Ladies and gentlemen, after much wait and much hype, the time has come! New Japan Pro Wrestling brings you Wrestle Kingdom 14 – two days of it, in fact! The WrestleMania equivalent of Japan’s biggest promotion becomes all the bigger, starting tonight! This is sure to be one of the most incredible weekends in wrestling history! I’m Jordan Huie of the Overtimer and I’ll be here with my coverage of the shows as they happen!
With all my duties covering WWE and AEW I haven’t really had much time to talk about New Japan this past year, but I am a massive fan and I can’t let a stop at the Tokyo Dome go by without getting in on it! So let’s take a look at what we have on tap for Night 1!
IWGP Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
And here’s the big one. The other side of the coin here in this double main event scenario. In this unique, almost tournament semi-final scenario, the winner here will go on to headline the second of Wrestle Kingdom 14 as well. They will go up against the winner of the White/Naito IWGP Intercontinental title match in a bout with both belts on the line. Effectively, the winner of this match will go on to be a part of the biggest match in New Japan history, atleast that’s how they want the world to see it.
Kazuchika Okada is the Ace of New Japan, which means he’s the top guy around here. That won’t change until someone rips the spot from his hands. But that doesn’t mean he’s unbeatable. Just last year at this event, he suffered his first loss at a Wrestle Kingdom since his return from excursion back in 2012. This was part of a lengthy angle in which, after losing the IWGP Heavyweight title, the end of the title’s longest-ever reign, he basically lost his mind and seemed to be desperately clinging to his greatness. But ultimately he found himself again, and avenged that loss, defeating Jay White at the G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden on April 6th, 2019 – and he’s held the title ever since.
Kota Ibushi has had a magnificent rise this year, capping off a long, long road to finally try and cement his main event status. He ended up winning the G1 Climax, the most prestigious annual tournament in wrestling, to earn this match here. And everything regarding this double main event, even Wrestle Kingdom being two nights long this year, is – in-storyline – Kota’s idea. He hopes to push New Japan forward, into unseen horizons, and this is all symbolic of that.
The story is Kota’s, and I believe it’s his to see through. Kota Ibushi over.
