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New Japan Pro Wrestling kicked off October with its annual King of Pro Wrestling event and what a card the Japanese wrestling promotion were looking to treat fans to with Evil Vs. Zack Sabre Jr, Kushida Vs. Marty Scurll for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title and the huge main event between Kenny Omega, Cody and Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.
However there was much more happening on the night with Will Ospreay making his intentions known for Taichi's Never Openweight Championship, Los Ingobernables De Japon revealing their new member, a guaranteed new champion for the Junior Heavyweight Title and the Evil Vs. Zack Sabre Jr match being derailed by a surprise return
We have all the twists and turns, all the potential title changes and all of the match results for New Japan Pro Wrestling's King of Pro-Wrestling event that took place on 8th October 2018. So without further ado, here they are!
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#1 Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) Vs. Tiger Mask and Jushin 'Thunder' Liger - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match
The match involved a lot of hot tags between Tiger Mask and Liger with the Suzuki Gun duo isolating the two masked legends in the ring. The heels also tried several times to unmask Tiger Mask and Liger, thankfully to no avail!
The two icons were able to get most of their signature moves in to keep the crowd happy but unfortunately, they weren't able to overcome their Suzuki-Gun opponents and the champions retained.
Result: El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru Def. Jushin 'Thunder' Liger and Tiger Mask to retain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Titles
As much as this was the result that made sense I have to admit that I was rooting for Liger and Mask to pull off an upset and pick up the victory! Alas, it was not to be.
#2 Great Bash Heel (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) Vs. Juice Robinson and Toa Henare
This was standard tag-team action between Great Bash Heel and Juice Robinson with Toa Henare, who is not his usual tag-team partner, something that would tie into the story of the match.
Henare and Makabe started things off with the usual until Juice is tagged in and hit a beautiful looking Stall Vertical Suplex (Bobby Lashley eat your heart out!)
However, things didn't go too well for the makeshift tag-team in the end with Henare falling to a BodySlam from Makabe, followed by Honma's Falling Headbutt and a Double Knee Drop from Makabe.
Result: Great Bash Heel Def. Juice Robinson and Toa Henare
After the match, Juice Robinson was clearly unhappy about what had happened and left the ring without waiting for his partner.
#3 Bullet Club OG (Tama Tonga, Bad Luck Fale, Tanga Loa, Taiji Ishimori) Vs Bullet Club Elite (The Young Bucks, Chase Owens and Hangman Page)
This was a fun match with Tama Tonga in particular completely owning his character, crotch thrusting cameras, flipping off anyone and everyone and just being a downright scoundrel.
Adam Page also continues to look like a star with several sequences where he carried the match single-handedly against his opponents. But saying that, everyone involved looked great and the match had lots of fun spots
The OG Bullet Club spent a lot of the match also targeting Matt Jackson's back which was great storytelling, which led me to believe he'd take the pin, but it was actually Chase Owens falling victim to the Assisted Stun Gun that finished the match.
Result: Bullet Club OG Def. Bullet Club Elite
#4 Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto and Will Ospreay) Vs. Suzuki Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and Takashi Iizuka)
This match kicked off right from the start with all six men brawling on the outside. This contest was really about two things, setting up Will Ospreay as a challenger for Taichi's Never Openweight Title and continuing the incredible feud between Ishii and Suzuki. Oh, and also about really fun moments with Iizuka biting people.
It also served another purpose to reinforce the Chaos faction as being together after Jay White's betrayal. And it looks like they're still good as evidenced by this tandem series of moves
The finish came when Ospreay managed to get Taichi isolated from his Suzuki Gun compatriots and finished the champion off with the Stormbreaker
Result: Will Ospreay, Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii Def. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and Takashi Iizuka
After the match, Ospreay picked up the Never Openweight Title and laid down the gauntlet for Taichi, and Suzuki and Ishii came face to face once more. Suzuki then tried to get back into the ring with a steel chair but was held off by the Young Lions who ended up feeling his wrath instead.
#5 Chaos (Kazuchika Okada, Sho, Yoh, Toru Yano) Vs. L.I.J (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Bushi and Shingo Takagi)
First things first, LIJ's new member is revealed and it's none other than ..... wait for it.... Dragon Gate's Shingo Takagi, now nicknamed 'The Dragon' at NJPW. What an addition for LIJ that is!
Now onto the match itself. It was a fairly straight-forward affair between the eight men with the sole purpose of displaying LIJ as a cohesive unit, with Shingo Takagi fitting right in. In fact, Takagi picked up the win with Last Falconry
Result: LIJ Def. Chaos
Shingo Takagi was a top star at Dragon Gate and will be a top star in NJPW. You guys mark my words.
#6 EVIL Vs Zack Sabre Jr.
So, this probably would have been a really cool and interesting match with EVIL looking to make up for his recent tag-team losses. However, NJPW had other plans. Don't get me wrong, the other plans were awesome, but still, I hope we do get to see this match at some point.
So, what were the other plans? Well, EVIL entered on his throne with masked accomplices walking beside him. Now, do we know anyone with a penchant for making surprise masked returns and ambushes who might want to attack EVIL? Chris Jericho of course!
Jericho attacked EVIL, the match didn't start and then an angry Zack Sabre Jr attacked some people in the ring before almost breaking EVIL's arm. Naito ran out to make the save and chase Sabre Jr off.
Result: No Contest
#7 Marty Scurll Vs. Kushida - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match
With Hiromu sidelined with an injury, the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title was vacated meaning that we're guaranteed a new champion as a result of this match between Marty Scurll and Kushida.
I think you guys know what to expect from a match between these two guys, so I'll just let the highlights do the talking!
This really was a tremendous match, check it out if you can! The finish came when Kushida had to hit not one, but two, Back to the Futures to put 'The Villain' away.
Result: Kushida Def Marty Scurll to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title
#8 Jay White Vs Hiroshi Tanahashi - Tokyo Dome Title Match Spot on the Line
The first time I ever watched an NJPW show was the Wrestle Kingdom that these two wrestled for the first time. I thought it was the worst match of the night. But Jay White has come on leaps and bounds and his new partnership with Gedo could reap rewards and Tanahashi, is well, Tanahashi.
The match went exactly as expected with White giving Tama Tonga a run for his money in the 'being a bad person' stakes, as he took every opportunity he could to disrespect 'The Ace' of NJPW.
White and his corner-man Gedo also took every opportunity to try to cheat their way to victory with Gedo even hitting Tanahashi with the briefcase when the referee's back was turned.
The finish came when Jay White looked for the Blade Runner but Tanahashi was savvy to it and rolled White up for the quick 1-2-3
Result: Hiroshi Tanahashi Def. Jay White
More heel stuff from White after the match as he attacked Tanahashi. Okada is out to make the save with Gedo and Jado involved as well. Then the Bullet Club OG come out and feign helping Okada before turning on him and aligning with White, Gedo and Jado who now seem to be part of the Bullet Club. Madness.
#9 Kenny Omega Vs. Cody Vs. Kota Ibushi - IWGP Heavyweight Title Match
New Japan has only ever done one Triple Threat Title match before in its history, but here we are with a huge match between Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi and Cody Rhodes in what was sure to be an enthralling match, and boy was it ever!
The three men show a great amount of sportsmanship to start the match but it isn't long until Cody's dastardly ways start shining through as he gets early momentum in the opening moments. This leads to Omega and Ibushi teaming up to take down Cody, exchanging near falls on him.
We then get a great sequence towards the middle of the match where all three men exchange a series of moves and then need to take a breather before things get far too heated.
These three guys work so well together, as evidenced by this sequence involving Kenny Omega having almost supernatural awareness to avoid Cody's Disaster Kick after putting Ibushi down.
I can't even attempt to keep up with the intricacies of the three action in this match, there's no much fantastic interplay between all three men that it truly must be watched to be believed. We get to a moment when Omega has to drag the referee out to prevent Ibushi from winning, and Ibushi has to hit a huge diving stomp to stop Cody from winning.
Eventually, Kenny Omega is forced to pin his Golden Lovers partner Kota Ibushi to pick up the win in a moment of conflict for the champion.
Result: Kenny Omega Def. Cody and Kota Ibushi to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Title
The Golden Elite reconcile in the ring afterwards, but are interrupted by Hiroshi Tanahashi who reminds Kenny Omega that they're still on in a title match at the Tokyo Dome for Wrestle Kingdom to end the show!
