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NEW CHAMPIONS CROWNED, OSPREAY VS. OKADA, TANAHASHI, KENTA, MOXLEY ISSUES A WARNING & MORE: FULL NIGHT 1 NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 15 COVERAGE

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Great-O-Khan.

This should be an interesting experiment as the idea here is to make O-Khan a player.

Lots of amateur wrestling style takedowns from O-Khan early on.    Tanhashi grabbed a side headlock and wrenched it on.  O-Khan tried to rebound him off the ropes but was Tanahashi held on and brought him back to the mat.  They battled to the floor, where Tanahashi was sent into the ring post and battered across the back, dragged towards the entrance ramp.

Tanahashi was picked up and slammed.  He was nearly counted out but made his way back to the ring at the last second.  Tanahashi was worked over but began mounting a comeback.  He nailed a slingblade several times, followed by a flying forearm and came up as if his knees were hurting,.  He slammed O-Khan and came off the top with a somersault senton for a two count.  O-Khan came back with a big pump kick to the chest.

O-Khan nailed his double Mongolian chops to the neck and blasted Tanahashi down to the mat with a double strike.  He elevated Tanahashi into a flapjack DDT but Tanahashi kicked up.  O'Khan locked in a leg submission but Tanahashi made it to the ropes.   O-Khan went for a belly to belly suplex over the ropes to the floor but it either got flubbed or wasn't supposed to happen, so Tanahashi landed on the apron.  He hit the ring and nailed a big Slingblade for a two count.  Tanahashi went to the top for a frog splash but was grabbed with The Claw.

Tanahashi was dragged back into the ring and grabbed in an abdominal stretch while also caught in the claw.  Tanahashi was worn down, then hit with a back suplex for a close two count.  Tanahashi was nailed with a reverse suplex.  O-Khan grabbed a steel chair and teased doing the claw chokeslam on a chair.  Tanahashi escaped and went for a submission but O'Khan grabbed the claw again.  Tanahashi broke free and tossed the chair out of the ring.

Tanahashi nailed a Dragon suplex for a two count.  He went to the top for the frog splash across the back and nailed it.  He returned to the top and nailed another frog splash for the pin.

Your winner, Hiroshi Tanahashi!

This was OK.  They built a lot of heat on O-Khan to make Tanahashi earn the win and have it mean something.  If someone came into this expecting another Tanahashi classic, I don't know what they were expecting, but this was fine.

Kazuchika Okada vs Will Ospreay.

They went right after each other, tying up strong and muscling the other around the ring.  Opsreay was backed into the ropes and Okada broke clean.  Ospreay blasted him with a forearm and they went right at each other with punches.   Ospreay caught him in the corner and rained down with punches.  Ospreay came back with a dropkick that sent Ospreay to the floor.

Okada followed and sent him into the ring barricades.  Ospreay fought back and backed Okada into the barrier.  Okada returned to the ring but was drilled with a big boot to the face.  Ospreay was sent to the floor, where Okada nailed a flip dive to the floor.  Bea Priestley distracted Okada as he returned to the ring, setting him up for Opsreay to blast him back to the floor.  Ospreay pulled the padding from the floor.  He attempted a piledriver but Okada escaped and attempted to DDT Ospreay off the apron to the floor.  Okada was shoved backwards into the ring barrier.  Ospreay draped him on the apron and drilled Okada across the chest several times, then nailed a legdrop, sending him to the floor.

Ospreay continued to beat down Okada when he returned to the ring.   He set up Okada in the corner and nailed him with a series of chops.  He drilled Okada with an over the knee backbreaker for another two count.  Okada was locked in a rear chinlock but fired away with elbows to escape.  Ospreay charged but was kicked off.  Okada went for the Money Clip but Ospreay drilled him backwards into the corner to force the break.   

The battle continued.  Ospreay went for the Storm Breaker but Okada backdropped him.  Okada nailed him with Heavy Rain.  The story was that Okada was pulling out moves we haven't seen in some time to focus on Ospreay's back.  They fired back and forth with strikes while down on their knees.  Ospreay went to the top but was dropkicked off to the floor by Okada.

Ospreay was whipped into the barricade on the floor but blocked a running boot.  They battled back and forth on the floor.  Ospreay went for the OzCutter but was nailed with the dropkick in mid-air on the floor.  Okada tossed him back into the ring.  Okada nailed a big missile dropkick into the ring.    Okada went for the tombstone piledriver but Ospreay slipped out from behind.  Okada was trapped in the buckles and kicked in the head.  Ospreay nailed a reverse Bloody Sunday for a two count.

They went back and forth with a fun sequence that saw Ospreay nail a superkick and Code Red for a close two count.  Ospreay nailed a clothesline, propelling them both over the top to the floor.  He again went for a piledriver on the floor but Okada fought his way out and went for a tombstone on the floor.  Ospreay escaped and landed on the announcing tables.  They fought back and forth until Ospreay pulled Okada up over the barricades and suplexed him across the tables.

Okada was sent back into the ring and nailed with a dropkick off the top, then a powerbomb.  Okada kept kicking out at two.  He went for the OzCutter on the apron but Okada turned it into a tombstone on the apron.  They crashed to the floor.  Okada worked him over and nailed another tombstone, then locked in the Money Clip.  Bea Priestley got on the apron but was knocked to the floor.  The Money Clip was locked on again but Ospreay finally uses his feet to reach the ropes.

Okada stood over Ospreay and kicked him,  He yelled at Ospreay to take what was coming.  He drilled him with a deep elbow to the face.  Ospreay slapped him several times but was slammed down.  Ospreay fought back but was nailed with a series of forearms.  They battled on the top.  Ospreay was knocked to the floor but immediately rebounded with a big boot to the face.  He nailed Spanish Fly and nearly scored a three count.  He went for the OzCutter but was snatched in the Money Clip.  He escaped and nailed the OzCutter but Okada got the shoulder up at the last second.

Ospreay began stomping away on Okada's head and neck over and over, even shoving the referee away as he tried to intercede.  Ospreay set up for a running elbow but Okada dropkicked the hell out of him.  Ospreay avoided the Rainmaker and went to rebound off the ropes but was dropkicked again.  Okada nailed the Rainmaker and went for the Money Clip but Ospreay nailed the roaring elbow and hit Okada's own move, the tombstone on him.  Ospreay nailed a Rainmaker on Okada, who kicked up at the last second.  That was a hell of a near fall.

Okada escaped a Stormbreaker and nailed a sit-out tombstone, then a Rainmaker, scoring the pin.

Your winner, Kazuchika Okada!

Hell of a match.  They absolutely elevated Ospreay here as he fought to the very end with Okada.  Very damn good match.

Coverage concludes on Page 4!

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