WRESTLE KINGDOM 18

 

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 18 IN TOKYO DOME


Bullet Club War Dogs vs. Catch 22
TJP's entrance attire was really goddamn cool. I'm not very familiar at all with the WAR DOGS-duo going into this match, and I feel like I'm not very familiar with them coming out of the match. It was a very "nothing-saying" match, which has been the case for maany jr. heavy tags when it comes to their Tokyo Dome outings. It did it's job though as the fast-paced opener to get the crowd going & didn't overstay it's welcome. *3/4

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
A pretty charming little number. Zack is a great opponent for Tanahashi at this stage of his career, because Zack can just do his thing around him & even with Tana past his prime n' broken down, he still compliments ZSJ's style nicely. This wasn't epic or very memorable by any means - in a very blunt description I would call it a touring house show version of the very best Tanahashi vs. Sabre Jr. matches, but it's still a solid time. **3/4

Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
Now this was an awesome mid-card Tokyo Dome banger! Two young hungry guys going there & showing what they got with 10 minutes or so. Yota showed great personality in everything he did - all of his big moves hit with this great sense of swagger to 'em. Yuya's fieriness shone through as well, making this a really good showing for both. ***1/4

David Finlay vs. Jon Moxley vs. Will Ospreay
This was what it needed to be. A fast moving, action packed, exciting three way dance. Ospreay excels in matches like this, Moxley can do anything & Finlay found his role quite well in this dynamic. It's not exactly my type of a match, but I did find it consistently good. The 20+ minutes flew by, really. ***

Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada
This was beautiful. Bryan is out for revenge after he broke his arm in their first meeting, and the agenda is clear. He wants an eye for an eye. He goes after Okada's arm ruthlessly in the most vicious ways you could imagine; he stretches it with violent intentions, he kicks the shit out of it (his kicks seriously looked more vicious than usual), slams it around. It's the American Dragon special & he is doing it to the face of the company at their biggest show of the year. Saying it's a beautiful sight would be an understatement. When I was an angry teenager my big complaint about big Okada matches was that it always felt like the work before the finishing stretch felt like hollow filler, but here the work before the (excellent btw) finishing stretch was my favorite wrestler of all-time punishing the shit out of him while Okada himself delivers one of his finest selling performances? I mean come on. The post-match was absolutely amazing too. Felt big just like the match did. There is nothing like a classic match at the Tokyo Dome, and The Rainmaker vs. The American Dragon was a classic at the Tokyo Dome. ****3/4