jeff Cobb vs Tetsuya Naito

No matter how good this match is, I really don’t care coming into it. This show has languished for 3 hours of uselessness. This is legitimately awful. I’d rather be sleeping or doing taxes than watching any of what happened for the last 3 hours, except maybe the Stardom match since that was really great.

Cobb bulldozes Naito early, and when Naito tries to return the favor the referee tries to pull him off of focusing Cobb’s leg, but turnabout is fair play. Marty Asami really needs to know better unless he really likes getting pushed around. They go to the outside, Cobb literally catches Naito, holds him up in the Vertical Suplex position, slams him into the ring post a few times and then runs forward dropping Naito back onto the floor.

As has been the gimmick with many of Naito’s recent matches, he gets thrown around literally and figuratively, but finds the resolve to fight back. Naito focused heavily on the knee before the match and during the match, where Cobb’s strength base finally failed him. Cobb tried to power through with adrenaline fueled Deadlift Suplexes and an Avalanche Powerbomb, but after a Knee Triangle nearly wins the match for Naito, he finds the opportunity to hit Valentia and then Destino for the win.

NoDQ IWGP US Heavyweight Championship: KENTA (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi

While it started off in perfect KENTA fashion with him throwing Tanahashi a kendo stick and them having a light saber duel, it quickly devolved into too much. It was amusing to see the first table brought back in, the old US Cup briefcase, but a lot of spots were slow. Especially the finish.

KENTA took what felt like 5 minutes to find a really tall ladder and a second table, then bracing the ladder took too much time even though he tried to entertain people by screaming at Red Shoes for help. KENTA got unceremoniously dumped off the ladder into a trash can, and busted him wide open. So Tanahashi puts KENTA on the table, goes up the ladder and lands the High Fly Flow as KENTA’s blood flows.

It was…mediocre at best. But the spots were just slow and made the match a pain to watch.

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Will Ospreay vs Kazuchika Okada (c)

The story of this match was that Ospreay really did his homework. We saw Ospreay hark back to many different championship matches Okada has had. Naomichi Marufuji, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada himself, Kenny Omega, Katsuyori Shibata; just a lot of little moments that made you stop and go “OH THAT”.

Ospreay also showed a level of maturation when he avoided going for the Sasuke Special on the initial outside the ring spot, but went to it when he got cocky, and Okada countered it. Okada’s thread here was that he knew Ospreay’s playbook fairly well. So he dodged the Hidden Blade once or twice, countered the Sasuke Special and when Ospreay got cocky and went for the Rainmaker, Okada hit him with a Stormbreaker. Ospreay did manage to hit every move in his arsenal, except Stormbreaker.

Hell, Ospreay even did what no one has done in the last year or so that Okada has broken it back out; and that’s kick out of the first full contact Rainmaker. Okada had to utilize the Rolling Rainmaker, the Nakamura inspired Landslide and then one more Rainmaker to keep Ospreay down. It was a really fun much if not a little too over indulgent sometimes. Definitely ends the show on a high note, because this day needed something.

Overall Score: 5/10

Now the first day wasn’t great, but I was hoping it built toward a bigger day 2. This Day was awful, it was generally a 1 match show, beyond the fact I really enjoyed the Stardom tag. KENTA/Tanahashi tried to do too much and failed at many of the attempts. The 3 I gave it was more courtesy for the effort and the fact that KENTA knew some spots were taking too long so he filled time with comedy. SANADA is the most uninteresting wrestler in Japan, so he needs to figure something out. Naito did Naito things and it probably won’t lead to anything major beyond his challenge for the World title. United Empire goes 0-3 again, so that’s a decent enough thread.

Just too damn many matches that did nothing. This was about 4 hours before the main event, but it felt like 20. Such a bad day over inflated with matches that didn’t matter. Okada versus Naito as the next match up will keep people around, but it’s not because of these first two days of booking. Such a sad start to things for New Japan.

I really hope the implied possible cooperation with GLEAT and NOAH leads to something further down the line, because New Japan on its own, is not a captivating company. Their main event scene is fine, everything else is pretty much a dumpster fire.