Wrestle Kingdom 13: The Casual Fan Review

Just last Friday wrestling fans saw the year in properly with the first huge event of twenty nineteen taking place, Wrestle Kingdom thirteen. Now, if you are a regular here on my blog you will know that I haven’t covered all too much of NJPW in the past, however, over the next twelve months I hope to change that a little with the help of paying more attention to the brand and writing more content for you! Today I’m going to be looking back at Wrestle Kingdom thirteen and giving you a more “casual fan” perspective of the event. I’m not as strong of a follower of NJPW as many of you reading this probably are so bear with me but enjoy the read none the less!

The Opening 

As a major fan of both Will Ospreay and Kota Ibushi, I was very much excited for the opening contest which of course saw Ibushi put his Open weight Championship on the line. The opening moments of the contest saw a true display of athleticism with both displaying their effortless skill, fast-paced action, and knowledge of one another. It took time before either could get the upper hand which became a common theme throughout this matchup. The two so evenly matched we never saw one of the two dominate for too long before a counter was performed. Both Ibushi and Ospreay had an excellent showing and raised the bar extremely high for the rest to follow; from brutal spots, hard hits, storytelling, athleticism, and wrestling skill this was a modern-day wrestling contest between two of the best of the best and the result which saw Ospreay score the win was both satisfying and impressive. We also must take into consideration the injury Ibushi suffered in this contest and his will to continue regardless!

Follow That...

Following the Ospreay/Ibushi match was always going to be a difficult job for anyone who followed and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship (damn that was a mouthful) contest really did prove exactly that. The bout was much shorter than I expected and while it was a fun match with impressive spots here and there it was one of the most forgettable matches of the night. Shorter than expected also the bout never really felt as though it truly kickstarted; there was a lack of close calls, intensity and thrill that could have made this far stronger, however, with the champs losing their titles without being pinned we can expect some exciting things to go down in the near future.

The Interesting One

For me, one of the more interesting matches of the night came from the RPW British Heavyweight contest between Zack Sabre Jr. and Tomohiro Ishii. With the two men having a strikingly different in-ring style and overall image there was a huge contrast that made this one to watch for sure! Now, I do feel as though the action was kept a little short at 11:37 but in the time they competed Ishii and Sabre Jr. delivered an interesting and enjoyable. Not as fast paced as what we had previously seen on the night, yet the pair worked so well together with their styles meshing so strongly I can honestly say I did enjoy this very different match (in comparison to the rest). I would have liked to have seen more and more from Ishii but I was happy with the end result and the action overall. 

Slightly Underwhelming 

Despite being far from a bad match up the second three-team match of the night was another slightly more forgettable one. The action again was fast-paced, and all three teams had a solid showing with the Young Bucks for me standing out far greater than the other two teams, however, come the end I was left feeling as though I wanted more and wasn’t completely satisfied. Just like what we saw earlier on in the night, the champs were not pinned with Evil and Sanada putting away Matt Jackson in the closing moments setting up a rematch at some point in the future.

Keeping on the theme of disappointing matches looking at the card I honestly expecting the IWGP United States Championship bout between Cody and Juice Robinson to be a strong contest of the night, however, I was left massively disappointed. As two names I am hugely familiar with I’m very much aware of what these two can do in the ring and there is no denying their styles, passion, and skill together can make for a very exciting match however this most certainly gave off a “Monday Night RAW” kinda vibe. I did like the role in which Brandi played here but I did feel as though she was a just a key point in the opening of this match that the action got a little lost and affected the flow of the match. Another shorter match than I expected it’s a shame this didn’t quite live up to expectation but a decent contest none the less.

Back to the future 

Firstly, the back to the future entrance here was defiantly a highlight of the night! (Yes I'm easily pleased …kind of like a child) and restored some excitement in me! The match itself too was one I really enjoyed! A tad bit on the shorter side I did believe we could have seen a lot more here but what we did see was very strong! Brutal, intense, violent and competitive this was a contest that delivered greatly however, there was a lack of story and drama that truly grabbed my attention but with that being said I did favor the end result seeing Ishimori score the win over Kushida using the bloody cross to win the title. 

The Non-Title Match

Seeing Okada in a non-title match (the only non-title match of the night may I add) was interesting and very different but for sure highlighted how personal this rivalry truly was. Now, as a slightly more casual fan I did have to do some research here ahead of this contest but none the less this was a gripping and exciting match up and for me a clear favourite. The drama, the story, the energy from the crowd, and the sheer performance from both men made this a standout of the night by far. It was evident who the crowd were behind, and Jay White played his role as the villain here perfectly. Now, I did expect this match to be far longer than it was and like many, we have already mentioned I do believe this could have been far stronger if the two were given an extra five to ten minutes at least. However, what this match did was keep fans on the edge of their seat and emotionally invested. There was no denying that most fans expected Okada to pick up the win but the huge surprise that saw the twenty-six-year-old Jay White score the clean victory was yet another standout moment of the night. One of my favourite booking decision of the evening it concluded a very interesting and story filled match up. 

The Match of the Night

For me, the match of the night came from Chris Jericho and Tetsuya Naito. As the match I was most looking forward to this did not disappoint in the slightest and I found myself totally invested from the get-go. In comparison to what we saw between Jericho and Okada a year ago, Jericho was truly at home in this bout. The barbaric and intense nature of this match highlighted Jericho massively and played to the strength of the Y2J we know today and went down as yet another career highlight for the now former IWGP Intercontinental Champion. The bout kick-started with a violent scene seeing the beginning of what would become a massively enjoyable and intense match up. From stiff selling such as Naito taking a DDT on the outside table to the near-falls that left fans on the literal edge of their seats, this was a match with little fans could have wanted to change. There was an excellent build, strong story, and their rivalry was felt greatly in this contest from the moment the action even begun. There were several moments I felt as though this match was going to come to an end with both men coming so close so many times but in the end, it was Naito who finally kept Jericho down to win the championship. 

The Main Event

And finally, the main event and another match I and the rest of the wrestling world was excited for, Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. Here we have a perfect display of the best of the best.  A phenomenal main event I was left believing there wasn’t anything I would have truly changed. There were next to no ways of making this encounter any better than it was and there is no doubt this will go down as a year favourite for many. What we got was an extremely lengthy match which may have been a tag bit too long but considering just how epic the action was and the standard at which Omega and Tanahashi performed at I’d say the timing was near perfect also. 

This was a showing of two of NJPW’s best of all time battling it out at the top of their careers. The energy in the room was infectious, the passion from both men was admirable and the storytelling throughout made this such a striking and memorable collision. The closing moments may have been a touch predicable considering the understanding of Omega’s likely departure however it did not take away from just how epic this main event was and what it truly showed in terms of the ability, popularity, and talent from both competitors. 

And you have officially made it to the end of this very long review! I can hand on heart say I really did enjoy Wrestle Kingdom 13. There were a few disappointing matches and I believe that several bouts could have been far better received if they had been given more time. The three top matches for me were the opening and the final two encounters but overall the entire night was jam packed full of entertaining and fun action reminding fans worldwide why the promotion is ranked so highly and why Wrestle Kingdom is forever a must see event!