Preview and Predictions: NJPW Power Struggle 2018

As New Japan Pro Wrestling starts its final run of shows in 2018, it’s becoming clearer as to what matches we’ll be seeing at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in the Tokyo Dome on January 4th 2019. NJPW’s last show in Tokyo – King of Pro-Wrestling – had massive storyline implications for the big one in January, as well as for the company’s storylines going forward in general. I expect this show from Osaka will be just as important and just as shocking.

IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Chris Jericho vs EVIL

This one has been anticipated since EVIL ran in to save Tetsuya Naito from a post-match beat down from Jericho after their Intercontinental Championship match at Dominion in June. Since then, Jericho has been notably absent from NJPW – it could be said he’s been “holding the title hostage” – and there was no idea when he’d return. I expected him to return following an EVIL win over ZSJ at KOPW to set up this match given it was the last chance to do it before Wrestle Kingdom, but instead Jericho delivered his attack before the match even started, resulting in the unofficial Number 1 Contender’s match between EVIL and ZSJ being a No Contest without the match even starting. Jericho would then announce backstage he was defending his championship on November 3rd against the man he’s been berating constantly in interviews while praising every other NJPW star.
As far as in-ring quality goes, I imagine this one will be good, but nothing incredible. Jericho has had a lot more freedom in his two NJPW matches against Omega and Naito than we’ve seen in his WWE matches in recent years, but it’s worth noting both of those matches relied quite heavily on weapons being used, so don’t count out seeing them involved here. It’s also been evident since he defeated Okada in last year’s G1 that New Japan are very high on EVIL as one of the best wrestlers on the roster, and this match with Jericho is clear evidence of that, so hopefully this does even more for making him a top star in the company for the present and for the future.

Prediction: Jericho retains and his match at WK 13 with Naito is set-up afterwards.

Golden☆Lovers (Kenny Omega + Kota Ibushi) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi + David Finlay

The most important match at Wrestle Kingdom 13 was cemented at King of Pro-Wrestling and that was the main event. Hiroshi Tanahashi survived the threat of ‘Switchblade’ Jay White and his new manager, Gedo, to retain his Wrestle Kingdom main event contract, while Kenny Omega retained his IWGP Heavyweight Championship in a triple threat match against Cody and his tag team partner, Kota Ibushi. We’ll be seeing this tag match, or at least variations of it involving Omega and Tanahashi, a lot leading into Wrestle Kingdom, so this isn’t necessarily a must-watch. That being said, Golden☆Lovers tag matches have been a spectacle since they reunited and there’s nothing to suggest this won’t be on the level of their fantastic bouts against The Young Bucks, Ospreay and Ishii and Ishii and Okada. It’s also an important match for David Finlay, who has a chance to make a massive impression with a good showing here going into Wrestle Kingdom. Finlay has shown he’s got potential as a future star in New Japan, but has never exactly been in a match with as much star power going into such a big match as this one. Finlay’s interactions with Omega may also be important leading into their match at Lion’s Gate Project 1 later in November, which is another big chance for him to make a name for himself in the wrestling world.

Prediction: Golden☆Lovers win.

RPW British Heavyweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii vs Minoru Suzuki

It’s about time we saw these two against each other in a singles match this year in New Japan. 2018 has seen The Stone Pitbull and The King frequently at each other’s throats – quite literally given the amount of hits to the throat in their tag team encounters. This one isn’t for a NJPW title as you can see, as this relates to their rivalry in the British promotion, Revolution Pro. Quite simply, it’s been back and forth between both men. Suzuki defeated Ishii at Strong Style Evolved UK in early July to win the championship and Ishii won it back at Global Wars UK in mid-October, which makes this one the rubber match and possibly the culmination of this story.
I have no doubt that this is going to be an excellent match that will be very brutal to watch, full of chops and stiff forearms to the chest and throat, and what interests me most about this one is that its place on the card here could well see the winner defending the title at Wrestle Kingdom 13. Ishii is one of New Japan’s best wrestlers who always seems to be in a match that isn’t a testament to his quality at the Tokyo Dome, while Suzuki is arguably one of the top six stars in the company, so it’s likely he’ll be in a singles match at the Dome, where he could most certainly be defending the title.

Prediction: Minoru Suzuki regains the title. 

Tetsuya Naito vs Zack Sabre Jr.

When I saw that EVIL was set to face ZSJ AT King of Pro-Wrestling, I stopped expecting this one to happen, but here we are. This one has been building since the penultimate day of the G1 Climax where ZSJ prevented Naito from getting to the final with a win, his second over Naito in 2018 after eliminating him from the New Japan Cup in March. ZSJ has had an excellent year courtesy of winning the New Japan Cup and beating the likes of Naito, Tanahashi and Okada, while Naito has been in limbo since failing to beat Okada at Wrestle Kingdom. He’s been feuding with Suzuki-gun for the majority of the year, won the Intercontinental Championship – a title he’s shown a great disliking for – from Minoru Suzuki and then lost it to Chris Jericho. Similarly to the EVIL vs ZSJ ‘match’ at KOPW, this one is an unofficial number one contender’s match that Naito will most likely be winning to (hopefully) bring the LIJ and Suzuki-gun feud to a definitive end before he goes on to challenege and defeat Jericho at Wrestle Kingdom 13.

Prediction: Tetsuya Naito wins.

Kazuchika Okada + Beretta vs Jay White + Bad Luck Fale

A faction feud that won’t be ending here is CHAOS vs Bullet Club, which was kick-started for a new era at King of Pro-Wrestling when ‘Switchblade’ Jay White, new manager Gedo and Gedo’s longtime friend and tag partner, Jado, joined Tama Tonga’s Bullet Club.
White and Gedo were foiled by Tanahashi at King of Pro-Wrestling, but that didn’t prevent them from delivering a post-match beat down that brought out Okada for the save. Okada punched Jay to the outside and Gedo’s sneak assault to the back just angered Okada who was about to deliver some retribution before Jado entered to provide a balanced point of view. It was interesting that this brought out the Bullet Club OG’s who entered the ring, pointed at Okada, grabbed Gedo and Jedo, and told Okada to hit one. Okada went for Gedo but was gun-stunned by Tama, showing this was all just a ruse and that the OG’s were now man-for-man stronger than The Elite.
White has been teasing another CHAOS man jumping ship on the Road to Power Struggle, and while most signs would point to YOSHI-HASHI who was involved prominently in the White/Okada leadership battle before an unfortunate injury, I wouldn’t look past a Beretta turn due to the unpredictability of recent, especially now he’s set to face The Elite’s Cody for the IWGP United States Championship at ROH Global Wars on November 11th. If the Bullet Club/Elite story is to continue, Beretta joining the Jay White’s Bullet Club would make a lot of sense.
This is a really important feud going into Wrestle Kingdom, so I’d suggest you check this one out. I don’t think the match itself will be a show-stealer, but there’s bound to be some more storyline implications.

Prediction: Jay White and Bad Luck Fale win. 

Super Junior Tag League Finals:
Yoshinobu Kanemaru + El Desperado vs BUSHI + Shingo Takagi vs Roppongi 3K

Over the last two weeks the Super Junior Tag Tournament has been taken place featuring a plethora of great junior heavyweights from all over the world. It’s given us a chance to see stars who rarely appear in NJPW other than the BOSJ and USA shows such as Volador Jr., ACH and Chris Sabin, as well as a chance to become more accustomed to new additions to the roster like Robbie Eagles, the newest member of Tama Tonga and Jay White’s Bullet Club, and Shingo Takagi, who has joined Los Ingobernables De Japon in the absence of Hiromu Takahashi. Both men made good impressions to start the tournament with Eagles tapping out Liger and Takagi pinning SHO of Roppongi 3K on the opening night.
The thirteen day tournament consisted of eight teams in one block with, in contrast to what was expected, three having advanced to this final.
It seemed that the final would consist of IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Kanemaru and El Desperado and the LIJ team of Takagi and BUSHI, however, Roppongi 3K’s win over Sabin and KUSHIDA on the final day on the Road to Power Struggle gave them the same number of points as the two finalists. As a tiebreaker was not possible, it was made official on the show that all three teams would face off at Power Struggle to win the Super Junior Tag League.
I’m looking forward to this one as Despy has been one the stars of the year for New Japan and he’s proven in his matches with the likes of Hiromu just how good a talent he actually is. This match gives a chance for Kanemaru to show what he’s capable of as well. I’m also interested in seeing more from Shingo Takagi and what else he can do in a big match, while the likes of BUSHI, SHO and YOH have been consistently solid in the ring for the past year, so we know what they’re bringing to this one.
Going into Wrestle Kingdom I expect the result will be very important for the Junior Heavyweight Championship picture. If Kanemaru and Despy retain I expect we’ll see them face the team who don’t get pinned, and if they’re to lose, BUSHI and Shingo or SHO and YOH will have a valid claim to a title match in the Tokyo Dome.

Prediction: BUSHI + Takagi win the match and the tournament. 

NEVER Openweight Championship: Taichi vs Hirooki Goto

A match only confirmed this past Monday, Taichi will make his first defence of the NEVER Openweight Championship against the man he defeated to win the title in Beppu on September 17th after an injury to Will Ospreay at Rev Pro ruled him out of action. Ospreay had made his intentions clear that he wanted the title at King of Pro-Wrestling after a six man tag win. I was looking forward to this mainly for it being a fresh matchup let alone for the prospect of an Ospreay win and a match with Kota Ibushi at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
Due to this only being announced this week, there’s been little build to it other than Taichi making a challenge and it being accepted by Goto. After the match between these two in Beppu, which wasn’t that good, I have little interest in watching them wrestle each other again and I’m finding Goto in the NEVER Openweight Championship picture a little tiresome. I like the thought of Taichi retaining, but I expect Goto to win the title back as he vs whoever at the Tokyo Dome would be a better match in-ring-wise.

Prediction: Goto regains the title.

It’s common for New Japan’s post-G1 shows going into Wrestle Kingdom to be relatively dull in regards to storyline impact, but that’s been far from the case this year. There’s a lot going on in every area this year from title feuds to non-title feuds, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to slow down until late December.

What else is on the card?

• Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, Soberano Jr. + Volador Jr. vs Toa Henare, Taguchi, Chris Sabin + ACH: This is essentially a wrap up to the Super Tag League tournament and a chance to get the stars who didn’t get to the final on the card. This one should have some great athleticism as well as a lot of entertainment given the involvement of the likes of Liger, Taguchi and ACH. It’s not an important match, but it’ll be a good start to the show and get the crowd going. (Prediction: Liger + company win)
• Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa + Robbie Eagles) vs KUSHIDA + GBH (Tomoaki Honma + Togi Makabe): This one might have some importance going into World Tag League next month and could well serve as a preview of Tama and Tanga defending their Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against Honma and Makabe at Wrestle Kingdom. I don’t think this one will be as entertaining as the Liger match, but in-ring wise I wouldn’t be surprised if this one was better. (Prediction: Bullet Club pick up the win)

If you’re a New Japan fan, or even if you’re just planning on watching Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th, I’d advise watching this show this coming Saturday on www.njpwworld.com.