We've arrived at the annual January 4th Tokyo Dome show for New Japan Pro Wrestling. And this promises to be one of the most dramatic, intriguing wrestling events of the past few years. We all know now that The Elite has formed their own wrestling promotion (AEW). But their relationship with New Japan has been a topic of discussion. Will The Elite continue to work with New Japan, or will this be the end of The Elite in the promotion? Also, another huge question: Where does Kenny Omega fit in all of this? Will he stay in New Japan and continue to build his legacy? Will he leave New Japan and join AEW? Or... has H gotten to Kenny Omega and convinced "The Cleaner" to join WWE? Kenny Omega's future is very much cloudy for most of us. (Obviously, it isn't cloudy for Kenny, The Elite, Kenny's coworkers in NJPW, or those in the know.)
But beyond that, looking at this card, there are a lot of great matches on this card. In fact, this show has the potential to set the bar TOO HIGH for the rest of the wrestling promotions in 2019.
Let's go to the predictions
Pre Show
Gauntlet Match for the #1 Contendership for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships
Most Violent Players (Togi Makabe and Toru Yano) and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb and David Finlay vs. Chaos (Hirooki Goto, Beretta and Chuckie T.) vs. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer and Davey Boy Smith Jr.) vs. The Elite (Hangman Page, Yujiro Takahashi and Marty Scurll)
How the hell is Minoru Suzuki NOT on the main card at Wrestle Kingdom? This alone is a shame. The Elite aren't winning this. Jeff Cobb is in ROH. Therefore, his team won't win. The Most Violent Players and Taguchi are not big enough factors to win. This leaves CHAOS and Suzuki-Gun to vie for the win in my opinion. And I'm going with Suzuki-Gun to get the win to start the show off hot. Kaze ni nare!
Prediction: Suzuki-Gun
Main Show
NEVER Openweight Championship
Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Ospreay
Oh dear Lord. This match may not just steal the show: It could steal the year. Depending on how much time Ibushi and Ospreay are given and the amount of freedom they are given to go all out, they could go completely bonkers and produce one of the great hard-hitting, aerial matches ever seen on televised wrestling. As for the result, one has to wonder what Ibushi's status is with NJPW with The Elite and Kenny possibly leaving. From what I've read (and I stand corrected if someone states otherwise), Ibushi is not under a full-time contract with NJPW. Ospreay is, however, from what I understand. Therefore, I'm predicting that Ospreay completes the journey he started a few months back and becomes NEVER Openweight Champion.
Prediction: Will Ospreay
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Bushi and Shingo Takagi)
To me, I see this as the beginning of a big night for Los Ingobernables de Japon. Suzuki-Gun has had a hold of these titles for far too long, and we've already been down the road of Roppongi 3K being the champions a few too many times for the time they've been back on the NJPW roster. However, Bushi and Shingo would be the fresh option and give LIJ a boost that they could use as a faction. As for the match itself, while it may be a high-flying impactful match, this could be lost in the shuffle once the event concludes.
Prediction: LIJ
British Heavyweight Championship
Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Similar to the 3-Way Jr. Heavyweight Tag Match, this could be a match that gets lost in the shuffle. But every time these two get into a ring together, it's magic. Ishii is an unsung nominee for best wrestler of 2018 in my opinion, while Sabre continues to bring it in big time matches. My prediction is for another great match between Sabre and Ishii. In the end, I think Sabre is going to regain his country's championship.
Prediction: ZSJ
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa) (c) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Sanada and Evil) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)
See my predictions for the Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match, and you can basically copy and paste them here. Add to that the fact that The Young Bucks may be leaving NJPW, and The G.O.D. have already been multi-time Tag Champions by this point. Meanwhile, giving the championships to Evil and Sanada, while perhaps temporary, continues to give momentum to one of NJPW's hottest acts in the (possible) post-Elite era.
Prediction: LIJ
IWGP United States Championship
Cody (c) vs. Juice Robinson
Cody is probably on his way out of NJPW. And honestly, he hasn't exactly done much with the United States Championship. The whole purpose of his reign seems to apparently be so Juice Robinson can get a big win to recapture the championship. So, I think that's exactly what we are going to do here, and Juice will become the first ever 2X United States Champion in NJPW history. This could also be the beginning of a big year for Juice in NJPW as there will (probably) be room for advancing up the card.
Prediction: Juice
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship
Kushida (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori
Taiji Ishimori is a star and a great addition to the Bullet Club. While his size will probably keep him off the radar of WWE, that doesn't seem to be a factor for Kushida. Rumors (and you know what rumors and innuendo mean) are that Kushida could be NXT bound. Regardless of whether those rumors are true or not, I see Bullet Club getting a couple big wins on this night. So, I'm going with Ishimori to capture the Jr. Heavyweight Championship.
Prediction: Ishimori
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
This has been a blood feud ever since Jay White started causing trouble within CHAOS. And with White and Gedo (Okada's former manager) joining the Bullet Club, Okada's quest for revenge has gone, for the most part, without much satisfaction. So, on January 4, with supposedly all factions staying out of the match, you would think that Okada will get his revenge. You want to make a statement? Here's your statement: Jay White pins The Rainmaker clean in the middle of the ring. Okada fails at Wrestle Kingdom for the first time in 4 years, and a new main event talent emerges in Jay White. This lessens the blow of losing The Elite and puts heat back on the Bullet Club faction by having its leader have a clean victory over the longest-reigning IWGP Champion of all time.
Prediction: White
IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
I don't think there's much of a chance that Naito doesn't win this match. Naito suffered a big loss at Dominion last year when Jericho basically massacred him. Since then, Jericho has remained out of Naito's reach except for the recent hostilities between them (and the epic promos). Jericho is a part-timer. And with The Elite starting up their own wrestling promotion, one has to wonder where Jericho will land. Regardless of that, you know Jericho will prove why he is The "GOAT" one more time at Wrestle Kingdom. Meanwhile, Naito will get one of the biggest wins of his career and complete what I'm predicting will be an epic night for Los Ingobernables de Japon.
Prediction: Naito
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
And here we go. Good God, this will be an incredible match from both an in-ring and real life perspective. On one hand, you have Kenny Omega with all those attributes and questions that I mentioned earlier. Is he building a legacy or leaving to an American promotion? On the other hand, you have the 42-year-old "Ace" of New Japan: Hiroshi Tanahashi who has experienced a resurgence in fan support and importance in New Japan Pro Wrestling over the last several months. He had an amazing record during the G1 Climax 28, only losing once in a match to Jay White. He's the standard bearer for everything New Japan represents and helped keep the doors open at a time when business was down for the promotion. And now, here he is: main eventing a show he's main-evented MANY times before facing an opponent who has many questions surrounding him.
This could go either way from a booking perspective, and that even includes the possibility of Kenny Omega staying with NJPW. But if you forced me to make a decision, I'm predicting that this is the last night of Kenny Omega in NJPW. And thus, his last moment in the promotion will be succumbing to a number of High Fly Flows as The Ace regains the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and ushers back his era in New Japan. Kenny Omega walks through the crowd and into AEW with a door not closed for a possible return sometime down the line.
Prediction: Hiroshi Tanahashi
Overall, this is going to be an incredible show that will most definitely validate my insane decision to start watching it at 2AM. Be sure to check out this blog tomorrow as I will provide match-by-match reviews as the show unfolds (as in posting the review after the match ends). If you wake up at a normal hour and don't feel like waking up to read spoilers, you'll find your results here... unless my alarm decides not to work.
Until later, take care of yourselves. Spread some awesomeness.
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