New Japan Pro Wrestling
King of Pro-Wrestling 2015
October 12, 2015
Ryogoku Kokugikan
Tokyo, Japan
Watch: NJPWWorld.com

New Japan Pro Wrestling returns to the famed Ryougoku Sumo Hall for the fourth annual October spectacular NJPW King of Pro-Wrestling 2015. This year’s main event features the fifth and perhaps most important encounter between American import A.J. Styles and current IWGP Heavyweight Champion and the young ace of New Japan Pro Wrestling Kazuchika Okada. If Okada wins and Hiroshi Tanahashi retains his #1 contendership in the semi-main event against Tetsuya Naito, the Wrestle Kingdom 10 main event is all but sealed up. While Okada/Tanahashi is a familiar matchup for the hardcore New Japan fans, it makes all the sense in the world from a business and storyline perspective.

Elsewhere on the card, Tomohiro Ishii and Togi Makabe continue their endless battle over the NEVER Openweight Championship, Matt Sydal (the former Evan Bourne in WWE) looks to steal the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship from Bullet Club member Kenny Omega and Ring of Honor’s reDRagon (Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish) defend their IWGP Junior Tag Titles against Roppongi Vice (Rocky Romero & Baretta).

The biggest news for our American fans is not what’s on the card but rather how the card will be presented. For the first time on NJPW’s streaming service NJPW World, english commentary. Yes, if the Japanese-speaking commentators have previously been a barrier between you and New Japan Pro Wrestling, your argument is officially invalid! Ring of Honor play-by-play man and WWE alum Matt Striker will do the honors for the live broadcast — an unprecedented and perhaps historic event for NJPW’s business ventures. NJPW previously linked up with Jeff Jarrett’s Global Force Wrestling to co-promote Wrestle Kingdom 9 in English. The broadcast (which featured Striker as well as long-time WWE lead man Jim Ross) did well on traditional PPV leading New Japan to take the next step, cut out the middle man and present english language broadcasts on their service. If it’s a rousing success and Americans watch the show and subscribe in droves, expect to see more of it.

Let’s meet our preview team:

  • Rich Kraetsch (@VoicesWrestling): One of the founding members of Voices of Wrestling. Currently holds many roles on the site including co-hosting the weekly Voices of Wrestling podcast. Chances are if you see a post on the site, he’s had something to do with it at one point.
  • Joe Lanza (@JoeMLanza): Joe is an internationally acclaimed broadcast journalist. One of the founding members of Voices of Wrestling, frequent New Japan Pro Wrestling review, co-host of the weekly Voices of Wrestling podcast and author of the ultra-popular WWE Superstars reviews on this very site.
  • Bryan Rose (@br26): One of the longest running staff members of Voices of Wrestling, Bryan has held many roles including a former WWE Raw reviewer. Currently, Bryan pinch hits on New Japan Pro Wrestling reviews and is a frequent contributor to WWE live event previews and reviews.

David Finlay, Jay White, Juice Robinson, Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu vs. Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, Máscara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask

Rich Kraetsch: I’m going to love this opener. No, it won’t be very good but who doesn’t love a “okay, who’s left on the roster that we haven’t booked yet” vs. young boys match? Don’t expect anyone to stand out as the crunched nature of this match leads to everyone having only a minute or so to shine. Pay particular attention to Mascara Dorada who we talked about at length on our podcast two weeks ago. Dorada shows so much potential in these types of matches and routinely makes me wonder why they can’t or don’t do anything more with him.

Prediction: Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, Máscara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask

Joe Lanza: I like the idea of all of the young lions on one team against a team made up of veterans in the “let’s cram everybody on to the card” opener. It makes the outcome predictable, but it also gives the match a semblance of structure as opposed to “here are ten random guys and this couldn’t possibly be more meaningless”. And hey, Dorada will win! Maybe he’ll even score the fall! Shout out to Rich with his fancy computer skills, typing out the “a” with the little gimmick thing in “Mascara”. (Ed. Note: It was a Wikipedia copy job, so I can’t take credit – Rich)

Prediction: Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, Máscara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask

Bryan Rose: This’ll probably be a fun tag. The young lions always excel in the opener so this shouldn’t be bad at all. I was surprised we aren’t seeing a Tiger Mask/Liger NWA Jr. title match here, so I think the ending would revolve around one of those two, leading to a match at Power Struggle, so we’ll keep an eye on how they continue to build to it. I’m guessing one of the two, probably Tiger Mask, scores the win for their team.

Prediction: Jushin Thunder Liger, KUSHIDA, Máscara Dorada, Ryusuke Taguchi and Tiger Mask

Tomoaki Honma vs. YOSHI-HASHI

Rich Kraetsch: To find YOSHI-HASHI’s last non-tournament televised singles win you have to go all the way back to October of 2012 when he defeated the always-admirable Captain New Japan on Night 4 of the Road to Power Struggle tour. Will the losing continue or will YOSHI-HASHI finally hit a loose explosion on the glass ceiling? I’m going with the latter. There’s no upside to giving Honma a win here, especially after he lost to Yujiro at the finals of the G1. It looks all the more like win over Tomohiro Ishii was simply a goodwill gesture and there’s absolutely no plans to do anything of note with him. YOSHI-HASHI in an UPSET!

Prediction: YOSHI-HASHI

Joe Lanza: This match isn’t as random as people seem to think it is. YOSHI-HASHI is annoyed that Honma took his G1 spot this year, and has vowed to not only defeat Honma, but parlay his big win into NEVER GOLD. I’m not making any of this up, he really said these things, and it’s awesome. Giving everybody the undercard a real purpose is something ROH is doing better than anybody else right now, and it’s great to see something meaningful on a NJPW undercard that would typically be populated with a third multi-man match like the ones you see above and below. Everyone seems to think this is a layup for Honma, and I know beating Ishii at the G1 makes challenging Ishii a logical move (assuming Ishii beats Makabe later in the show), but I’m on TEAM LOOSE EXPLOSION and I’m picking the upset. If they want to do Honma/Ishii at Wrestle Kingdom, they still have time to set that up at Power Struggle.

Prediction: YOSHI-HASHI

Bryan Rose: It’s so weird to see a random singles match on a big card like this. It almost never happens these days! It should be a good bout, but I think it’s kind of obvious what the purpose of it is. Honma’s been picking up wins in tags lately, so the next natural step is to get a big PPV singles win. Of course, YOSHI-HASHI is a slightly better booked Miz at this point so it’s not a huge win in any sense. But it’s big in the fact that he could probably challenge whoever he wants later on in the show. I have a feeling we’ll see him challenge the winner of the Makabe/Ishii match, and that’ll be set for either Power Struggle or the Tokyo Dome. I assume we’ll see the latter since their first match was a match of the year candidate, so why not do the rematch on the biggest show of the year?

Prediction: Tomoaki Honma

Captain New Japan, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata and Kota Ibushi vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata

Rich Kraetsch: Gedo is just trolling American New Japan fans now, right? He has to be. This match has no other purpose but to make #PuroTwitter extremely angry when the team with perpetual choker Hirooki Goto and perpetually under pushed Shibata and Ibushi lose yet again. Sure, none of those four will take the pinfall (that honor will, of course, go to Captain New Japan) but that won’t stop the cries. That Gedo is quite the trickster, aint he?

Prediction: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata

Joe Lanza: I like the idea of booking Ibushi (and Goto, AND Shibata, for that matter) in this garbo match as a massive troll job on over emotional NJPW fans who are frustrated with the booking. The best part? They’re probably taking the L, because the Cap’n is on their team. Look, as I’ve said before, I’d like to see stronger (or really, more consistent) pushes for some of these guys as much as anyone else, but i’ll wait to see where they’re positioned on January 4 before I grab my torch & pitchfork and head over to Gedo’s house with the rest of you maniacs.

Prediction: Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata

Bryan Rose: This feels like filler, especially with Captain New Japan and Manabu Nakanishi involved. Goto, Shibata and Ibushi are all coming off big losses and are the three most pushed guys in this match so I assume one of them are getting the win. The Shibata/Naito feud seems like it’s not over yet so maybe we’ll see Shibata getting a win here and beating up Naito later to set up a match for Power Struggle.

Prediction: Captain New Japan, Hirooki Goto, Katsuyori Shibata and Kota Ibushi

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O’Reilly) (c) vs. Roppongi Vice (Baretta and Rocky Romero)

Rich Kraetsch: Last month’s Destruction tour proved that when given time and away from the multi-team trope, Junior Heavyweight Tag Title matches can be special. Destruction in Kobe’s reDRagon vs. TimeSplitters match gained traction in our September Match of the Month poll and for good reason, it was a god damn great match. If these teams can get more than 10 minutes, the formating of an actual back-and-forth, well-paced match can form. When these guys are packed into 10 minutes with three teams flying all over the place, nothing sticks. It’s just spot after spot, it does these great talents a tremendous disservice. The result is honestly more up in the air than it should be. I think reDRagon retains but I would not be shocked by a switch.

Prediction: reDRagon

Joe Lanza: Bryan Rose (below) might feel like he’s seen this match a ton of times, but he hasn’t. These two teams have never faced each other in a traditional 2 vs 2 tag team match in NJPW. reDRagon is 29-1 in straight 2 vs 2 tag team matches in New Japan rings (while currently riding a 29 match winning streak) making them one of the most protected acts in the company, and very likely the prolific tag team in New Japan history. A title change would shock no one, but i’ll ride the hot hand.

Prediction: reDRagon

Bryan Rose: This feels like such a boring match. It really isn’t going to be, because reDragon are one of the best teams in the world right now and RPG Vice are really good in their role. It just feels like I’ve seen it a ton of times already and I’m just ready to move on to something more interesting. Not sure what the purpose of a title switch would serve here, so I see reDragon retaining. Of course, I could be wrong because New Japan has a better idea than I do on what the future of this division is, but we’ll see. This is usually the time of the year where they add a new team into the equation so it’ll be interesting to see if a new team will challenge for the titles, or if the Super Jr. Tag Tournament will be won by someone new.

Prediction: reDragon

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Matt Sydal

Rich Kraetsch: LET THEM WORK! LET THEM WORK! Like Prince Devitt’s Junior Heavyweight reign a few years ago, I’m rooting for an immediate Red Shoes tossing Bullet Club to the back moment to let these two work without the crutch of interference and Bullet Club/North American shenanigans. Kenny Omega has really found his footing in New Japan and Matt Sydal has been absolutely killing it across the world since his WWE departure. Let these guys work and bask in the greatness.

Prediction: Kenny Omega

Joe Lanza: I’d like to see a relatively clean match. Is that too much to ask?

Prediction: Kenny Omega

Bryan Rose: This should be a really good match. Omega’s been great in his role as the top heel in the division. Sydal has also been consistently very good since his departure from WWE. I was shocked to see Omega win the title (with the lamest WWE-like finish possible) as it seemed like they were finally ready to give Kushida a long run with the title, but they have something in mind for the Tokyo Dome. With that, I don’t think Sydal is winning here. They’re going to have a great match, maybe even an excellent match, but I think Omega is retaining. Who he’ll challenge, or who will challenge him, I have no idea. There is no real direction right now with the title, so we’ll have to see what happens in the post-match.

Prediction: Kenny Omega

Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) vs. Kazushi Sakuraba, Shinsuke Nakamura and Toru Yano

Rich Kraetsch: There’s not a ton to sink your teeth into with this match but definitely keep an eye on the interactions between Karl Anderson and Shinsuke Nakamura ahead of their Power Struggle match.

Prediction: Bullet Club

Joe Lanza: The obvious theme here is Anderson likely pinning Nakamura to set the scene for the Power Struggle. I’m more curious about the future of Sakuraba, who is scheduled for a real fight on New Year’s Eve. Could he be ready for a fake fight on a quick turnaround three days later for Wrestle Kingdom?

Prediction: Bullet Club

Bryan Rose: This is New Japan Booking 101 where a team captained by the challenger faces the champion. It should be fine, but probably not all that interesting. Anderson is the one challenging for Nakamura’s title, probably at Power Struggle, so he’s probably getting the win here. Not too much more to say about it, just will be another in a long line of six man filler matches.

Prediction: Bullet Club

NEVER Openweight Championship
Togi Makabe (c) vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Rich Kraetsch: This will mark the 62nd time Ishii and Makabe have been in a New Japan ring together this year — that’s counting tags, singles match, house shows, etc. To be more fair, it’ll be the fourth singles match for these two. In normal circumstances, we’d be lauding this as a great series of matches, a well-built, year-long feud that’s finally reached it’s boiling point as we wind down the year. Instead, this match feels like a punch in the gut with each match between the two getting progressively more boring and monotonous. Worse yet, the series is at 3-0 with Makabe winning all previous matches, why the hell is this happening? Why did the NJPW Booking Committee give this loser Ishii another chance?! Ugh. Another …feather? in the cap of this putrid pairing is the stranglehold these two have had on the previously entertaining NEVER Openweight Championship: in the last 606 days of the title only 107 have featured a different man (YUJIRO!) holding the title. There was also less than a day when the title was vacant. Please make it stop.

Prediction: Tomohiro Ishii

Joe Lanza: It bothers me that they made this match, and it’ll bother me when Ishii wins.

Prediction: Tomohiro Ishii

Bryan Rose: BLEH. I’ll never want to see this match again after it happens for like the fourth time this year. This match is the representation of all the samey booking New Japan has done all year and probably should be called out more for. It’s funny I say that, because with that said it’ll most likely be a very good match. I’m guessing Ishii takes the title here, as it makes the most sense, then Honma will come out to challenge and that’ll be our next NEVER title program.

Prediction: Tomohiro Ishii

IWGP Heavyweight Championship Challenge Right Certificate
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tetsuya Naito

Rich Kraetsch: Though in the end I see little chance of Naito winning, the energy in the building should be insane as I fully expect Naito to take Tanahashi to his absolute limit. Expect quite a few “oh my god, Naito is winning the briefcase” moments throughout. Naito is going to use every trick in the book to get the main event that was taken away from him two years ago but it won’t be enough to topple Tanahashi. Or will it?! No, it won’t but that’d be pretty cool, huh?

Prediction: Hiroshi Tanahashi

Joe Lanza: If they wanted to surprise people and shake things up for Wrestle Kingdom, this would be the match to do it, as opposed to the main event. Naito has a ton of momentum, and the expected loss here won’t hurt him one bit, but oddly, low blowing his way to the Wrestle Kingdom main event would send him to that show with more juice than his G1 win did a couple of years ago. It isn’t happening, but it’s an idea worth kicking around a bit.

Prediction: Hiroshi Tanahashi

Bryan Rose: This’ll be an interesting match. The way Naito works these days, with the cheating and heel tactics, he isn’t setting out to have the classic matches that he used to. Tanahashi always works his ass off to have an excellent match whenever he’s in a singles bout. I think this’ll be a great match, but it’ll be interesting to see how it works out. Tanahashi’s headlining Wrestle Kingdom so I don’t see him losing here.

Prediction: Hiroshi Tanahashi

IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. A.J. Styles

Rich Kraetsch: Whereas I’m dreading yet another Makabe/Ishii NEVER Title, I’m absolutely salivating over these two (Okada & Styles) fight one another for the fifth time in a little over two years. The key difference, Okada and Styles have made every subsequent match of their better than the last. After somewhat of a dud in Styles’ first major match (Wrestling Dontaku 2014), these two have had undeniable chemistry and this King of Pro-Wrestling main event should be the pinnacle. The story of Okada bringing the IWG Heavyweight Champions back to the Tokyo Dome and avenging his loss to Tanahashi at last year’s event just makes too much sense from both a business and story end. Regardless of the somewhat predictable finish, this should be nothing short of greatness and anything less than a Match of the Year contender will have me extremely disappointed.

Prediction: Kazuchika Okada

Joe Lanza: These guys are so good, and have such great chemistry together, that anything less than a Match of the Year contender will be a genuine letdown. This is a match that people have had circled on their hypothetical calendars (do people still own physical calendars?) since the day it was announced, even though the outcome is hardly in doubt.

Prediction: Kazuchika Okada

Bryan Rose: These two have had excellent matches in the past. This’ll probably be no different. Styles has proven himself to be one of the best workers in the world and Okada is right up there with him. In other words, they’ll tear the house down. I don’t see Okada losing here unless they have a new idea for the Tokyo Dome. If they want to make the most money though, the natural pick is Okada and Tanahashi to headline the Dome, probably with Okada winning since that tells a nice story of him finally getting a win after Tanahashi has pinned him twice in Wrestle Kingdom matches. I say Okada wins here, then next month Styles challenges Nakamura, and that’ll be our top two matches for Wrestle Kingdom 10.

Prediction: Kazuchika Okada