Full WrestleKingdom 10 Card
- Thread starter Shadowmancer
- Start date
Tsunaru
Occasional Pre-Show
Pre-Show New Japan Rumble
Appropriately located on the precard. I'm surprised to not see any of the young boys currently scheduled for this, given their lack of any other presence on the card. Based on the currently scheduled participants, I would probably give the win to Tiger Mask IV or Liger, or MAYBE Taguchi, based on their recent placement on earlier cards (TM and Liger being involved with the NWA title, and Taguchi having been in a mini-fued with Nakamura).
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 4-Way
reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Beretta) vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal
People are getting a little tired of the 4 way Jr Tag matches at WK, since this is the third year in a row they've gone with it, but I can still get behind this match. Won't be anywhere near MOTN, but it should be pretty good if they're given a decent amount of time for it. Gonna call Sydal and Ricochet as the winners here.
NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Team Championship
Toru Yano & Briscoe Brothers vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga)
I didn't care for this match at first, especially with the bringing in of the Briscoes instead of using two of the currently unbooked CHAOS members, but the inclusion of the new title has managed to pique my interest a bit. I'd say Bullet Club takes this given their more permanent position in NJPW, but it could be interesting to see Dem Boys stay in Japan for a while, which a title reign would probably indicate.
ROH World Championship
Jay Lethal(c) vs. Michael Elgin
Elgin has been doing phenomenally in New Japan, and Lethal has been showing off some of the best work of his career since winning the ROH title. Expecting nothing short of an excellent match with this two, most likely with Elgin going over and winning the title.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Kenny Omega(c) vs. KUSHIDA
This is a tough match for me. Omega is currently my favorite wrestler in the world, so I naturally want him to win, but at the same time I want him to drop the Jr. Belt and move on up to the heavyweight division. He said in a post-match promo back in November that "He would continue to be champion up until he decided to become a heavyweight", so if he drops the title it could hopefully be a sign that he's about to move up. I'm actually finding myself unable to call a prediction for this one, they had two excellent matches for the title last year and both won as the challenger, so it's really too close.
IWGP Tag Team Championship
Bullet Club (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows)(c) vs. GBH (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma)
GBH wins this, hands down. Honma has had one of the best years out of anyone in the promotion, despite losing almost every singles match he had, and he and Makabe had a very impressive showing at the G1 Tag League. I'm a big fan of Anderson and Gallows, but New Japan would be crazy to not capitalize on just how over GBH, and Honma in particular, is right now.
Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito
Thanks to the inclusion of the 6-man tag titles, this has probably become the match I'm least interested in. Both men are good workers, and the match should deliver, but I feel the feud has been dragged on a little too long. Expecting Naito to pick up the win after shenanigans from EVIL and Bushi.
NEVER Openweight Championship
Tomohiro Ishii(c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Not much to say here. Two bulls beating the ever-living crap out of each other while not selling a thing. Ishii has had two five star matches (screw what Meltzer said giving the second one 4.75 stars) defending this title last year. Expecting to see two or three of both the PK and the Brainbuster before we see a finish, most likely with Shibata going over.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. AJ Styles
HNNNNNNNNNNNNNGH. My number 2 and 3 guys, this was the match I wanted to highlight the finals of the G1 Climax. Its a little delayed, but I imagine it should be even better now that it's on a stage like Wrestle Kingdom, assuming AJ is at 100% for this. Guessing Nakamura takes it.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Kazuchika Okada(c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Tanahashi making his 8th main event appearance at WK in the last 9 years. The rivalry is a little old, but they do manage to innovate and change it up every time they end up competing, and some of the work they've done leading up to it has done a good job of hyping up the match. Should be good, but I'm wondering how much more different they can make it from previous encounters. Okada will likely take this to cap off his redemption story after losing last year.
All in all, I'm looking forward to this. Even the worst sounding matches on the card have potential to be at least passable, while the rest of them should likely be incredible.
Appropriately located on the precard. I'm surprised to not see any of the young boys currently scheduled for this, given their lack of any other presence on the card. Based on the currently scheduled participants, I would probably give the win to Tiger Mask IV or Liger, or MAYBE Taguchi, based on their recent placement on earlier cards (TM and Liger being involved with the NWA title, and Taguchi having been in a mini-fued with Nakamura).
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship 4-Way
reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly & Bobby Fish) (c) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) vs. Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Beretta) vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal
People are getting a little tired of the 4 way Jr Tag matches at WK, since this is the third year in a row they've gone with it, but I can still get behind this match. Won't be anywhere near MOTN, but it should be pretty good if they're given a decent amount of time for it. Gonna call Sydal and Ricochet as the winners here.
NEVER Openweight 6-man Tag Team Championship
Toru Yano & Briscoe Brothers vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Tama Tonga)
I didn't care for this match at first, especially with the bringing in of the Briscoes instead of using two of the currently unbooked CHAOS members, but the inclusion of the new title has managed to pique my interest a bit. I'd say Bullet Club takes this given their more permanent position in NJPW, but it could be interesting to see Dem Boys stay in Japan for a while, which a title reign would probably indicate.
ROH World Championship
Jay Lethal(c) vs. Michael Elgin
Elgin has been doing phenomenally in New Japan, and Lethal has been showing off some of the best work of his career since winning the ROH title. Expecting nothing short of an excellent match with this two, most likely with Elgin going over and winning the title.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Kenny Omega(c) vs. KUSHIDA
This is a tough match for me. Omega is currently my favorite wrestler in the world, so I naturally want him to win, but at the same time I want him to drop the Jr. Belt and move on up to the heavyweight division. He said in a post-match promo back in November that "He would continue to be champion up until he decided to become a heavyweight", so if he drops the title it could hopefully be a sign that he's about to move up. I'm actually finding myself unable to call a prediction for this one, they had two excellent matches for the title last year and both won as the challenger, so it's really too close.
IWGP Tag Team Championship
Bullet Club (Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows)(c) vs. GBH (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma)
GBH wins this, hands down. Honma has had one of the best years out of anyone in the promotion, despite losing almost every singles match he had, and he and Makabe had a very impressive showing at the G1 Tag League. I'm a big fan of Anderson and Gallows, but New Japan would be crazy to not capitalize on just how over GBH, and Honma in particular, is right now.
Hirooki Goto vs. Tetsuya Naito
Thanks to the inclusion of the 6-man tag titles, this has probably become the match I'm least interested in. Both men are good workers, and the match should deliver, but I feel the feud has been dragged on a little too long. Expecting Naito to pick up the win after shenanigans from EVIL and Bushi.
NEVER Openweight Championship
Tomohiro Ishii(c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata
Not much to say here. Two bulls beating the ever-living crap out of each other while not selling a thing. Ishii has had two five star matches (screw what Meltzer said giving the second one 4.75 stars) defending this title last year. Expecting to see two or three of both the PK and the Brainbuster before we see a finish, most likely with Shibata going over.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Shinsuke Nakamura(c) vs. AJ Styles
HNNNNNNNNNNNNNGH. My number 2 and 3 guys, this was the match I wanted to highlight the finals of the G1 Climax. Its a little delayed, but I imagine it should be even better now that it's on a stage like Wrestle Kingdom, assuming AJ is at 100% for this. Guessing Nakamura takes it.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Kazuchika Okada(c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
Tanahashi making his 8th main event appearance at WK in the last 9 years. The rivalry is a little old, but they do manage to innovate and change it up every time they end up competing, and some of the work they've done leading up to it has done a good job of hyping up the match. Should be good, but I'm wondering how much more different they can make it from previous encounters. Okada will likely take this to cap off his redemption story after losing last year.
All in all, I'm looking forward to this. Even the worst sounding matches on the card have potential to be at least passable, while the rest of them should likely be incredible.