During the late 2010s, I couldn’t get enough of New Japan Pro Wrestling. This was a period of very poor WWE creative, so NJPW for me as a grapple fan was a breath of fresh air, providing a well structured and exciting product with a sports based narrative that also threw in some eccentric and fun characters. Sadly, around 2020 the company was badly damaged by the global Covid epidemic, and in subsequent years they had fallen victim to static booking, injuries, and their top talent leaving for other companies seeking better pay.
But in the last couple of years, NJPW has seen more tighter booking and deeper investment in its younger talent, and now they’re in a bit of a transitioning period. Every January 4th since 1989, New Japan has held their annual blowoff super show in the Yomuiri Giants’s home venue, Tokyo Dome, in what has served as essentially their WrestleMania equivalent. We’ve got over 45,000 in the building tonight, their largest number since the farewell show of company founder Antonio Inoki in 1996 and their inter promotional work with UWFI and WCW.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, their top performer throughout most of the 21st-century is at the end of his final year and he’s retiring on this show, which admittedly is a good reason as to why they sold out the Tokyo Dome for the first time after the glory years of the 1990s. Were they able to stick the landing and deliver a product that promises bright and exciting shows ahead, especially since they are looking to revive their international expansion business? Let’s find out.
Six-Man Tag Ranbo
Shota Umino, on a team with fellow young stars Kaisei Takeuchi and Yuya Uemura, has fallen quite a bit on the card as he was the previous co-main eventer last year, losing to Zack Sabre Jr. I know he gets a ton of flack and people think he sucks and he’s dorky, but I’m always supportive of an unironic baby face character, so I’m still rooting for him on his “second chapter.” However, he and the good boys quickly get out popped and shown up by cool heels Yuto-Ice and Clark Connors, who get a bit more crowd support.
YOH is a stand out in this match, who has developed more of a manic and comedic edge to his character since his days in the junior tag division. Currently he’s imitating his mentor Toru Yano, still a great comedy wrestler in his own right, and YOH apes his act almost beat for beat. This isn’t enough to stop ZSJ to eventually grabbing a clutch pin on Boltin Oleg, earning another championship for himself and his fellow TMDK members.
IWGP Women’s Championship/Women’s STRONG Championship: Syuri vs Saya Kamitani
So I was a bit familiar with some of Syuri’s work and I like her well enough, but Kamitani blew me away in this match. Everything about Saya screams “ future crossover star” to me, she just feels like a total package and I would not be shocked if WWE starts showing interest in her over the next few years (her blue thunder bomb rivals Sami Zayn’s). So yeah, these two definitely set out to innovate women’s Japanese wrestling on a major male dominated show and I think they succeeded.
Syuri’s armbar is absolutely brutal and I was convinced that was the finish when she broke it out. There’s just near fall after near fall in this match and it reminded me a lot of the kind of style of wrestling you would see in the 1990s All Japan women scene, that same sort of relentlessness. A Death Valley Driver variation eliminates Kamitani to make Syuri a double champion. Very hard hitting affair from both competitors here, as they were seeking to steal the show (or at least the early part of it) with what time they were allotted.
Special Ten Man Tag Match: Hiromu Takahashi, Gabe Kidd, Shingo Takagi, Drilla Maloney and David Finley vs. Great O-Khan, Andrade El Idolo, Callum Newman and “X”
David Finley has a giant toy minigun with him, and sadly they couldn’t get one to fire out some blanks but I can see how that’d have been costly and a bit dangerous perhaps. The United Empire’s mystery partner is Jake Lee, an especially nasty heel who came to prominence in rival promotions like AJPW and Noah. His walk out music is weirdly low key by pro wrestling standards- it reminds me of how Shawn Michaels used to come out to “Rhapsody In Blue” and WWF had to switch to the (iconic) rock song “Sexy Boy” to fit HBK’s faster wrestling style better.
While I’m not the biggest fan of Andrade character or interview wise (I think he can be a bit one note in those departments), he’s always impressive in the ring and he seems like he’d fit well in a more in-ring oriented company like New Japan (and hopefully with a manager or mouthpiece).
Shortly after Shingo spends some time fending off an assault from O’Khan and Henare, followed by a fun Drilla showcase, Hiromu getting an awesome superplex spot off the top rope and mugging for the camera running around the ring triumphantly, it ends with Jake Lee kicking him in the head twice for the pin I get they’re trying to put Jake Lee over, but that is insanely anti-climatic.
Four way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship’s #1 contendor spot: Kosei Fujita vs Taiji Ishimori vs SHO vs El Desperado
The reigning juniors champion DOUKI is more than happy to let his four potential competitors rip each other apart. I can’t help but laugh as while the other three are trying to out aura-farm the others during their entrances, SHO comes out looking like a complete nutjob in a hoodie that looks like something Juri from Street Fighter would wear and a TitanTron that calls everyone in the arena “bumpkins”. As you might imagine, the match opens with the others beating the absolute piss out of SHO and briefly throwing him out.
While much of this match is the usual fun and fast junior’s division excitement you would come to expect, there is a ton of interference from members of the factions- goons from TMDK and the House of Torture run in to help SHO and Fujita gain advantages.
Soon, SHO gets caught off guard and Desperado is able to hit him with Pinche Loco for the victory and #1 contender spot. DOUKI loses his shit at ringside and Despy shouts threats at him to my great amusement.
Just a quick note; the crowd isn’t *dead* for the opening four matches, they’re still clearly enjoying the show, but they’re mainly here for the last three matches (particularly the Tanahashi finale) and they get notably louder at this stage.
NEVER Openweight Championship: EVIL vs Aaron Wolf
One thing that I find interesting about New Japan is how so many storylines tend to revolve around wrestling styles -notably, this one with Olympic gold medalist and rookie signee Aaron Wolf. It’s focused on resident bully and former three-belt IWGP champion EVIL’s refusal to take him seriously, and Wolf being put off by the House of Torture’s underhanded tactics. But EVIL isn’t just a brawler who only falls back on cheating and weapons- Wolf quickly learns that his first rival is still a dangerous strong style power wrestler once the bell rings.
Wolf is able to get a decent early flurry, but EVIL quickly takes advantage and nails Wolf with an assisted chair shot on the ramp, laughing maniacally at the camera. After a few near falls and then pretty much getting mauled by the H.O.T, Aaron Wolf manages to hook EVIL into a submission hold for the win and the NEVER Championship…in his first official match.
At first glance, it looks as if this finish might damage EVIL’s credibility, but keep in mind that NJPW has a history of promoting Olympic caliber athletes to emphasize a sense of believability in the company narrative, so I was fine with this. Wolf lost the advantage often but he relied on his judo skills, got the hold he needed, and secured the victory. It makes sense.
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship/Global Championship: Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji
Speaking of those unique storytelling approaches in New Japan, here’s a conflict revolving around title lineage and how important tradition should be. Tsuji, one of the company’s “three musketeer” young stars alongside Umino and Ren Narita, is like a number other NJPW fans who think that the world heavyweight belt sucks and they want the design of the old IWGP heavyweight belt and it’s timeline to return.
On the other side, you have Konosuke as the defending champion, multi-promotion star who feels Tsuji is living in the past and considers himself the guy who lead NJPW into the future properly. As entertaining as I find Konosuke on AEW television with Don Callis (the guy’s crazy bell to bell and he’s an underrated talker), I have to side with the NJPW commentators in them stating that NJPW badly needs a win against “outsider talent”, which is how the New Japan fandom has branded Konosuke as the champion. Also, Tsuji’s Humphrey Bogart gear for his Marlowe pudding sponsorship is pretty boss.
It’s deceptive how much power Konosuke has behind his attacks, because were this still in the Hogan-inspired 80s, he would be considered a smaller heavyweight. However in this era, he feels like even more of a beast , so him dominating a larger wrestler like Tsuji doesn’t look all that unbelievable to me. Likewise, Tsuji’s athleticism for his size has to be considered, because he’s pulling out flying head scissors, Canadian destroyers and dives over the top rope in this thing.
The match starts off slowly but picks up the pace rapidly in the second half, and Konosuke can’t believe that his top rope blue thunder bomb wasn’t enough to put Tsuji away. That quickly becomes the least of his worries after Tsuji eventually smashes him with a Gene Blast spear and locks in the Boston crab for the win and his first world championship.
I’m a fan of both guys, but this was definitely the correct booking decision, as NJPW is desperately going to need its own “QB1” type character in the post Tanahashi and Okada years ahead. Jake Lee isn’t willing to let Tsuji get any rest though, quickly attacking the new champion in a bid to get signed as his first challenger.
Hiroshi Tanahashi’s Retirement Match: Kazuchika Okada vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
I’m sorry, but I still miss Okada’s old theme. I get that he needed a change and the new one goes hard, but the first Rainmaker theme had that memorable riff to it. As banged up as he is physically, Tanahashi looks unbelievably young for his age and experience level. Not a surprise he was such a heartthrob with female fans for so many years. Oh, and I’m pretty damn sure Okada watched the Gunther/Cena match. Both him and Tana, probably. These two always gel well together, as Tanahashi’s comeback heavy approach fits Okada’s more methodical style like a glove.
Tana knows that this is his final time to show out so he pulls out a crossbody and some other cool exciting spots, still keeping pace with his long time foil Okada as he tries to muster as much “Never Give Up” spirit as he’s got left. He’s got his own style of tributes to formal rivals and contemporaries, using Katsuyori Shibata’s Sleeper into Penalty Kick, and Shinsuke Nakamura’s bomaye knee.
Instead of his classic Rainmaker pose, Okada instead flips the 45K Tokyo Dome fans the bird, much like he did to me when he and AEW came to St. Louis. It looks like he’s enjoying playing the villain, but you know this is an emotional moment for him. And even after he hits Tanahashi with a final Rainmaker lariat for the win, he gives the ace of the universe his respect and thanks him.
It’s striking to me how different Tana’s retirement run was so different philosophically from the Cena tour. That US- based campaign was meant to surprise fans and shake up their sensibilities, while NJPW was focused on simply celebrating what he meant to the company during his career. While he has gotten mixed reactions at some points, there wasn’t any sort of heel turn in 2025, or crazy booking decisions or serious title runs. Just a few select matches with top level opponents and up-and-coming stars, one last match at the Tokyo Dome, and tributes from various legends and wrestlers- some contracted with other companies that he faced over the years (Kenny Omega, Keiji Mutoh, Tetsuya Naito, Jay White, etc). Tana’s last year in-ring was both sincerely moving, and yet fairly conservative booking wise.
So do I think the show accomplished its goal? Yeah, I’d say so. It’s an ideal tribute to one of the promotion’s most consequential figures, and a good jumping off point to introduce new fans to the rising talent. This is a more truncated Wrestle Kingdom than normal because of television time limits for NJPW sponsors, but it still gets the job done, especially for anyone who’s even casually followed Tanahashi’s industry-changing career. Maybe sometimes it really is better to keep things simple.
