NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 10
Monday, January 4, 2016
Tokyo Dome
*IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
*IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. AJ Styles
*NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Katsuyori Shibata
*Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto
*IWGP Tag Team Championships: Karl Anderson & Doc Gallows (c) vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma
*IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. KUSHIDA
*ROH Championship: Jay Lethal (c) vs. Michael Elgin
*NEVER Six-Man Tag Team Titles (Vacant): The Briscoes & Toru Yano vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga & Yujiro
*IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles: reDRagon (c) vs. Young Bucks vs. Ricochet & Matt Sydal vs. Rocky Romero & Trent Beretta
*New Japan Rumble
Wrestle Kingdom 10 is in my mind, one of the greatest wrestling events of all time, and perhaps my favourite show to revisit, despite its length. The undercard is largely solid, but the final three matches are what really put this show over the top. Shibata/Ishii and Styles/Nakamura are both fantastic matches, but in the interest of time, I’ll focus my feedback on the main event.
I consider Kazuchika Okada versus Hiroshi Tanahashi from Wrestle Kingdom 10 to be the best match in Wrestle Kingdom history, which is no faint praise. Wrestling is at its most dramatic when there are real stakes attached, and this match is a perfect example of that, with Tanahashi’s desperation to regain his title and retain his status as New Japan’s Ace, being matched only by Okada’s own determination to finally overcome Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom. It’s the culmination of a perfectly told four-year story between the two, and when Okada finally “finished the story” and beat Tanahashi here, it really felt as though the torch had been passed, a torch that Okada still holds nearly eight years later.
After all the praise I just heaped onto this match, it speaks volumes that I can also say that this is probably only the third or fourth best match that these two have had together. An unbelievable standard for perhaps the two best wrestlers of this generation.
I vividly remember this show as it was my first real exposure to New Japan.
I had just started working at PWT since June of 2015 and at that point was tangibly familiar with non Bullet Club members of the roster.
I knew the names Tanahashi and Okada but wanted to see why this “King of Strong Style” guy was selling so many shirts.
I remember being blown away that hidden in japan there was a wrestler who’s whole gimmick was “I really just love Back to the Future” and thinking that Kenny Omega kid he wrestled has a bright future.
Nakamura instantly became my favorite as his entrance alone won me over.
It was after this that I went back and looked up everything that I could about Shin as he was just so fun to watch and could wrestle, which only being a WWE guy at the time you typically only got one of those two.
I remember looking back fondly on that match so much that a young Scrump spent his entire savings to go sit 5th row at WrestleMania when they did the rematch between Shinsuke and AJ.
As I sat there watching the low blow finish of the match a sudden wave of regret came over me as I remembered fondly Shinsuke eating the bullet AJ shot at him.
This is hands down my favorite WK that I feel New Japan has put on since I’ve become a fan and it was a fun trip down memory lane rewatching this show.