Just after you recovered from Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night One, it is time for Night Two. The biggest show of New Japan Pro Wrestling, Wrestle Kingdom 14, is back at its traditional January 4th date. But for the first time in history, something truly unique is happening: Wrestle Kingdom will be two nights this year. The first night was truly amazing. Can the second night possibly top it? Here is the Preview: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night Two.
The second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 is a completely stacked night of wrestling with lots of amazing build to all its main card matches. The main card will have eight matches, seven titles on the line and the retirement match of one of the greatest of all time. Here is the preview of Wrestle Kingdom 14 Night Two:
Never Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Gauntlet
Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano & Togi Makabe (c) vs. CHAOS (Robbie Eagles, YOSHI-HASHI & Tomohiro Ishii) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (BUSHI, Shingo Takagi & EVIL) vs. Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado & Taichi) vs. Bullet Club (Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi & Bad Luck Fale)
It is time for the now annual Six-Man Tag Team Gauntlet chaos! The Six-Man title is rarely defended. The current champions of Taguchi, Yano & Makabe have held the title for nearly a year. It is the longest reign in the title’s short and very chaotic history.
This match seems to be really set up for some truly chaotic stable fun. Which stable will take the title on Sunday? It is hard to say and that is the point of the fun opening match.
Jyushin Thunder Liger’s Retirement Match: Jyushin Liger & Naoki Sano vs Hiromu Takahashi & Ryu Lee
Jushin Thunder Liger is the greatest junior heavyweight in professional wrestling history. The eleven-time Junior Heavyweight Championship has been putting on amazing matches for over thirty-five years. How many, if any, wrestlers at 54 years old could put on great matches with Will Ospreay and Minoru Suzuki in 2019? Liger is a legend and he will be truly missed.
The choice for his last ever match is an interesting one. I am sure a lot of people would have preferred a singles match. He will be tagging with Naoki Sano against Hiromu Takahashi and the newly named Ryu Lee. Sano, also in his mid-50s, famously had one of the great matches in New Japan history with Liger back in 1990.
Liger has been a very unselfish performer. He lost the legends match on Night One and even took the pinfall. He will go out of his way to put over the future of the Junior Heavyweight division in new champion Hiromu Takahashi and Ryu Lee. It should be a fun tag match and an emotional moment to see the final match for one of the true legends of pro wrestling.
IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship Match
Bullet Club (El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori) (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH)
El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori have held the Junior Tag Team titles for over 200 days now but have only defended it once so far. Their opponents on Sunday will be the Super Junior Tag League winners Roppongi 3K. SHO & YOH will be wanting to get back the titles they lost to the Bullet Club duo just this past June.
SHO & YOH are looking to be a rare 4-time Junior Tag Team Champion. They have won the Junior Tag Titles before at Wrestle Kingdom. Can they do it again despite the real possibility of some Bullet Club cheating?
British Heavyweight Championship Match
Zack Sabre Jr (c) vs. Sanada
Sanada is constantly falling short on major occasions. He lost multiple singles matches to Okada at major shows in 2019. One person he was able to beat a lot last year was Zack Sabre Jr.
Zack Sabre Jr. had a disappointing G1 Climax, losing the opening match to Sanada. He continued to build frustration against Sanada in recent months. Conversely, Sanada has never held a singles championship in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Can he change that on the biggest stage possible?
Preview: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom
IWGP US Heavyweight Championship
Jon Moxley(c) vs. Juice Robinson
What will Jon Moxley have left after the brutal Texas Death Match? It was a fun moment to see Jon Moxley win the US Heavyweight Championship again that he truly never lost in the first place. He overcame Lance Archer in his very first Tokyo Dome match.
Moxley’s reward is a title match against Juice Robinson, who will be wanting some revenge. He lost the US Heavyweight Championship to Jon Moxley back at the Best of the Super Juniors final last June. Juice Robinson, now a new IWGP Tag Team Champion, will want to become a double champion. Can he get it against a wounded Moxley on January 5th?
Preview: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom
Never Openweight Championship: KENTA (c) vs. Hirooki Goto
It is all about revenge.
KENTA joined New Japan this summer with the help of Katsuyori Shibata. He was unsuccessful in winning the G1 Climax and turned on CHAOS and Shibata. As he joined Bullet Club, he went on to win the Never Openweight Championship against Tomohiro Ishii. At World Tag League, Hirooki Goto got an upset victory of KENTA. He then challenged KENTA for the Never Openweight title at Wrestle Kingdom.
Can Goto become a five-time champion at Wrestle Kingdom? Can he win one for his close friend, or will KENTA spoil the feel-good moment in the Tokyo Dome?
Special Singles Match: Jay White vs. Kota Ibushi
Who will be motivated after January 4th?
It is basically a third-place match. The two losers of Night One, Jay White and Kota Ibushi, have to fight it out on January 5th. This will be a rematch of their excellent G1 Final match of 2019. Hopefully they can give us a match of that level.
Coming off heartbreaking losses to their rivals, it will be interesting to see how they perform lower on the card. Both would certainly be major contenders to fight the winner of the main event for future title shots. With the talent of both involved, that should be enough to motivate them to put on a true show on Night Two.
Preview: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho – If Tanahashi wins, he challenges Jericho for the AEW Championship
It is the Painmaker versus the Ace of New Japan. Chris Jericho certainly seems to enjoy playing the evil heel in New Japan and has had dream matches against Kenny Omega and Tetsuya Naito in the last two Wrestle Kingdoms. Will this be the time he finally wins at the Tokyo Dome?
Chris Jericho started this feud by attacking Tanahashi at NJPW Dominion. He finally got his match for Wrestle Kingdom 14 at Power Struggle this last November. If the dream match wasn’t enough, the stakes were recently raised. If Tanahashi defeats Chris Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom, he will get a future AEW World Championship match. Will pro wrestling fans get an AEW title match with the Japanese Ace? Will the Painmaker finally break his Wrestle Kingdom losing streak? It should be fun to see in this co-main event.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship & Intercontinental Championship : Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito (c)
It is a match years in the making. At Wrestle Kingdom 12, it seemed that Naito would finally defeat his rival and become the IWGP Heavyweight Champion again on the biggest stage. Then he lost.
It has been a tough two years for Naito full of many disappointments. But he wanted a chance to be the first Double Champion in New Japan. He got the first leg completed with an emotional victory of Jay White on January 4th. Can he overcome his biggest challenge to date?
Kazuchika Okada has led a pretty charmed year in 2019. He won the Heavyweight title at G1 Supercard and has successfully defended his title in great matches with the likes of SANADA and Minoru Suzuki. The only real loss he had in 2019 was to Kota Ibushi. He got his revenge for that loss defeating Ibushi in a classic forty-minute match on Night One.
What can Naito and Okada produce after their brutal and long matches on Night One? It is hard to say for sure but it should be an emotional main event.
