Despite a loud minority of New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) English speaking fans decrying the ending of night-two of Wrestle Kingdom 14 of KENTA attacking the newly crowed IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental ‘Double Champion’ the Osaka Jo Hall crowd of 11,411 silenced those who questioned the creative narrative of Gedo and Jado.
The combination of pure demonic heat on KENTA and the ‘grey’ face appeal of Tetsuya Naito led to NJPW drawing more than a million dollars at the gate in Osaka — without taking into account how much merchandise the company sold during the day. Not only did the final angle on night-two of Wrestle Kingdom 14 bring short-term rewards (more than doubling the attendance from The New Beginning in Osaka last year) it turned KENTA into a bonafide draw NJPW can rely on much like Minoru Suzuki, Jay White, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Tetsuya Naito, and Kazuchika Okada.
The early psychology of the match looked like something from out of the Mid-Atlantic territories in the United States during the 1980s. For approximately five minutes Naito and KENTA played mind games with one another, drawing exactly the reactions they wanted from the crowd. Once the physicality got underway, both workers put to bed the talking points that they have lost something in the ring.
The match provided everything the live audience could ask for, also receiving rave reviews from the English speaking audience on social media.
After his victory, Naito was joined by IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, who defeated Ryu Lee earlier during the event. The two exchanged pleasantries and made official the NJPW Anniversary Event tradition of the IWGP Junior Heavyweight and Heavyweight champions facing one another in a singles match.
The match will take place on March 3rd, and be the marquee in what is already a Super No Vacancy Full House event. While KENTA has made references of wishing to face Katsuyori Shibata ‘when he returns’ it’s unclear if Shibata is medically able to wrestle after failing to get clearance in 2019.
Naito’s next defense of either championship will likely take place at the returning Sakura Genesis on March 31st against the New Japan Cup winner, which begins at the beginning of March.
