Pro Wrestling Week in Review: Wrestle Kingdom 12, WWE Royal Rumble News

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Fred Richani debuts the Pro Wrestling Week in Review with a full breakdown of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 at the Tokyo Dome and its fallout at New Year’s Dash, plus recaps of WWE Raw, SmackDown, 205 Live and NXT, and early looks at Royal Rumble 2018, NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia and the Mixed Match Challenge.

Episode Recap

Adapted from the episode and edited for clarity and brevity. Listen above for the full episode.

Wrestle Kingdom 12 is going to be very hard to beat for show of the year. It’s the first Wrestle Kingdom I watched straight through in real time, and the Tokyo Dome crowd was huge, about 35,000 paid and 43,000 total, according to Dave Meltzer. Masahito Kakihara won the pre-show battle royal, a nice moment for a man who has battled cancer, and he paid tribute to Yoshihiro Takayama.

The Young Bucks beat Roppongi 3K for the IWGP junior heavyweight tag team titles, their seventh reign, in a great, more psychological opener built on back work. Some of those flat-back bumps on the floor made me uncomfortable, though. Kota Ibushi beat Cody in what might be the best match of Cody’s career outside of his match with Kazuchika Okada in Long Beach. EVIL and SANADA beat Killer Elite Squad for the IWGP tag team titles in what I’m calling the Mike Awesome Memorial match, with Lance Archer flying like a junior heavyweight. Hirooki Goto beat Minoru Suzuki in a hard-hitting hair vs. hair match for the NEVER Openweight title, and Suzuki shaved his own head rather than give Goto the satisfaction.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White was slow and plodding. It was a lot to ask of a former young lion debuting the Switchblade character at the Tokyo Dome, and with Tanahashi as banged up as he is, I would have had White win. After what happened to Katsuyori Shibata and Tomoaki Honma, somebody in New Japan management needs to bench Tanahashi and let him heal. Will Ospreay won a great four-way over Marty Scurll, Hiromu Takahashi and Kushida for the IWGP junior heavyweight title, finally getting the better of Scurll on the biggest stage.

Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho for the U.S. title felt like a fight, unlike anything you’ll see in WWE: a violent, chaotic, good train wreck. Some people thought it went too long, but at 47, Jericho may have had the best character performance of his career, on par with his 2008 feud with Shawn Michaels. Omega won with the One-Winged Angel on a chair. You need to watch it.

Okada beat Tetsuya Naito with the Rainmaker to retain the IWGP heavyweight title. Great match, with both men kicking out of each other’s finishers, but I have two complaints. First, Okada’s long pants look like something out of “Boogie Nights.” The best wrestler in the world should not be channeling Disco Inferno. Second, the finish. Naito’s crowd reactions and merchandise are huge, he’s 35, and this was his moment. Okada is 30 and has plenty of time to cement his legacy. If Naito and Omega don’t hold the IWGP title this year, something is off creatively.

At New Year’s Dash, SANADA choked out Okada, Jericho attacked Naito, Suzuki-gun went after Tanahashi and Omega stopped Cody from taking a chair to Ibushi. Omega then handed Jay White a Bullet Club shirt, and White hit him with the Blade Runner and joined CHAOS instead.

In WWE, Raw was a good New Year’s Day show. Kurt Angle confirmed a 30-woman Royal Rumble, Roman Reigns beat Samoa Joe in a great Intercontinental title match and Joe cut a terrific promo about Dean Ambrose mooching off his wife while Renee Young was interviewing him. Finn Balor reunited with Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson. Asuka beat Alexa Bliss in a match that went too long and did neither woman any favors, and it’s hard to get excited about Kane in the Universal title picture.

On SmackDown, Sami Zayn beat AJ Styles in a non-title match, and Daniel Bryan made AJ vs. Kevin Owens and Zayn in a handicap match for the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. I’m tired of the Shane McMahon saga, but I’d love to see Zayn get a title run. 205 Live is in trouble with the Mixed Match Challenge debuting on Facebook Watch, and NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia looks strong, headlined by Johnny Gargano vs. Andrade “Cien” Almas, with Adam Cole vs. Aleister Black and Ember Moon vs. Shayna Baszler.