Want more wrestling news, rumors, and results? Be sure to visit PWInsider.com and PWInsiderXtra.com.
From the Tokyo Dome, Japan:
Opening Matches:
1) Tomoaki Honma, Yuji Nagata and Togi Makabe vs. Jado, Gedo and Bad Luck Fale
Honma hits a Kokeshi on Gedo.
Honma pins Gedo.
2) Master Wato, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado
Wato goes for a sunset flip pin on Desperado. Desperado kicks out. Wato, with his legs still trapping Desperado's arms, grabs the head and neck and pulls Desperado into a submission hold.
Desperado taps out.
WOW! On the heels of his biggest win against his top rival on Night 1, Wato sneaks in a win against the Jr. Heavyweight Champion. Good for Wato as he gotten better especially during the Best of Super Junior 28. This will be a storyline going forward.
3) BUSHI, Shingo Takagi and Hiromu Takahashi vs. DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi
Takagi pins DOUKI with Last of the Dragon.
Main Card:
1) IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Tiger Mask and Robbie Eagles vs. Rocky Romero and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori
Wild start to the match. Phantasmo kicked Ishimori in the face by mistake. Everyone held down ELP and Eagles took off his boot. He pulled out a big piece of metal. The referee removed Bullet Club from the match and allowed the remaining teams to continue the match.
Eagles trapped Rocky in the Ron Miller Special. Rocky tapped out.
Tiger Mask and Robbie Eagles retain the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
2) Stardom Special Match: Starlight Kid and Mayu Iwatami vs. Saya Kamitani and Tam Nakano
Kamitani hits a Starcrusher on Starlight Kid then hit a Phoenix Splash.
Kamitani pins Starlight Kid.
Fun match. These women move with such speed. New Japan does not have female competitors so it was nice change of pace.
3) KOPW 2022 4-way Match: Minoru Suzuki vs. Chase Owens vs. Toru Yano vs. CIMA
Suzuki hit a Gotch piledriver on Yano. Suzuki pins Yano.
Minoru Suzuki wins the KOPW 2022 Trophy. He will defend the trophy throughout 2022.
After the match, Suzuki attacked Yano. Yano handcuffed Suzuki to the top rope. Yano escapes to the locker room. The young lions came in to help Suzuki and slapped them down. Ouch. They unlocked him and Suzuki grabbed his Trophy and stomped the young lions as he left.
4) NEVER 6-man Tag Championship Match: YOH, YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto, with Tomohiro Ishii vs. SHO, Yujiro Takahashi and EVIL, with Dick Togo
Crazy match as they attacked at the bell. Too much shenanigans in the match.
SHO hits YOH with the wrench while the referee was distracted.
SHO pins YOH.
House of Torture retains the NEVER 6-man Titles.
EVIL now leaves Wrestle Kingdom 16 with two titles.
Music plays and Keiji Mutoh leads his NOAH wrestlers to the ring. The NOAH wrestlers claimed that they will dominate New Japan and establish NOAH as the premier promotion in Japan.
5) SANADA vs. Great O-Khan
Aaron Henare came to ringside with O-Khan. Very competitive match, as one would expect between these two. O-Khan hit a moonsault which I was stunned to see. O-Khan went for an Eliminator but SANADA rolled up O-Khan in an O'Conner Roll.
SANADA pins O-Khan.
6) Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb
Naito was in trouble early. Cobb's power was impressive as he picked him up for a suplex then rammed him into the ringpost, then dropped him on the floor. Cobb picked up Naito for a vertical suplex in the ring, then pressed him in the air and threw him across the ring. Brutal. Naito fought back by attacking Cobb's legs. This limited the effect of Cobb's power. Cobb went for Tour of the Islands but he was hobbled. Naito hit a Valencia and followed with a Destino.
Naito pins Cobb.
Bummer. I thought Cobb should have won. It only took one Destino to put away Cobb. If Naito needed two or three Destinos to win, it would have made Cobb look stronger.
This just shows where United Empire is as compared to Los Ingobernales de Japon in the hierarchy of New Japan right now. One year ago, Cobb had an amazing match for the NEVER Championship with Shingo Takagi, which led to a good run in the G1 Climax and a feud with Kazuchika Okada. Hopefully in the coming months, Cobb will continue to look strong.
7) IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship No-DQ Match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. KENTA
Both men brought out all kinds of weapons. They battle with kendo sticks, chairs, tables and trash cans. KENTA even found his old red briefcase to hit Tanahashi again. KENTA brings in one of the tallest ladders that I have seen. KENTA had to screw the ladder together while Tanahashi just lay there. He put Tanahashi on a table and climbs the ladder. Tanahashi gets off the table and grabs the ladder. KENTA falls off the ladder and lands FACE FIRST on the mat. KENTA is bleeding from the face, either his eye or nose. Tanahashi puts KENTA on the table. Tanahashi climbs the ladder and hits a Super High Fly Flow.
Tanahashi pins KENTA.
Hiroshi Tanahashi wins the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship.
I did not care for this match. Too many weapons for wrestlers who do not need them. It was excessive and dangerous. KENTA could be really hurt right now. This was as close to a WWE Extreme Rules match as New Japan can get.
8) IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
Great O-Khan and Aaron Henare came to ringside with Ospreay. Both men were evenly match until they went to the floor. Okada tried a body press over the guardrail but Ospreay superkicked him in the face. Ospreay then climbed a steel support beam in the crowd then hit a moonsault onto Okada. This was a back and forth match. Both men know each other well. Ospreay hit Okada with all his moves. Okada kicked out of it all. Okada hit a sit down tombstone and finally a Rainmaker, the same sequence that he beat Takagi last night.
Okada pins Ospreay after the Rainmaker.
This was great match. Okada is a machine. He fought two wrestlers back to back who had different styles and beat them both.
Okada takes the mic and praises Ospreay. Tetsuya Naito comes to the ring. He challenges Okada for the World Title. Okada accepts the challenge.
Okada thanks the fans for all the support. He praises Antonio Inoki to get well and come see him soon. Okada got emotional as he continues to thank everyone who supports New Japan. He said he will continue to make it rain in 2022.
Final thoughts: Almost 10 hours of New Japan wrestling in 48 hours. Still one more night to come. It is a lot. Almost too much. There was a lot of extra 6-man matches that did not have to take place. They could have condensed it all into one good event and have it feel more important. Okada and Ospreay was the most memorable thing on Night 2. Everything else was forgettable. Five hours per show is too long. I do not know how COVID affected the planning of New Japan. No Kota Ibushi. No Jay White. No Jon Moxley. No Chris Jericho. Ren Narita but no Tom Lawlor. No Guerrilas of Destiny. Many wrestlers did double duty on both nights when there could have been a spot for someone else. With that said, New Japan is good at making changes and able to put storylines together that are solid even when major injuries or problems occur.
Thanks for reading.
If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!
Bang On Casino
