After months of build-up, New Japan’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 is happening on Jan. 4. Can you believe Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega is happening on Thursday? Are you unsure how to watch it, and what else is happening on that show? Fear not: if you have questions, With Spandex has you covered.
What Is Wrestle Kingdom 12?
Wrestle Kingdom 12 is the twenty-seventh annual January 4 Tokyo Dome Show presented by New Japan Pro-Wrestling, though obviously only the twelfth show in that series since they started calling them “Wrestle Kingdom.” NJPW is the biggest wrestling promotion in Japan and second-largest in the world, and this is their equivalent to WrestleMania.
The card for Wrestle Kingdom 12 is absolutely stacked. It features incredible talent and some compelling feuds. A lot of them don’t even involve anyone from Winnipeg! Here’s a quick rundown of the three top matches at WK12.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. Jay White
In this singles match, Tanahashi, one of NJPW’s most decorated veterans, faces Jay White for the Intercontinental Championship. Tanahashi holds the record for most reigns as the IWGP Heavyweight Champion (seven) and is a two-time G1 Climax winner. This is the 41-year-old’s second Intercontinental Championship reign. Jay White, a 25-year-old New Zealander, returned to NJPW from Ring of Honor in November to challenge Tanahashi to this title match.
The home-grown champion vs. cocky young foreigner angle is complicated by the incorporation of Tanahashi’s legitimate knee injury into the storyline. It’s unclear whether it will affect his in-ring performance at Wrestle Kingdom 12, but Jay White targeted it in an attack in December, so it’s something to watch for.
IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Chris Jericho
If you’re a wrestling fan with access to the internet, there’s no way you haven’t already heard about this match. The international hype actually convinced NJPW to elevate it to half of a now-double main event. This no-DQ match pits Chris Jericho, who was friends-to-feuding with Kevin Owens less than one year ago, against current Bullet Club leader and six-star-match-haver Kenny Omega.
Y2J first challenged the Cleaner via video after his Power Struggle match in November, declaring the contest Alpha vs. Omega. Omega accepted, and Jericho escalated the feud with a surprise attack in last month. There was actual bloodshed! Then the two brawled again at a press conference the next day.
This will be Jericho’s first NJPW match in nearly two decades, and his first outside of the WWE since 1999. He’s been working a pretty dastardly heel angle here, but goshdangit if his dedication of the match to his “fallen brothers” Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit didn’t get me emotional.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
Wrestle Kingdom 12’s O.G. main event is the culmination of a years-long feud between Naito and “The Rainmaker” Okada. Okada was PWI’s No. 1 ranked wrestler of 2017 — the first Japanese wrestler ever to gain that position on their annual top 500 list. He’s currently in the midst of the longest-ever IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign. He was also the other half of that first-ever six star match. It’s safe to say he’s come a long way from his days as Samoa Joe’s sidekick in the Impact Zone.
The story of Okada and Naito started in 2013, when Naito, then a babyface, won the G1 Climax tournament, earning a shot at Okada’s title at Wrestle Kingdom 8. However, due to Naito’s unpopularity with fans, NJPW held a poll to determine whether this match would be the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 8. The fans voted Naito and Okada out of the slot, and Okada defeated Naito to retain the title.
Naito then left NJPW for CMLL in Mexico, where he joined the heel stable Los Ingobernables. He returned to NJPW with a new heelish scorn for the fans and that badass signature eye taunt. He now leads his own heel stable branch, Los Ingobernables de Japon, and ironically has a lot more fan support than when he was a babyface. This is his first time main eventing Wrestle Kingdom, and Okada’s fifth. So although this feud has less international hype, story-wise it’s probably the most compelling of the show.
The Rest Of The Card
Wrestle Kingdom 12 will also include:
- New Japan Rumble battle royale on the pre-show
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Roppongi 3K vs. The Young Bucks
- Gauntlet math for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship: Hot Topic moneymakers the Bullet Club (c) vs. Chaos vs. Michael Elgin and War Machine vs. Suzuki-gun vs. Taguchi Japan
- “American Nightmare” and grandson of a plumber Cody (last name unknown) vs. Kota Ibushi
- Hair vs. hair deathmatch for the NEVER Openweight Championship (Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Hirooki Goto)
- Four-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Marty Scurll (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Kushida vs. Will Ospreay
This sounds awesome! Where can I watch it?
You can stream Wrestle Kingdom 12 on New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s streaming site, NJPW World, starting at 5 PM in Japan (with a 4 PM pre-show) and 3 AM Eastern. (You can save yourself some googling and find all the start times in this handy tweet. Wrestle Kingdom 12 will also air on AXS on January 6, 8/7 central, with commentary by Jim Ross and Josh Barnett.
Have you listened to this week’s McMahonsplaining podcast?
[protected-iframe id=”d351ccf10412d0596af3438ef5fda585-60970621-10222937″ info=”https://omny.fm/shows/mcmahonsplaining/episode-21-deonna-purrazzo/embed?style=artwork” width=”100%” height=”180″ frameborder=”0″]
