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Wrestle Kingdom 12 is over and it lived up to the hype in every way possible. With multiple title changes and some historic moments, WK12 kicked off what looks to be a promising year for NJPW.
Roppongi 3k(SHO & YOH) vs The Young Bucks(Matt & Nick Jackson) - IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
A hot tag team match kicked off the action. Unsurprising for a Young Bucks match, there were a lot of great spots. Clearly, it was placed to get the crowd hot for the beginning.
The Young Bucks seemingly ended the contest when they took out Sho and had Yoh locked in a sharpshooter after hitting his back with a Swanton Bomb. Luckily, Sho came back in time to save things and it was The Young Bucks' turn to be on the cusp of defeat with a double submission.
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Shortly after The Bucks escaped, Yoh and Matt Jackson started taking stiff kicks to the back in a great competitive spot before Sho got superkicked out of the ring by Nick Jackson.
The two men with the now-injured backs started going at it in the ring. A Meltzer driver on Sho followed by a sharpshooter saw him unable to hold on, kicking off Wrestle Kingdom with new champions.
The Young Bucks defeated Roppongi 3k to become the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions
Bullet Club vs. Taguchi Japan vs. Suzuki-gun vs. CHAOS vs. Michael Elgin & War Machine - NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship Gauntlet Match
War Machine was eliminated first following by Suzuki-Gun. Toru Yano shockingly eliminated Taguchi.
Bullet Club was out next and Bad Luck Fale and Tomohiro Ishii had a power war, which was very well received by the crowd. Trent Baretta got the win for CHAOS as he hit a dude-buster on Tama Tonga for the win.
CHAOS won the gauntlet match to become the new NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
Cody vs Kota Ibushi - Special singles match
Cody delayed the match kick-off, having a little fun with Brandi outside the ring. Cody started the match by knocking Ibushi down but The Golden Star popped right back up.
Cody even showed the finger to Ibushi. He had him locked in a submission but Kota managed to reach the ropes on time for the clean break. Ibushi knocked Cody out of the ring and then jumped on him, even taking out Brandi in the process!
Kota was shocked that Brandi was out and even picked her up to put her in safety, but Cody struck him and he fell down. Brandi then started laughing with Cody, revealing the ploy.
Cody was in control of the match. Brandi even took the commentator's chair and distracted the referee, while Cody hit Kota with the chair. Ibushi escaped the final chair shot and hit a sliding kick onto Cody outside the ring.
Ibushi hit a beautiful moonsault on Cody outside the ring! A springboard missile dropkick followed with stiff signature Ibushi strikes and then a moonsault on the former ROH World Champion.
Brandi Rhodes grabbed Ibushi's leg which prevented Cody from getting suplexed into the ring. Cody took advantage and hit a stunner on The Golden Star. The two were then on the ring apron, exchanging strikes. Not Cody's best idea for sure.
Cody hit the most brutal-looking Cross Rhodes on Ibushi outside the ring and Ibushi barely managed to make it in on the count of nineteen(In Japan, the count out goes up to twenty):
Ibushi struggled to get up, and Cody took his own sweet time before hitting a springboard hurricanrana, for an unsuccessful pinfall attempt.
A Cross-Rhodes attempt was countered into a long dart throw by Ibushi. The ever-resilient Kota started palm strike exchange on Cody and obviously won it, following it up with a sit-out powerbomb!
Cody managed to land a desperation lariat, but it still wasn't enough! Kota hit a buzzsaw on Cody and hits a beautiful moonsault to finish things up!
Kota Ibushi defeated Cody
The Killer Elite Squad(Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer)(c) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon - IWGP Tag Team Championship
Killer Elite squad absolutely dominated the bout, almost gaining a pinfall from the get-go. LIJ got no offence until Sanada managed to dodge and attack Lance Archer.
The heart of Sanada helped LIJ come out victorious as they hit a magic killer followed by a moonsault from Sanada. This was the third title change of the night.
LIJ defeated Killer Elite Squad to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions
Minoru Suzuki(c) vs Hiroki Goto - Hair vs Hair match for the NEVER Openweight Championship
The veteran Minoru Suzuki almost choked Goto out in the early goings of the match. He began his sadistic brutalisation even when the doctor halted the match to check on Goto.
Goto showed a lot of heart but only continued taking a beating from Suzuki throughout the match. Goto rocked Suzuki with an elbow but Suzuki wrapped him in a guillotine and then locked in the sleeper.
Suzuki went for the Gotch driver but Goto managed to outpower him. Although both factions were banned from ringside, Suzuki-gun ran in and CHAOS neutralised things, preventing any real interference.
Suzuki hit a beautiful combination of palm strikes and then locked a sleeper in. Before the referee could complete the count, Suzuki went for the Gotch driver but Goto once again fought out, getting all of a lariat.
From the top turnbuckle, Suzuki locked Goto in with a guillotine but Goto's heart saw him land an avalanche ushigoroshi!
An elbow strike exchange between the two saw Goto surprisingly get the better of Suzuki, courtesy of a strong headbutt.
Goto made the comeback and hit the Goto revolution for the win!
Hiroki Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki to become the new NEVER Openweight Championship.
After the match, Suzuki-gun members were helping Minoru Suzuki to the back, but Suzuki shoved them away, took his own chair, went back in the ring and shaved the backside of his head.
Marty Scurll(c) vs Kushida vs Will Ospreay vs Hiromu Takahashi - IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship match
The match delivered as expected, with all four going at it with some of the most amazing spots that you'll see.
All four competitors brought it to the best that they could and put on an absolute clinic of a match. At the end, it was Will Ospreay who overcame his demons and pinned his long-time rival Marty Scurll to become IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion.
Will Ospreay defeated Marty Scurll, Kushida and Hiromu Takahashi to become the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship.
Hiroshi Tanahashi(c) vs Jay White - IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Jay White worked on Tanashi's leg fairly early on in the match. Despite referee red shoes attempts to stop White, he couldn't.
Tanahashi started his comeback but it was still an uphill task for the former Ace of NJPW. Jay White hit a vertical suplex on the champion. White took his own sweet time in working Tanahashi.
Jay White missed a missile dropkick and Tanahashi side-stepped and hit a dragon screw. Tanahashi hit one high fly flow to White's back before landing a picture perfect high fly flow for the win.
Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Jay White to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Kenny Omega(c) vs Chris Jericho - IWGP United States Championship
The much-anticipated match between the two Winnipeg titans finally took place, and boy did it deliver!
As promised, it was a hard-hitting affair and saw several spots where both superstars put their bodies through tremendous pain for our entertainment. Unsurprisingly, it was Omega who took most of the damage. He was busted open mid-way into the match when Jericho slammed his head multiple times. There were some absolute crazy spots which saw Omega go straight through the announce table and Jericho also put the Walls Of Jericho on Red Shoes'(the referee) son.
The two had some incredible back and forth action throughout the match and Jericho showed a side to him that we haven't seen in years in WWE. It was a surprisingly long match as well, going well over half an hour.
Ultimately and unsurprisingly, but rightfully, it was Kenny Omega who defeated Jericho to retain the United States Championship after hitting a one-winged angel onto a steel chair.
Kenny Omega defeated Chris Jericho to retain the IWGP United States Championship
Kazuchika Okada(c) vs Tetsuya Naito - IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Naito started the match off with the mental edge, taunting the champion. He drove the direction of the match in the early going, showing just how much of a different level he is on.
A dropkick by the champion sent the challenger Naito outside the ring from the top post. Naito slammed Okada with a brutal neckbreaker on the apron. The Rainmaker Kazuchika Okada shifted the momentum with a flurry of offence on Naito.
A shift in momentum between the two back and forth culminated in an elbow strike change between the two, where Naito got the better of him. As both stars were on the top rope and Naito tried a top rope suplex, but Okada elbowed him down.
Okada used the balance of just the ropes to hit a missile dropkick but Naito dogged, leading Okada to take quite the bump. Okada still outpowered Okada for a rough suplex almost on his neck.
Okada missed one rainmaker but landed the next one. Naito kicked out in the nick of time. A later exchange saw Naito hit a Destino, but he didn't go for the pin.
Naito and Okada went for a slap exchange and the champion got tired out. When he did, Naito spat on his face and slapped him hard.
Okada managed to hit a rainmaker and clutched on to Naito's wrist, reminiscent of his match against Tanahashi exactly two years prior. His second attempt at the rainmaker missed and Naito landed the Destino, only getting a two count.
Naito went for Destino #3 but Okada elbowed him away. Okada would go on to land his picture-perfect dropkick, a routine Okada thing.
Okada would then hit the Tombstone but get hit by a Destino. Naito's second destino attempt missed and Okada hit another tombstone followed by a rainmaker. Okada retained for the third year in a row.
Kazuchika Okada defeated Tetsuya Naito to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
After the match, Gedo told Naito that he's superhuman. Okada said that he would do it with Naito again at the main event of Wrestle Kingdom. He noticed a few empty seats but vowed to fill them. He wished to make it rain on the crowd, not just with money, but with joy, pride and happiness.
The Rainmaker stood tall for the third year in a row to wrap up a fantastic Wrestle Kingdom event.
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