NJPW/NOAH Wrestle Kingdom 16 In Yokohama Arena
PPV Streamed live on Abema on the 8th of January 2022.
Out on Wrestle Universe & NJPWworld on the 14th of January 2022.
Cagematch and Card: NJPW/NOAH Wrestle Kingdom 16 In Yokohama Arena
NJPWworld: https://njpwworld.com/p/s_series_00602_2_1
Wrestle Universe: https://www.wrestle-universe.com/en/videos/xwNph8UZwj2QAmbTz8DDqD
Attendance: 7077
English Commentary team NJPWworld and Live Stream: Chris Charlton & Kevin Kelly.
English Commentary team Wrestle Universe: Mark Pickering & Stewart Fulton.
I DON'T CLAIM ANY RIGHT TO THE SCREENSHOTS USED HERE.
ALL RIGHTS GO TO:
https://twitter.com/noahglobal
https://twitter.com/njpwglobal
Initial Thoughts:
I watched this live on the 8th and it was chaos, biggest regret was watching this show live they messed up so much, muted themes, the blackout right after the opening VTR, and many buffering issues and audio issues. Therefore I decided to hold off giving the score/grade of the show as a whole until the VOD came out.
This was a dream show to celebrate NJPW's 50th anniversary with NJPW and Pro wrestling NOAH putting on a joint show.
And the first show together they have done in many years so it was a shame that the live broadcast was what it was for the western fans.
Anyways I have just finished the VOD on Wrestle Universe and thought I should write a review.
Card Breakdown:
Pre-show match #1
Kosei Fujita (NJPW) vs. Yasutaka Yano (NOAH)
This was 10 minutes of just great grappling and fighting spirit showcasing the future of both companies. Something I did not like was that Yano was restricted to the NJPWs young lion moveset when his moveset is a lot more complex in NOAH.
Them still wanting to fight after the match and being held back by their dojo mates was a really cool moment. Could see this match being the main event of a NOAH vs NJPW show in 10 years.
Ends with a 10-minute time limit draw.
***1/2 on the Sondre rating.
Pre Show match #2
Tenkoji & Yuij Nagata (NJPW) vs. Funky Express (NOAH)
They had fun, we had fun and you will have fun if you are familiar with these wrestlers
The match ends with Satoshi Kojima hitting King Tany with the Koji Lariat.
*** on the Sondre rating.
Main show match #1
CHAOS, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi (NJPW) vs.
Daiki Inaba, Daisuke Harada, Hajime Ohara, Kinya Okada & Yoshiki Inamura (NOAH)
A fun 5 on 5 match outshined by the 5-star classic later on the card. Tomohiro Ishii and Yoshiki Inamura had a really great face-off and fight. Inamura is the future of big men slapping meat style and Ishii is the king of the style in my opinion. Need a singles match one day between them. Yoshi-Hashi & Hirooki Goto is one of my favorite tag teams right now and enjoyed every bit of their offense.
Ends with Yoshi-Hashi tapping out Kinya Okada with a boston crab.
***1/4 on the Sondre rating.
Main show match #2
Atsushi Kotoge (NOAH) vs. SHO (NJPW)
I feel bad for both the wrestlers because I know they could have had a much better match.
SHO wins after hitting Kotoge with the Spanner wrench.
*1/4 on the Sondre rating.
Main show match #3
Gedo & Taiji Ishimori (NJPW) vs. HAYATA & Seiki Yoshioka (NOAH)
between Taiji and Seiki. Think I would have preferred if this match was a singles match between Taiji Ishimori and HAYATA or Seiki Yoshioka.
The match ends with HAYATA hitting NJPWs head booker Gedo with the Headache to pay him back for the booking of New Japan in 2021 so half a star up for that from the man the fell out of love with New Japan over that year.
*** on the Sondre rating.
Main show match #4
DOUKI & El Desperado (NJPW) vs. NOSAWA Rongai & YO-HEY (NOAH)
This was really fun for me just like the last one, NOSAWA throwing the IWGP Jr Heavyweight belt out of the ring before the match was very funny. Yo-HEY and DOUKI had some really good spots in this match they really are two of the most promising JR heavyweights right now and I see both of them becoming champions in their companies before 2025.
The match ends with El Desperado hitting NOSAWA Rongai with the Pinche Loco.
***1/2 on the Sondre rating.
Main show match #5
Kazushi Sakuraba, Takashi Sugiura & Toru Yano (NOAH) vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku (NJPW)
injury and his history with Sakuraba. Suzuki's theme being muted on Wrestle Universe is weird since it was played there on a DDT show late last year. Loved every bit of Sugiura and Suzuki fighting wants that match one more time before they both retire because I have loved every match they have done before.
The match ends with Takashi Sugiura hitting TAKA Michinoku with an Olympic Yosen Slam.
***1/2 on the Sondre rating.
Main show match #6
Dick Togo & EVIL (NJPW) vs. Go Shiozaki & Masa Kitamiya (NOAH)
repetitive heel but at least the Dick Togo spots are funny. It is said that all the other main eventers in NOAH got great opponents and Go Shiozaki got EVIL who is on a much lower level than him in-ring in 2022 but they almost have the same spot as on each roster so I guess it worked. Did we really need House of Torture interference in this match as well? This show was supposed to be a cool dream card I really did not want the overbooking mess in the matches.
Go Shiozaki wins the match by hitting Dick Togo with the Gowan Lariat.
** on the Sondre rating.
Main show match #7
Naomichi Marufuji & Yoshinari Ogawa (NOAH) vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Zack Sabre Jr (NJPW)
This was so cool seeing Ogawa and ZSJ wrestle against each other was interesting,
seeing as they are former tag partners.
I'm not that familiar with ZSJ's time in NOAH but I plan on going back and learning.
Kanemaru and Marufuji just reminded me of when I was looking for matches to go back and seeing from the 2000s in 2018 when I was getting into pre-2010s puro.
We had so many fun spots between ZSJ and Ogawa fun doing their thing, I really want them to have singles match now that Zack has become such a great wrestler.
Marufuji and Kanemaru are two of the most influential wrestlers in Puro so seeing them wrestle again was really amazing, would love to see singles match between them as well one more time.
This is one of the 3 matches on this card that is a must-watch for every pro wrestling fan.
Naomichi Marufuji ends the match by hitting Yoshinobu Kanemaru with the Shiranui.
****1/4 on the Sondre rating.
Main show Semi-Final match #8
Kongo (NOAH) vs Los Ingobernables de Japón (NJPW)
The gasp of the crowd when they saw that Tetsuya Naito and Katsuhiko Nakajima were starting says it all, these two have more in-ring charisma than I can ever describe. They had such a great start to this match.
Aleja and Hiromu Takahashi had some Jr fun doing their thing, Hiromu attacking Haoh ringside is hopefully a sign of things to come.
The moment when Shingo knocked Kenoh off the apron and Kenoh ran in pissed off was amazing.
Kenoh was the MVP of this match, he had good spots with every member of LIJ, and him always going on the attack was really funny.
Katsuhiko Nakajima had great moments with both Shingo and Naito two matches I really want to see in 2022, and him clearing the ring of LIJ members with kicks was great.
Shingo and Tadasuke had a great end of the match lariat battle.
Shingo Takagi wins the match for LIJ by pinning Tadasuke with the Last of the Dragon.
Kenoh still attacking Naito and Naito not selling him after the match was amazing. Best 5 on 5 matches I have ever seen that's for sure.
This match is my #4 match so far of 2022.
***** on the Sondre Rating
Main show Main Event match #9
Kaito Kiyomiya & Keiji Muto vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kazuchika Okada
Ok, so this match had four generations of Japanese wrestling go against each other. Keiji Muto who will turn 60 this year still doing great matches here maybe not quite as good as if this was 90's NJPW or All Japan but still, the man is ageless.
Hiroshi Tanahashi the last ACE of New Japan and the man the brought them out of the "dark" era and into their recent golden era.
Kazuchika Okada the man who took the ACE spot from Tanahashi in 2016 and the man the helped New Japan get a lot of western fans including me.
Kaito Kiyomiya the 25 years old prodigy and future ACE of Pro Wrestling NOAH.
This match created a star in Kaito and the 3 older wrestlers made the young man look like the future of Puro.
Now that I have copy-pasted from volume #1 you know the history and significance of this match and I will go into more detail about the things in the match I liked the most in-ring.
Muto moving out of the way for Tanahashi to do his thing during the entrance was amazing.
Kaito and Okada starting were right if we were not in a restricted time when it comes to what the crowd can do I know it would have been chants for them both during this first 2 minutes one day we will get back to that. But still, everyone inside Yokohama arena clapped their hands off.
Kaito Kiyomiya's first match in New Japan was against two wrestlers that most people have on their Mount Rushmore of New Japan (including me) and he teamed with the living legend Keiji Muto who also is on that very same Mount Rushmore of New Japan for me. Kaito is only 25 by the way and has already been GHC Heavyweight Champion and will most likely be it many more times.
Keiji Muto proved to everyone that doubted that he still got it he can I can see him continue to wrestle for another 2-4 years if those matches are tag matches.
Kazuchika Okada punishing and trash-talking Kaito all match was so good, the DDT on the outside was great and their forearm battle right after was just as good.
Kaito countered the rainmaker with a dropkick to the back of Okada, Muto hitting Okada with the shining wizard right after then Kaito doing the tiger suplex was a near fall that I almost punched a hole in my screen when I saw it live because I was so sure that was the finish.
Okada and Kaito were the MVPs of this match and the last 5 minutes were amazing.
But in this match Kaito was hit by the ending Rainmaker by Okada and pinned 1. 2. 3.
Kaito had so much fighting spirit here, I was kind of mild on Kaito before this match but in this match, he proved that he is the future and in 5 years will be compared to the likes of Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Mitsuharu Misawa as a company carrying ACE.
Kazuchika Okada yelling at Kaito for crying was sad and Muto helping Kaito backstage mirrors the closing of WK 9 with Okada.
This is amazing storytelling and the reason why I love this predetermined sport so much.
As Kazuchika Okada said after the match "Pro wrestling is great isn't it?"
This match is just outstanding an all-time tag team match for sure in my opinion *****1/2 on the Sondre Rating
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| The GOATs sitting outside after the match ends watching the current top stars. |
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| Kaito right after the bell ringing. |
Summary:
This show was really fun if this was the show that had been broadcast live this show would have been an all-time great show. Still love it don't worry but my experiences watching it live bring down the score and that I'm really sorry about.I highly recommend watching this show if you have a Sub to either NJPWworld or Wrestle Universe
Grade: B+
Score: 8.2
So my first full show review written this was really fun for me I hope you had fun reading it. This is how my show reviews will be in the future.
Feel free to follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SondreBjorn
Also if you want to see my 2022 spreadsheet go here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bx3iY2upT3UAYjTD1LLOQEm1vG9M5O1AozcNdjhsDOY/edit?usp=sharing
Hope you liked volume #2
Hope to see you next time
Bye <3
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