My oh my, was that ever a long night… but it was sure worth it! Ladies and gentlemen, Wrestle Kingdom 14 is, technically still upon us as we speak as we are now between halves of this pro wrestling extravaganza! Night 1 finished a few hours ago as I type this and frankly I’ve only just now begun to decompress from all that I’ve witnessed. As I said before any of this even started, it’s going to go down as a truly unforgettable weekend in professional wrestling’s storied history.
The first match that made air on the night was an eight man tag team match, one of several that occurred during the show. And it ended up being the first upset of the night as well!
Toa Henare, Karl Fredericks, Clark Connors & Alex Coughlin def. Yota Tsuji, Yua Uemura, & Great Bash Heel (Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe)
Indeed, a team full of young lions beat a team that was actually captained by veterans! Granted, neither Togi Makabe nor Tomoaki Honma are on a run of great fortune, and they didn’t end up taking the pinfall anyway. But they’re respected, well-liked and tenured. Usually that’s more than enough to ensure a victory when you’re only going up against young lions.
New Japan has been putting over it’s LA Dojo as strongly as possible ever since it’s inception and seem to be running with the idea that those who train over there are coming along better than their standard dojo kids.
You can see an excerpt of my recap of this match below:
Tsuji and Henare tag in! Henare with forearms and elbows, whip to the ropes, Tsuji counters with a dropkick! Henare has actual gear of his own tonight, first I’ve seen that. He’s getting ganged on by everyone now though, corner clothesline from Makabe, body slam from Tsuji, Kokechi from Honma for a massive pop, cover broken up! Henare wins a strike exchange with Tsuji, clothesline, gets him in the Fireman’s Carry but Tsuji escapes, trip, transitions nicely into the Boston Crab, the traditional finish of the Young Lions! Coughlin comes in and laces his chest with gruesome chops but he won’t break! One big one finally lays him out though! Coughlin hits the ropes, gets caught by a spear! Strike exchange, Henare with a wicked thrust kick, whip to the ropes but Henare counters with a lariat for a nearfall! Henare plants him with a Uranage and gets the duke!
Winners: Toa Henare, Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, and Karl Fredericks
