Wrestle Kingdom 13 Final Preview: All The Pieces Matter

Wrestle Kingdom 13 is set to air at 2am EST on NJPWWorld.com. WrestleZone will be providing full coverage throughout the event.

Pre-Show: Gauntlet To Determine The #1 Contender To The NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship

Here’s a breakdown of the teams:

-Hirooki Goto, Beretta & Chuckie T are all trapped in the wreckage of CHAOS that Tama, Tanga & Bullet Club caused. Goto & The Besties are a dominant team on paper, but Chuckie T has completely lost his mind. He cost himself & Beretta World Tag League with his erratic behavior, and it’s not a stretch to imagine he’ll muck it all up again in The Dome.

-Minoru Suzuki & Killer Elite Squad are three ass-kickers that have every bit of a chance to win this match.

-Nagata, Cobb & Finlay are a thrown together team, Nagata substituting for an injured Michael Elgin. While all of the pieces are top-notch talents, there’s no way they’ll be cohesive enough to survive a gauntlet match.

-The Elite are on their way out of NJPW. No word on the future of Yujiro Takahashi, but Marty Scurll might be around until his Ring of Honor commitments wrap up in the spring. They’ll likely have a strong showing, but not likely to win this match.

-Toru Yano & Togi Makabe, tired of Bullet Club’s attacks on all that NJPW stands for, have reformed The Most Violent Players. The former IWGP Tag Team Champions bring along Taguchi, already a staple of the NEVER 6-man division. Old friends with newly forged bonds are a tough team to beat. Expect them to head to New Year’s Dash to face the NEVER 6-man champs.

Prediction: Makabe, Yano & Taguchi.

NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Ospreay

There is no match more hyped than this opening contest. An example of how deep this impressive card runs, NJPW has booked a legitimate dream match, and making said match for the NEVER Openweight Championship finally legitimizes the long-maligned title belt. Long seen as the red-headed stepchild of the company’s championships, and despite being open to all weight classes, the NEVER belt has always been reserved for heavyweights with nothing better to do. The style was always a little stiffer than the usual NJPW contest, but there was little that truly distinguished the belt. Now it is front and center in what will likely be the most talked about match of the year.

Already drawing comparisons to the 2016 match between Will Ospreay and Ricochet, the match promises to be a punishing, inventive bout. Two of the most reckless wrestlers in the world, let alone the company, are going put on a spectacle like few have seen. Like most of the matches on the card, it is a clash of cultures to determine the direction of New Japan.

Ibushi is a freelancer that NJPW cannot live without. His fans are dedicated to their handsome daredevil, and his current run with the NEVER Openweight Championship is his first title as a heavyweight in the promotion. Will Ospreay was hand selected by Kazuchika Okada to join CHAOS, and has been a divisive, entertaining presence in the company. Seemingly accomplishing all there is to accomplish in the juniors division, Ospreay sees this opportunity against Ibushi as a chance to graduate to heavyweight.

While Ospreay is a phenomenal talent, and definitely a popular one as well, Ibushi winning would be a feel-good start to what promises to be a controversial Wrestle Kingdom.

Prediction: Kota Ibushi

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & BUSHI)

These three teams have been battling each other for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team Title for pretty much all of the past year. For the sake of everyone’s sanity, this will likely be the final match in this long rivalry. Suzuki-gun is in the middle of one of the titles longer reigns, and it might be time for them to fall.

Roppongi 3K are the future of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. The insanely fluid tag team proved that both men are adept singles wrestlers during last year’s Best of Super Juniors tournament, and then won Super Jr. Tag League against both teams in this match. While Shingo Takagi has been a good addition to LIJ, he and BUSHI have not been as effective as SHO & YOH.

Prediction: Roppongi 3K

RPW British Heavyweight Championship Match: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.

Tomohiro Ishii has always been a bridesmaid, and never a braid. A constant title challenger in NJPW, the likelihood of him ever holding the IWGP Heavyweight Championship continues to shrink. His reign with the British Heavyweight Championship has felt all the more important because of it. He faces one of NJPW’s brightest stars of 2018.

In a year that saw Zack Sabre Jr. win the New Japan Cup and also get a non-title victory over Kazuchika Okada, the British grappler made a case for being one of the very best in the world. Ishii & Sabre have always had creative exchanges in the ring, and should put on an absolute barnburner of a match at Wrestle Kingdom.

With both men firmly committed to NJPW, there’s no clear favorite in this match. Whichever man leaves with the belt will be the true representative of Strong Style in the UK. At face value, that sounds like Zack Sabre Jr., but Ishii’s popularity in the British Isles can’t be overstated. Likely Sabre will win the match, and hold the new RPW title belt, likely being the center of RevPro and the UK Independent scene through 2019.

Prediction: Zack Sabre Jr.

IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) (c) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & SANADA) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa are a next-level tag team. Like Ric Flair, they find new ways to piss off a fanbase that prides itself on being unflappable. EVIL & SANADA are past being a tag team at this point, they need to forge their singles careers sooner rather than later. The Young Bucks don’t need the title, they have a business to run. Expect Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa to sneak out of Tokyo Dome with their Tag Team Titles.

Prediction: Guerrillas of Destiny

IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Match: Cody (c) vs. Juice Robinson

A rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 11, that sees Cody Rhodes enter as a champion, and promoter. Juice Robinson is looking to prove that he’s a completely different wrestler from the rookie that Cody beat back in 2017. An argument can be made that Cody should retain.

Cody Rhodes literally hijacked the news cycle. Wrestle Kingdom week has been All Elite, all the time. It wouldn’t be the worst idea to let the man at the center of the wrestling world keep the United States Championsip. However keeping the title in the company wouldn’t be the worst idea either.

Juice Robinson is insanely popular with Japanese fans. He’s a ringing endorsement for the Young Lion system, becoming wildly successful in ways never thought possible when the former-CJ Parker was a member of the NXT roster. Juice should be given his biggest moment on the biggest stage against easily one of the biggest names in the wrestling world.