Wrestlekingdom 14 Night One Predictions

Written by Ben hercik

It’s the biggest show of the year for New Japan Pro Wrestling, Wrestle Kingdom 14! All year we see wrestlers from New Japan go through all the hurdles of the New Japan Cup, the Best of the Super Juniors, the G1 Climax, World Tag League, all the tours just to get to the Tokyo Dome. This year, with all the talent that New Japan has, the event expanded from one day to two days, taking place from January 4th and 5th. It’s a lot of matches and a lot to talk about, so lets get right into it.

Now Night 1 of the show features a lot of multi-man tags that are there to set up a lot of matches on the second night. That being said, there are still storylines and plot points that will be important to all the matches on the show. Whether it’s stable vs stable, or two different collections of wrestlers just wrestling against each other, there will still be interesting matches that fans will be in for.

Dark Match: Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki Vs. Hana Kimura & Giulia

This is the first instance of the Stardom wrestlers showing up in New Japan after the parent company of New Japan, Bushiroad, acquired Stardom. This match has two members of the STARS stable (Iwatani & Hoshiki) taking on two young up and comers in Giulia and Kimura. Iwatani is coming off of a phenomenal year where she got back to the top of the company, beating Bea Priestley for the World of Stardom Championship. I’m taking Iwatani and Hoshiki because I feel like they wouldn’t have the face of Stardom lose in her first match under the new deal. It’s a shame that this match will not be shown on New Japan World due to the television contract situation.

WINNERS: Mayu Iwatani & Arisa Hoshiki

Pre-Show: Great Bash Heel, Yuya Uemura & Yota Tsuji Vs. Toa Henare, Alex Coughlin, Clark Conners & Karl Fredricks

This is a match between a team with two Young Lions, and a team with three young lions. Everyone knows what Makabe and Honma can do, but I think this match is more about the future of New Japan. Henare has already graduated from the ranks of the Young Lions, but he still has yet to find his footing in New Japan. Also, for a long time the Young Lions that were getting the spotlight were Shota Umino and Ren Narita. With both of them on excursion, it is time for some new Young Lions to come to the forefront. Uemura, Tsuji, Coughlin, Conners and Fredricks have all gotten the chance to show some of the stuff that they can do, and now on the big stage, one or two might break away from the pack to become the new leader(s) of the Young Lions group. I’m going to take the team with Great Bash Heel, but don’t be surprised if Conners and Fredricks have fantastic showings.

WINNERS: Great Bash Heel (Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe), Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji

Tencozy Vs. Yuji Nagata & Manabu Nakanishi

We go from a future of New Japan, to a match with four legends. These four have a combined 9 IWGP Heavyweight Championship reigns, 24 IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship reigns, 6 G1 Climax wins, 2 New Japan Cup wins and 9 Tag League wins. This is a clash of four legends in the ring in what may be the best granddads of New Japan match ever. These teams met on the final day of World Tag League, and Nagata and Nakanishi got the win there. That is the main reason why I have Tencozy winning the match here. These guys aren’t going to put on a 20 minute tag team clinic, but a solid 10 minute match will be just fine by me.

WINNERS: Tencozy

Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask Vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi

This is Liger’s penultimate match in his legendary career. It’s a who’s who in this match, as all eight have had very impressive careers. I think that it’s safe to say that Liger is going to win at least one of his final matches in his career, and this one is the most likely one. Liger teaming with fellow legends like Fujinami, Sasuke and Tiger and going against three other legends, and someone who still has a lot in the tank in Ryusuke Taguchi. I think Liger gets the fall here over Taguchi, and gets his hand raised after his second to last match.

WINNERS: Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke, and Tiger Mask

Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI, EVIL, SANADA & Shingo Takagi) Vs. Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr & El Desperado)

Surprisingly, this match plays a lot into the second day of the show. We have SANADA and Zack Sabre Jr. going one on one for Sabre Jr’s Rev Pro Undisputed British Heavyweight Championship, and the rest of the wrestlers besides Minoru Suzuki wrestling in the NEVER 6-Man Tag Team Championship gauntlet. You have a lot of talent here as well. BUSHI is coming off of his best year in a long time, Shingo Takagi had a fantastic year and Taichi turned a lot of heads as well. El Desperado is someone that has been poised for a breakout year, and that could be 2020. This match should be high paced, as all eight guys have very high motors. I think that LIJ gets the win, and we set up for what could be the best match on Day 2 that nobody is talking about.

WINNERS: Los Ingobernables de Japon

CHAOS (Yoshi-Hashi, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Hirooki Goto) Vs. Bullet Club (KENTA, Bad Luck Fale, Yuro Takahashi & Chase Owens)

This one is rather interesting. On the CHAOS side, you don’t really have anyone that can take a pinfall, it used to be Hirooki Goto or YOSHI-HASHI, but after the years that both had, both look poised for big years in 2020. On the Bullet Club side, you have two guys that currently have no real direction in Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi. This one feels like an easy pick, and it will be interesting to see how they build to Goto and KENTA for the NEVER Openweight Championship on Day 2.

WINNERS: CHAOS

Guerrillas of Destiny (C) Vs. Juice Robinson & David Finlay (IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships)

With FinJuice winning World Tag League for the first time in there career, they have momentum on their side. Ever since the winner of World Tag League earned an IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship shot, they are 5 of 7 in the championship match at Wrestle Kingdom. All that stands in Juice Robinson and David Finlay’s way, is the most dominant tag team in New Japan in the past three years. Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa have been nothing short of fantastic in the tag team scene since 2016, and have had many challengers step up to try and stop their dominance. Now to be fair, the New Japan tag team scene has fallen dramatically off since the lost of Gallows and Anderson and War Machine (Viking Raiders), but nobody still can hold a candle to G.O.D. I’m curious if the fact that Juice Robinson has a match for the IWGP United States Championship on Day 2 will play into this match. With how weak the current tag team scene is, I think a G.O.D. retention makes sense simply because they have to build up a legit challenger for them. It could be FinJuice, but I don’t think that they get the titles on January 4th.

WINNERS: G.O.D.

Lance Archer (C) Vs. Jon Moxley (Texas Death Match; IWGP United States Championship)

This one was a bit tough to decide. On one hand, you have a man that never lost his championship. On the other, you have someone that might be the most surprising story from the wrestling year in 2019. Archer seemed to come out of nowhere to get a spot in the G1 Climax, but he ended up having the tournament of his life, and was the benefactor of being in the right place at the right time to win the IWGP United States Championship, after Moxley had to vacate the title due to the tsunami in October. Now Moxley is one of two AEW wrestlers on the show, and only one of them can afford a loss, especially with the story that is going on there right now. That wrestler is Moxley, and the rules of the match help that happen. There are no pinfalls in this match, the only way to win is by a knockout or a submission. Moxley could be choked unconscious by Archer’s E.B.D. Claw, and not be able to get up by the count of 10. A loss here doesn’t hurt Moxley and his quest of Chris Jericho and the AEW Championship.

WINNER: Lance Archer

Will Ospreay (C) Vs. Hiromu Takahashi (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship)

This match is going to be all over the place and I can’t wait to see it. Will Ospreay has been the ace of the junior division for quite some time, and is enjoying his third reign as IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion after winning the title from Dragon Lee at Dominion. After successful defenses against Robbie Eagles, El Phantasmo and BUSHI, it almost seemed like a who’s left question for Ospreay to face. Then, we saw Daryl on the screen at Power Struggle after Ospreay beat BUSHI. Then we saw the time bomb, and heard that laugh. And out came Hiromu Takahashi, after missing over a year of action with a broken neck. Takahashi wanted a match with Ospreay for the title he never lost, at Wrestle Kingdom 14. The past two winners of the Best of the Super Juniors are going to square off, and I think that we see Takahashi return to the throne of the junior heavyweight division. He never lost the championship, but I’m curious how his style will change, if at all. Takahashi loved to fly around not just the ring, but the entire arena. After his broken neck, we might see a bit of a different Hiromu Takahashi. But he also threw himself around the ring upon his return, so who knows. I also think that this is the final match that Ospreay has as at the junior heavyweight ranks. Ospreay has done it all and he is ready for a new challenge. And what better way for him to bow out of the division than a match against one of his closest friends. This is the match that I am looking forward to on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 Day 1

WINNER: Hiromu Takahashi

Jay White (C) Vs. Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship)

From the match that I’m looking forward to the most, to the match that I’m the most nervous for. The winner of this match not only gets the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, but they also advance to the main event of Day 2, and a chance to become dual champion as the IWGP Heavyweight Championship is on the line. The history between these two starts at the G1 Climax B Block final. The two were tied atop the B Block standings, and it all came down to the two of them to see who would advance to the final. Jay White would win there, to advance to the G1 final. While White would fail to win the tournament, he did get a shot at the IWGP Intercontinental Championship that Naito held at the time. White would win the championship at Destruction in Kobe, and after a successful defense against Goto at Power Struggle the only thing standing between White and another chance at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship is once again Tetsuya Naito. Naito has been trying to win the big one since his return, and he has been so close to having it happen multiple times, and this looks like the perfect time to do so. Naito has been the most over wrestler in the company since he returned from some time in CMLL, and I think it’s time for him to have another shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. I think that Naito wins here and advances to the main event of day two.

WINNER: Tetsuya Naito

Kazuchika Okada (C) Vs. Kota Ibushi (IWGP Heavyweight Championship)

It almost feels like the winner of the match before this will dictate the winner of this one. With how long Okada has been at the top, whoever does win the title from him has to be a huge deal, like Kenny Omega was. Ibushi has been a fan favorite for quite a while, and he has looked poised tof a major push to the top of the card for a while. He won the G1, and has looked really strong heading into the match. This one is hard to call, as both would make sense to face Naito in the second night. I think given that we have seen the wars that Ibushi and Naito have had, it would make sense. But you also think that Okada was the one that ended Naito’s only reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion. I think that if you think about the long term storytelling, I think Okada winning here makes the most sense. He was the one that caused Naito to lose his first Wrestle Kingdom main event at Wrestle Kingdom 7, and is the key of the fall and rise of Tetsuya Naito. Also, if Okada wins, then it continues the quest for Ibushi to win the big one. Ibushi is on this high as he just signed a huge deal with New Japan, he had two different title reigns, and he won the G1. It would make for an interesting story as well. Ibushi was in the highest of highs, and now he is at the lowest of lows. He lost his shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, he lost the main event of Wrestle Kingdom, just how far can the Golden Star fall.

WINNER: Kazuchika Okada