Wrestle Kingdom week in Japan has turned into a hotspot for puroresu, so with most—but not all, looking at you Sendai Girls—shows available to watch now, it seemed like a good time to count down the top 25 matches of the week. More than a dozen promotions ran shows as the kickoffs to the new year, so if you’ve only followed the Japanese wrestling scene through New Japan Pro Wrestling up until now, this would be a good time to give some other promotions a chance.
Honorable Mentions (unordered):
- Masanobu Fuchi, TAJIRI & The Great Sasuke vs. Abdullah Kobayashi, Frank Atsushi & Great Kojika – AJPW 1/2 (comedy)
- Susumu Yokosuka vs. Koji Iwamoto – AJPW 1/2
- Kazumi Kikuta, Kohei Sato & Ryuichi Kawakami vs. Fuminori Abe, Takuya Nomura & Yasufumi Nakanoue – BJW 1/2
- Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito – NJPW 1/4
- Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANDA – NJPW 1/5
- Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno vs. Kazuki Hirata & Keisuke Ishii – DDT 1/5
- Kaho Kobayashi vs. Yuu – Oz Academy 1/5
Now… onto the list!
#25 – Abdullah Kobayashi (c) vs. Takumi Tsukamoto – BJW Death Match Heavyweight Title 222 Fluorescent Lighttubes Death Match from BJW New Year’s Death Match on 1/2 (made tape 1/11)
Watch: Samurai! TV
Abdullah Kobayashi is a guy that has failed to peak very highly for me in the past couple years, but this was up there for his best performance recently. Being live in Korakuen Hall for this one was loads of fun, and being able to watch the lighttube dust rise throughout the historic building is a bucket list item I’d recommend any puro fan do. They did some creative spots with an absurd amount of lighttubes, and while it didn’t peak as high as Tsukamoto’s title challenges against Masashi Takeda or Masaya Takahashi, this main event is certainly worth checking out.
#24 – Masashi Takeda & Yuko Miyamoto (c) vs. Shinjiro Otani & Shoki Kitamura – NWA Intercontinental Tag Team Title Match from ZERO1 Happy New Year on 1/1 (made tape 1/9)
Watch: Samurai! TV
Hey! Masashi Takeda is not only a deathmatch wrestler! Takeda has been one of my favorite guys in the world for a while now, and him getting a chance to shine alongside fellow deathmatch wrestler Yuko Miyamoto in ZERO1’s tag division has been fun to see. This match revolved around the dynamics between the veteran, Shinjiro Otani, and his pupil, young boy Shoki Kitamura. The team told a simple yet effective story while still wrestling a great match against the outsiders. Check this out.
#23 – Sareee vs. Natsumi Maki from TJP Tokyo Joshi Pro ’20 on 1/4
Watch: DDT Universe
Sareee will be disappearing off the face of the earth to go to Winter Park, Florida soon, but she had one last hurrah in Tokyo Joshi Pro, going out with a win over the rising Natsumi Maki. This was the intense type of match that few outside of Sareee bring to the table, with hard strikes and killer Germans, I’d say it is well worth checking out, especially if you enjoyed Sareee’s hyped stuff from 2019.
#22 – Shunma Katsumata vs. MAO from DDT New Year Special 2020! on 1/3
Watch: DDT Universe
This was MAO’s return match from his excursion to Europe, and while it may just come across as another goofy MAO match on tape, to me in the building it was loads of fun. MAO is one of the best out there in terms of connecting with the crowd, and he did a great job here again ALL OUT’s Shunma Katsumata. The two worked at a crazy, frenetic pace with lego spots and crazy flips, a super fun match to watch even if you aren’t into DDT.
#21 – Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 In Tokyo Dome – Day 2 on 1/5
Watch: NJPW World
This one will draw some controversy, but I really enjoyed this! Seeing Kota Ibushi’s killer strikes live was great, and the Jay White interference bullshit kind of worked for me here, as it got the crowd invested in what was an otherwise meaningless match. A simple, clear story that worked with the crowd, what else could you want?
#20 – Masato Tanaka vs. Chris Brookes from DDT New Year Special 2020! on 1/3
Watch: DDT Universe
The result of this match was never really in doubt with Masato Tanaka being on a collision course with KO-D Openweight Champion HARASHIMA, but boy did these two get Korakuen Hall onto the edge of their seats. The two worked a fun, main event style match with lots of big spots and kickouts. A great, great match that you should definitely see before watching the ZERO1 representative challenge for DDT’s top title later this month.
#19 – Miyako Matsumoto vs. Chris Brookes – Gake No Fuchi New Year Hardcore Match from Gake No Fuchi Joshi Pro Wrestling Snow White 2020 on 1/4
Watch: DDT Universe
The most unique match of Wrestle Kingdom week checks in at #19 on this list: Gake No Fuchi’s “New Year Hardcore Match.” VOW contributor Taylor Maimbourg best described this as “40 minutes of a comedy match followed by 15 minutes of a wild deathmatch” and… yeah. This was super enjoyable from start to finish and featured a wild closing stretch with ladders and tables and blood! Super unique and well worth checking out despite the time investment.
#18 – CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & Shingo Takagi) from NJPW New Year Dash !! 2020 on 1/6
Watch: NJPW World
I mean, I don’t know what you want me to say. This was four big dudes running into each other at extremely high speeds. It was a ton of fun. Watch it.
#17 – Kohei Sato vs. Towa Iwasaki from ZERO1 Happy New Year on 1/1 (made tape 1/9)
Watch: Samurai! TV
This was a classic veteran vs rookie story, with Towa Iwasaki stepping up to what has essentially been his career rival to this point and being stifled at every turn. This one didn’t quite reach the levels of their epic Fire Festival encounter, but as the first match that I watched in 2020, it was a super fun, hard-hitting affair with an easy to follow story that continued the development of Iwasaki, one of my favorite rising stars in puro.
#16 – Maki Ito (c) vs. Hikari Noa – International Princess Title Match from TJP Tokyo Joshi Pro ’20 on 1/4
Watch: DDT Universe
This is a match that I’ll probably be the high man on, but it was really, really good! It felt like an absolute struggle between these two ladies fighting for a title in front of a packed house at Korakuen – that’s what wrestling is! You can watch this match and you’d think that this was the most important belt in wrestling the way these two worked it, I loved it from start to finish, and it blew away my expectations, check it out.
#15 – DAMNATION (Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao) (c) vs. Nautilus (Naomi Yoshimura & Yuki Ueno) – KO-D Tag Team Title Match from DDT New Year Special 2020! on 1/3
Watch: DDT Universe
This capped off what was a full day of wrestling on 1/3 for me between All Japan and this DDT show, and boy did it cap it off with a bang. Daisuke Sasaki & Soma Takao were one of the best tag teams in the world in 2019, and so while it was a shame to see their title run end here, they did it in what was a great, fast-paced match with an incredible closing stretch against two young up and comers.
#14 – AXIZ (Go Shiozaki & Katsuhiko Nakajima) (c) vs. Masaaki Mochizuki & Naomichi Marufuji – GHC Tag Team Title Match from NOAH In Korakuen Hall Day 2 – REBOOT on 1/5
Watch: Samurai! TV
This was the main event of NOAH’s mystery vortex style show on 1/5, with Masaaki Mochizuki being the big surprise. Mochi and Marufuji are still two of the best in the world despite their ages, and they worked with AXIZ, the best tag team of 2019, to put on what has been (to date) the best tag team match of 2020. The finish helped plant some seeds of tension in between AXIZ with new GHC champion Go Shiozaki’s overconfidence spoiling the win for his team, so it is a big match to watch for not just the in-ring action but also the story as well, as NOAH started 2020 with a soft reboot, as the show was named.
#13 – Kagetora vs. Hikaru Sato – AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title Tournament Semi Final Match from AJPW New Years Wars 2020 Day 1 on 1/2
Watch: AJPW.tv
Hikaru Sato is one of my favorite juniors going right now. His style is just exactly what I want out of wrestling, and he worked a fun grapple and strike heavy match here against Kagetora, a match that got Korakuen Hall on its feet in applause after the conclusion of the match. They worked stiff, and with some fun submission work, and this comes highly, highly recommended.
#12 – KENTA (c) vs. Hirooki Goto – NEVER Openweight Title Match from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 In Tokyo Dome – Day 2 on 1/5
Watch: NJPW World
Hey, this rocked. Hirooki Goto in the Tokyo Dome never fails to deliver; he put in an awesome performance here against a motivated KENTA, and the result we got was one of the best matches of the week. This was hard-hitting, fun, and gave the crowd the happy ending it wanted. Check it out.
#11 – Takashi Sugiura (c) vs. Masa Kitamiya – GHC National Title Match from NOAH In Korakuen Hall Day 1 – NEW SUNRISE on 1/4 (made tape 1/14)
Watch: G+
This was another match in a very similar vein to KENTA-Goto, two big guys hitting the shit out of each other but doing it at an electric, quick pace without it feeling forced. Takashi Sugiura is still somehow one of the best in the world despite his age, and if he is going to continue putting in awesome performances like this in the semi-main spot, NOAH is going to have a great year.
#10 – Daichi Hashimoto (c) vs. Yuji Okabayashi – BJW Strong World Heavyweight Title Match from BJW New Year’s Death Match on 1/2 (made tape 1/11)
Watch: Samurai! TV
Daichi Hashimoto takes his lumps from me from time to time, but he delivered here. Granted, most of this match was just Okabayashi beating the everliving shit out of him and Daichi screaming, but still. The crowd was incredibly invested in this one, way more than I would’ve thought, and the winner was in doubt from start to finish which kept me on the edge of my seat. A quintessential great world title match.
#9 – HAYATA (c) vs. Yoshinari Ogawa – GHC Junior Heavyweight Title Match from NOAH In Korakuen Hall Day 1 – NEW SUNRISE on 1/4 (made tape 1/14)
Watch: G+
This match has gotten enough hype from others, but oh boy do you need to check this out. This was Ogawa (who is 52!!!) brutalizing the knee of HAYATA from the jump, then losing his control, firing back up, and winning the title in the big spot in front of a sold-out, rowdy Korakuen Hall. This was just fundamental pro wrestling at its finest, and a must-watch from the week.
#8 – Yuji Hino (c) vs. Yuji Okabayashi – ZERO1 World Heavyweight Title Match from ZERO1 Happy New Year on 1/1 (made tape 1/9)
Watch: Samurai! TV
The “WG” tag team imploded here over the ZERO1 title in the main event of their big New Year show, and it was amazing. These two took beefy wrestling to the next level, with crazy chop and lariat exchanges all around Korakuen Hall. At one point Hino had his eyelid bust open, but he powered through to finish the epic match and retain his title.
#7 – Will Ospreay (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 In Tokyo Dome – Day 1 on 1/4
Watch: NJPW World
This was a wildly fun, fast-paced match with a masterful closing stretch. It was so much fun to see Hiromu back in a New Japan ring, and the near-falls towards the end of this one were some of the best of the weekend, the first half of the match just didn’t quite grab me at the level to call this a match of the year contender, but it was a quite special match between two of the best in the world today.
#6 – Chris Jericho vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 In Tokyo Dome – Day 2 on 1/5
Watch: NJPW World
The Jericho schtik either annoys the shit out of me or I love it, and it really hit here. Being in the building and hearing how invested the crowd was in the ace getting his comeuppance on the outsider was a ton of fun to see, and the drama when Jericho had Tanahashi stuck in the Liontamer was beat out only by the next match on this list. A great pro wrestling match between two all-time legends, I just don’t want to see it lost in the shuffle on this amazing weekend.
#5 – Susumu Yokosuka vs. Hikaru Sato – AJPW World Junior Heavyweight Title Match from AJPW New Years Wars 2020 Day 2 on 1/3
Watch: AJPW.tv
Ok, this was awesome. Just beautiful grappling and submission work and stiff strikes throughout. The extended armbar spot as Yokosuka stretched to break the hold and escape from Sato was masterclass stuff that had Korakuen screaming on the edge of its seat. The closing stretch was awesome too. My type of match done to near-perfection. Watch this now!! PLEASE!
#4 – Kento Miyahara (c) vs. Jake Lee – Triple Crown Title Match from AJPW New Years Wars 2020 Day 2 on 1/3
Watch: AJPW.tv
Hey, Jake Lee is good, actually. I don’t think the guy is a star, or ready to hold the Triple Crown, but he’s a really, really good pro wrestler, and minus a few minor botches here, he worked an awesome match against the best wrestler in the world that built to a high-drama closing stretch with a ton of kick-outs and reversals. He might not ever be the guy, but Lee showed a ton of fire here and Korakuen was invested in this one from start to finish. I’ll never forget the guy next to me screaming his head off for the champion as Lee tossed Kento to the outside, unloading on with him with kicks, dumping his head onto the apron. This was great stuff. GET INTO IT. JAKE LEE IS GOOD. The first MOTYC of 2020, but it wouldn’t be the leader for very long.
#3 – Kaito Kiyomiya (c) vs. Go Shiozaki – GHC Heavyweight Title Match from NOAH In Korakuen Hall Day 1 – NEW SUNRISE on 1/4 (made tape 1/14)
Watch: G+ (or… other methods)
Um… this rocked. Kaito Kiyomiya is a guy that I think has frankly gotten some unfair criticism on this very site. For a little while, I was in full agreement that he wasn’t ready and NOAH needed to change, his title win and first few title defenses (save Kenoh) underdelivered, but by midway thru 2019, he figured it out and was a legit ace over with the NOAH crowd. With him as champion, NOAH blew everyone’s expectations out of the water at Osaka EDION #1, and then again with him in the main event in NOAH’s return to Sumo Hall. Kaito figured it out, and he had the best match of his life here in front of a sold out Korakuen Hall head to head with Wrestle Kingdom against Go Shiozaki (WHO FUCKING RULES). This one had me from start to finish, and the closing stretch was just beautiful. Give this a watch even if you’re not into NOAH because this rocked.
#2 – Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kota Ibushi – IWGP Heavyweight Title Match from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 In Tokyo Dome – Day 1 on 1/4
Watch: NJPW World
The best match of 1/4 was not Go-Kaito though, it was Okada-Ibushi. This match went really long, but frankly, I didn’t get the complaints of a boring first 15 minutes, and I do get that with Okada sometimes. Perhaps it is because Kota Ibushi is my favorite guy in New Japan, but I was invested in this from bell to bell. The murder Kota sequence was amazing, the finisher kick-outs got me, Kota’s last gasp reversal after being hit with seemingly a million rainmakers. This was pro wrestling at its finest. A must watch match that would be the match of the year front runner in any year if not for…
#1 – Kazuchika Okada (c – HW) vs. Tetsuya Naito (c – IC) – IWGP Heavyweight Title / IWGP Intercontinental Title Match from NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 In Tokyo Dome – Day 2 on 1/5
Watch: NJPW World
The story. The atmosphere. The crowd. The stage. The titles. The match. The callbacks. The drama. The 1,2,3. And holy shit… that pop. This was the perfect pro wrestling match, without a shadow of a doubt the best match I’ve ever seen live and one of the greatest matches of all time. Words can’t do it justice, but if any could, it would probably be this article from VOW’s Joel Abraham, so read that, and also, watch the match, even if you’ve already seen it, even if you’ve already seen it four times like John Carroll. This was perfection. This is what pro wrestling should be. This is what pro wrestling is.
