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Wrestle Kingdom 9
Promotional poster for the event, featuring various NJPW wrestlers
PromotionNew Japan Pro Wrestling[1]
Date4 January 2015[1]
CityTokyo, Japan[1]
VenueTokyo Dome[1]
Attendance36,000[1]
Pay-per-view chronology
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World Tag League 2014 		Next →
The New Beginning in Osaka (2015)
Wrestle Kingdom chronology
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Wrestle Kingdom 8 		Next →
TBA

Wrestle Kingdom 9 was a professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW), that took place on 4 January 2015, at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It was the 24th January 4 Dome Show, which is annually the largest professional wrestling show in the world outside of the United States.[2]

Through NJPW's partnership with Global Force Wrestling (GFW), the event was also broadcast with English commentary, and would be the first GFW event. It was available through television pay-per-view in the United States and Canada, and broadcast worldwide via the Internet through Flipps and New Japan Pro Wrestling World. The event was attended by 36,000 fans, and earned widespread positive reviews from critics.

The event featured ten professional wrestling matches with one more match taking place on the pre-show. In the main event, Hiroshi Tanahashi successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada. Other top matches saw Shinsuke Nakamura successfully defend the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Kota Ibushi and A.J. Styles defeat Tetsuya Naito.

Production

Background

Wrestle Kingdom has been described as "New Japan's major annual show" and "equivalent" to WWE's WrestleMania.[3]

Wrestle Kingdom 9 was officially announced on August 10, 2014.[4] The same day, NJPW announced a partnership with Jeff Jarrett's Global Force Wrestling (GFW),[4] whom they approached about bringing the event to a new market.[5] On November 4, GFW announced it would present the event live on American pay-per-view.[6] GFW claimed an outreach of 125 million homes via pay-per-view.[7]

The event was broadcast on American pay-per-view through a partnership with GFW,[8] as the first-ever GFW event.[9] Entitled "GFW Presents New Japan Pro Wrestling's Wrestle Kingdom 9", the four-hour telecast was available through pay-per-view providers in the United States (including DirecTV, Dish Network, AT&T U-verse, Comcast, Verizon FiOS and all cable systems), as well as in Canada (through Bell ExpressVu, Rogers, Shaw, Sasktel and Telus).[9] The event also aired live worldwide on New Japan Pro Wrestling World, a new internet streaming site that NJPW launched at the start of December 2014.[10]

The GFW version of the event was also streamed worldwide (except North America and Japan) via the Flipps application to Internet-connected smartphones, tablet computers and smart TVs. Flipps made the show available live and on-demand for up to 30 days after the initial airing.[7]

On November 11, 2014, GFW announced Jim Ross as the lead announcer for the GFW version of the event.[11] This would mark Ross' first professional wrestling broadcast since his 2013 departure from WWE.[12] Ross himself contacted Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in an attempt to get Mike Tenay to work as his color commentator for the event, but was turned down. Others considered for the job were John Pollock, Mauro Ranallo and Kevin Nash, before GFW settled on Matt Striker.[13]

Prior to the event, the GFW broadcasts were hit with some setbacks; first many cable companies decided not to air the event live, instead opting to air a replay of UFC 182, then Flipps announced that their stream would not work on Chromecast, Xbox 360 or Xbox One, three of the four most common devices listed as compatible with the application.[14] Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter also noted that NJPW themselves undercut GFW by including the event in the $8.42 monthly price for New Japan Pro Wrestling World, while the GFW broadcast of only Wrestle Kingdom 9 cost $34.95. The New Japan Pro Wrestling World stream, however, only included Japanese commentary.[15]

Storylines

See also: Professional wrestling

Wrestle Kingdom 9 featured professional wrestling matches involving different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds, plots, and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed faces (heroes) or heels (villains) as they followed a series of events that built tension and culminated in a match or a series of matches.[16]

The undercard of Wrestle Kingdom 9 featured a match involving the villainous Bullet Club stable.[17][18] In May 2014, one year after the stable was originally formed, Bullet Club ushered in a new era for the stable, adding new members and culminating in one of them, A.J. Styles, capturing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.[18] Following the signing of the NJPW-GFW partnership, GFW head Jeff Jarrett joined Bullet Club on August 10.[4] Bullet Club dominated NJPW for most of 2014, holding all four of its heavyweight championships simultaneously during the summer.[19] On December 7, during a Bullet Club post-match beatdown involving popular underdog Tomoaki Honma, NJPW veteran tag team Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) stormed the ring, driving Bullet Club away. They then came together with Honma to challenge the stable to a six-man tag team match at Wrestle Kingdom 9.[20] It was later announced that in the match Bullet Club would be represented by Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Jeff Jarrett, making his NJPW in-ring debut.[17]

Wrestle Kingdom 9 also featured a match in the rivalry between Toru Yano and the Suzuki-gun stable.[17] The rivalry took a major turn in May 2014, when Yano's tag team partner Takashi Iizuka turned on him and joined Suzuki-gun,[21] after which Yano recruited Kazushi Sakuraba as his new tag team partner to continue the rivalry.[22] The rivalry lasted for the rest of the year and resulted in two matches at Wrestle Kingdom 9; one between former mixed martial artists Sakuraba and Suzuki-gun leader Minoru Suzuki and a tag team match between Yano and a "mystery partner" against a Suzuki-gun team.[23] The latter was eventually turned into an eight-man tag team match with Suzuki-gun being represented by Iizuka, Shelton X Benjamin and the KES (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer), while Yano recruited three partners from the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion, namely, Naomichi Marufuji and TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste).[17]

Kazuchika Okada, the number one contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, heading into Wrestle Kingdom 9

One of the matches at Wrestle Kingdom 9 featured Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata challenging Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson for the IWGP Tag Team Championship. Goto and Shibata came together as a tag team following a match against each other at the January 4, 2014, Wrestle Kingdom 8 show.[24] The two former high school classmates named their team "Meiyu Tag" (Meiyu being Japanese for "sworn brothers").[25] In March, they entered the IWGP Tag Team Championship picture by defeating the reigning champions, Bullet Club's Anderson and Gallows, in a non-title match at NJPW's 42nd anniversary show.[26] This led to a title match on April 6 at Invasion Attack 2015, where Anderson and Gallows successfully defended their title.[27] In December, Goto and Shibata won the 2014 World Tag League, defeating Anderson and Gallows in the finals, to earn another shot at the title.[17]

Wrestle Kingdom 9 was main evented by Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada. Okada obtained his status as the number one contender at Wrestle Kingdom 9 on August 10, 2014, by winning the 2014 G1 Climax tournament.[4] In the following months, he successfully defended his number one contendership against Karl Anderson and Tetsuya Naito.[28][29] Meanwhile, Hiroshi Tanahashi, who had withdrawn from the IWGP Heavyweight Championship picture after unsuccessfully challenging Okada for the title on October 14, 2013, re-entered the picture on September 21, 2014, by challenging A.J. Styles,[30] and on October 13 at King of Pro-Wrestling, defeated him to become the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion and setting up the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 9 between himself and Okada.[31] The match at Wrestle Kingdom 9 would mark the seventh match between Okada and Tanahashi since February 2012 and the second January 4 Dome Show main event between the two; on January 4, 2013, at Wrestle Kingdom 7, Tanahashi had successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Okada.[17][32]

Event

Preliminary matches

The pre-show featured one match, the New Japan Rumble. Tiger Mask IV and Yuji Nagata started the match, with new entrants every minute. The first elimination came when Tama Tonga, eleventh to enter, threw Captain New Japan over the top rope. The Great Kabuki, the last entrant, was disqualified for spraying mist. Both Yoshiaki Fujiwara and later Hiro Saito (both surprise entrants along with Kabuki) were pinned by a group of wrestlers. Sho Tanaka and Yohei Komatsu worked together to pin Taichi and later eliminate Tiger Mask over the top rope. Tanaka submitted to Manabu Nakanishi's torture rack. Tonga pinned Nakanishi and then Komatsu, the latter after a jumping DDT. Yoshi-Hashi threw Tonga over the top rope to leave him and Nagata in the match. Nagata won after using a bridging belly-to-back suplex.[33][34][35]

reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly (front) and Bobby Fish (back)), who entered Wrestle Kingdom 9 as the defending IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions

The first match on the pay-per-view portion of the show saw reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish) defending their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero), Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson). During the bout, Romero hit the Forever Clothesline (multiple corner clotheslines) and double clotheslines on his opponents. A series of dives out of the ring culminated in Kushida diving from the turnbuckles onto his opponents on the floor. Time Splitters followed with a neckbreaker/moonsault combination on Nick, but the pin was broken up at two. The Young Bucks started a Superkick Party (multiple superkicks) and continued with a Meltzer Driver (assisted Tombstone piledriver) to Koslov, but again, the pin was broken up. reDRagon took over with a backbreaker and diving knee drop on Shelley, a double arm DDT and wheelbarrow suplex on Matt, and a super falcon arrow by Fish on Nick. reDRagon's first Chasing the Dragon (kick/brainbuster combination) attempt is countered by an inside cradle by Koslov for a two count, but the second Chasing the Dragon attempt succeeded; thus O'Reilly pinned Koslov to retain the titles.[36][37][38]

Following was a bout featuring the Bullet Club's Bad Luck Fale, Jeff Jarrett and Yujiro Takahashi versus Tencozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Satoshi Kojima) and Tomoaki Honma, who were representing New Japan. Ultimately, Takahashi received a Jarrett guitar shot meant for Honma, then a 3D from Tencozy, and finally Kokeshi (diving headbutt) from Honma; resulting in Honma pinning Takahashi for the win.[36][38]

The third match saw Suzuki-gun's KES (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer), Shelton Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka taking on Toru Yano and the representatives from Pro Wrestling Noah, Naomichi Marufuji and TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste). Smith's powerbomb on Nicholls, Archer's chokeslam of Haste and Benjamin's super overhead belly-to-belly throw of Marufuji were not enough to secure the victory, as the opposing team overwhelmed Iizuka with a low blow by Yano, a double-team gorilla press slam by TMDK and finally a Tiger Uppercut (knee lift) by Marufuji for the pinfall on Iizuka.[17][34][36]

The fourth bout, between Minoru Suzuki and Kazushi Sakuraba, was contested under UWFi rules, meaning that the match would only end by knockout, submission, or referee stoppage. The story of the fight involved Suzuki's injured arm after Sakuraba applied a kimura lock on the entrance ramp. When the duo returned to the ring, Sakuraba targeted Suzuki's injured arm with kicks, stomps and a cross armbreaker submission. However, Suzuki withstood the assault and answered with slaps with his good arm and a running kick to Sakuraba's face. Suzuki applied a rear naked choke and performed a judo throw while maintaining the choke (Saka Otoshi); Sakuraba fought the hold but passed out, so the referee stopped the match in favour of Suzuki. Post-match, the duo shook hands and embraced.[35][36][38]

Next, Tomohiro Ishii defended the NEVER Openweight Championship against Togi Makabe. During the match, there were several strike exchanges, including clotheslines, forearms, shoulder blocks, slaps, headbutts and sledgehammers. The duo also utilized similar moves such as powerslams, powerbombs and German suplexes. Makabe won the match and the title, after a running lariat and then a King Kong Knee Drop from the top rope led to a pinfall.[35][36][39]

The sixth match featured Ryusuke Taguchi putting the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on the line against Kenny Omega of the Bullet Club. Distractions by the Bullet Club's Young Bucks allowed Omega to spray Taguchi in the eyes with an aerosol can on one occasion, and broke Taguchi's ankle lock on Omega later in the match. Omega captured the championship after a snap dragon suplex, a bicycle knee strike, and the One Winged Angel (electric chair dropped into a one-handed driver) resulting in the champion being pinned.[36][38]

The final tag team match of the event, for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, was between the Bullet Club's Karl Anderson and Doc Gallows against challengers, Meiyu Tag (Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata). The champions controlled Goto early in the match, but after Goto tagged in Shibata, all four men battled in the ring. At the end of the match, Shibata kicked Anderson off the ring apron, Meiyu Tag combined for a double-team GTS on Gallows, followed by Shibata hitting the Penalty Kick on Gallows for the pinfall and the tag titles.[35][39]

The eighth bout was between A.J. Styles and Tetsuya Naito. Styles started by quickly trying for his signature Styles Clash, but Naito countered the two attempts, so Styles instead focused on attacking Naito's left leg. Later, Styles applied the Calf Killer submission hold, forcing Naito to grab the rope to break the hold. Another Styles Clash attempt, but Naito countered by throwing Styles over the top rope to the floor. Styles returned to the ring at the count of 19, where-upon Naito tried for a top-rope huracanrana, but Styles blocked and transitioned into a Styles Clash from the second-rope. Styles then pinned Naito for another victory for the Bullet Club.[38][40]

The penultimate match saw Shinsuke Nakamura defending the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Kota Ibushi. Ibushi mocked Nakamura multiple times and used several of the champion's moves, including the corner vibration boot, the reverse powerslam, and the Boma Ye knee strike. Nakamura, who was aggressive in his response, kicked out of the latter move at one. Nakamura used a variety of knee-based offense, while Ibushi's attacks also consisted of a standing corkscrew moonsault, a roundhouse kick, an elevated sit-out powerbomb and a double stomp to the chest. Ibushi later jumped on the top rope, grabbing onto Nakamura on the apron, and German suplexed him back into the ring, but only for a two count. The finishing sequence saw Ibushi getting right back up after receiving a knee from the second rope to the back of the head; both men tried for the Boma Ye, but Nakamura recovered first with a falcon arrow and then the Boma Ye knee. The resulting pinfall meant Nakamura's title retention. Post-match, the duo shared a fist bump.[34][35][36][38]

Main event

The main event saw Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kazuchika Okada. The challenger controlled the early portion of the match, with a hanging DDT onto the floor, Heavy Rain (Death Valley driver) on the entrance ramp, and the D.I.D. submission. After they battled on the top rope, Tanahashi missed High Fly Flow, but countered Okada's Rainmaker. The momentum shifted in Tanahashi's favour as he performed a dragon screw legwhip and continued to attack Okada's leg. Tanahashi later dived off the top rope and over the guardrail with a High Fly Flow crossbody to Okada on the floor. Back in the ring, Tanahashi hit a High Fly Flow crossbody, but Okada rolled through for a Tombstone piledriver, which Tanahashi countered with his own Tombstone. Tanahashi hit a High Fly Flow to Okada's back and then a traditional High Fly Flow frog splash, but Okada kicked out at two for a nearfall.[35][36][41]

Tanahashi next tried to a Rainmaker, which Okada countered with the original Rainmaker, scoring a nearfall on Tanahashi. Okada went for the Rainmaker three more times, but Tanahashi countered each with a bridging straight jacket German suplex, a bridging dragon suplex and finally a series of dragon screw legwhips and three High Fly Flows. The first was a crossbody while Okada was in the ropes, the second was a frog splash to a seated Okada, and the third was another frog splash, after-which Tanahashi scored a pinfall on Okada to retain the title. Post-match, Okada cried as he left the ring, while Tanahashi shouted that Okada had a long way to go before he could become the ace of New Japan. Tanahashi closed the show by thanking the fans and performing his air guitar routine.[35][36][40][41]

Reception

Wrestle Kingdom 9 drew an attendance of 36,000 to the Tokyo Dome,[1] reportedly the biggest crowd for NJPW's annual January 4 Dome Show in 13 years.[42] The event reportedly drew 12,000 to 15,000 buys in North America.[43]

James Caldwell of the Professional Wrestling Torch Newsletter labelled the show as "must-see". In addition to a "fantastic opening video package running down the card", Caldwell rated all the matches out of 5 stars (*****). The NEVER Openweight Championship match was rated ****, a "fantastic match taking the Tokyo Dome to the next level". The IWGP Intercontinental Championship match was rated ****1/2, "a big-time match on a big-time stage, and Ibushi looked the part of a big-time player". The main event was rated a full *****, with Caldwell declaring that, "There's nothing better in the industry than these two on a big stage in a big-time main event. Just the world's best."[38]

Garrett Martin of Paste said that the show "easily could wind up being the best [wrestling show of the year] when the year is done". He also praised Jim Ross, whose "timeless voice cut through the language barrier" for American wrestling fans, which was likened to "reading the first English translation of Homer". Martin felt that the event ending with "a broken Kazuchika Okada shambling tearfully back towards the locker room ... made the moment feel real, confirming that Okada isn’t just a great athlete but a better actor than most who step into the ring, and elevating the entire scripted, choreographed display into something beyond a sport". Overall, Martin felt that New Japan had transcended professional wrestling or puroresu, reaching the heights of "some of the most passionate and poignant performance art today".[3]

In his review, Vaughn Johnson of philly.com felt that, "Everything that was presented to the worldwide audience was simple and didn’t require anyone to know the Japanese language. Good, quality wrestling is a universal language, and I got the message New Japan sent Sunday loud and clear." Johnson predicted that some people were "exposed to a product for the first time where the outcomes of the matches are still important, as Okada showed by openly crying after his loss to Tanahashi" in a main event which was "just as much a spectacle as it was a fantastic match athletic exhibition". Meanwhile, Johnson stated that describing the Nakamura-Ibushi match as "physical would be a gross understatement ... It was brutal to watch at times" but yet "one of the best" he had ever seen. Overall, Johnson praised the event for being "devoid of popcorn matches and silly gimmicks that insult your intelligence", while appreciating commentators Ross and Striker focusing "on the action in the ring and the significance of it instead of cracking jokes and making a million plugs".[44]

Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net felt that despite Wrestle Kingdom 9 being a four-hour show, "time flew by" and it held his "interest from start to finish", and with "an amazing three matches to close the show". The English commentators, Ross and Striker, managed to overall "enhanced the show in their own ways". Powell also stated that, "You can go into this show without knowing a thing about New Japan Pro Wrestling and I would be shocked if you didn't come away thrilled with your purchase."[40]

The Wrestling Observer Newsletter felt that several of the earlier matches were "rushed", but the final two matches were candidates for "match of the year".[34] Jason Namako of wrestleview.com, who watched the Japanese version of the show via New Japan World, declared that the event "proved one thing, puroresu is, beyond a shadow of doubt, indeed ichiban!!"[45]

Aftermath

Commentator Jim Ross would later reveal that the Japanese television producers, TV Asahi, did not contact the English commentary team at any time during the event, so they had to commentate "by our instincts and it seemed to work out pretty well". Ross also said, "Time will tell but if this was my last pro wrestling event, I picked a damn good one on which to go out on."[46]

Bullet Club celebrating at The New Beginning in Osaka, where the stable captured three championships, including A.J. Styles (center, hoisted) becoming the new IWGP Heavyweight Champion

Following his loss against Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 9, Kazuchika Okada entered a "downward spiral" storyline,[47] suffering three losses against Bad Luck Fale in quick succession.[48] Meanwhile, after his win over Tetsuya Naito at Wrestle Kingdom 9, A.J. Styles emerged as the next challenger for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship by pinning Tanahashi in an eight-man tag team match the following day.[47] Styles went on to defeat Tanahashi to become the new champion on February 11 at The New Beginning in Osaka.[49] That same event, Bullet Club also captured two more titles with The Young Bucks winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship and Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson defeating Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata in a rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 9 to regain the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[49]

Another rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 9 was set to take place on February 14 at The New Beginning in Sendai between Togi Makabe and Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight Championship. However, when Makabe was sidelined with influenza, NJPW stripped him of the title and set up another match, where Ishii defeated Tomoaki Honma to win the now vacant title.[50] Ishii and Makabe eventually had their title rematch on April 29, where Makabe regained the NEVER Openweight Championship.[51]

Wrestle Kingdom 9 broke Yuji Nagata's streak of wrestling on 21 consecutive January 4 Dome Shows.[52] Nagata stated in an interview that he felt snubbed, being left on the pre-show, and even thought about quitting.[53] However, the day after the event, he was set up as the next challenger for Shinsuke Nakamura's IWGP Intercontinental Championship,[47] returning to the IWGP main event picture for the first time in years.[53] With fans and fellow veterans Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Manabu Nakanishi and Satoshi Kojima behind him, Nagata received his title shot at The New Beginning in Sendai, but was defeated by Nakamura.[50] Afterwards, Hirooki Goto, fresh off losing the IWGP Tag Team Championship, became Nakamura's next challenger and on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2015 defeated him to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion.[54]

Following the events at Wrestle Kingdom 9, Suzuki-gun declared war on the entire Pro Wrestling Noah promotion for Naomichi Marufuji and TMDK coming to Toru Yano's aid.[55] This led to a major angle at the January 10 Noah event, where Suzuki-gun attacked Marufuji and TMDK at the end of the show.[56] Following the event, all eight members of Suzuki-gun began working regularly for Noah,[57] and by March 15 the stable had completed their takeover of the promotion by capturing all four of its championships with Suzuki becoming the GHC Heavyweight Champion, KES the GHC Tag Team Champions, Taichi the GHC Junior Heavyweight Champion and El Desperado and Taka Michinoku the GHC Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions.[58]

Wrestle Kingdom 9 marked Alex Koslov's second to last appearance for NJPW as on January 9, he announced that he was taking an "indefinite sabbatical" from professional wrestling.[59] In March, Rocky Romero announced he had found himself a new tag team partner in Trent Baretta,[60] and only a month later the team, dubbed Roppongi Vice, captured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.[61]

Results

No.Results[17][38][34]StipulationsTimes[1]
1Yuji Nagata won by last eliminating Yoshi-Hashi15-man New Japan Rumble26:09
2reDRagon (Bobby Fish and Kyle O'Reilly) (c) defeated Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero), Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida) and The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson)Four-way tag team match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship13:01
3Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma defeated Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Jeff Jarrett and Yujiro Takahashi) (with Karen Jarrett and Scott D'Amore)Six-man tag team match05:35
4Naomichi Marufuji, TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste), and Toru Yano defeated Suzuki-gun (Davey Boy Smith, Jr., Lance Archer, Shelton X Benjamin and Takashi Iizuka)Eight-man tag team match05:05
5Minoru Suzuki defeated Kazushi SakurabaSingles match which could only end by knockout, submission or referee stoppage09:21
6Togi Makabe defeated Tomohiro Ishii (c)Singles match for the NEVER Openweight Championship12:23
7Kenny Omega (with Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defeated Ryusuke Taguchi (c)Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship13:20
8Meiyu Tag (Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata) defeated Bullet Club (Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson) (c) (with Amber O'Neal and Tama Tonga)Tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship09:00
9A.J. Styles defeated Tetsuya NaitoSingles match14:25
10Shinsuke Nakamura (c) defeated Kota IbushiSingles match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship20:12
11Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) defeated Kazuchika OkadaSingles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship30:57
(c) – the champion(s) heading into the match

New Japan Rumble

[33][35][62]

Entry Elimination
Order Name Order By Time
1 Tiger Mask IV 9 Komatsu & Tanaka 23:11
2 Yuji Nagata - - Winner
3 Taichi 7 Komatsu & Tanaka 21:40
4 Taka Michinoku 4 Fujiwara 20:15
5 El Desperado 3 Mask & Taichi 12:13
6 Jushin Thunder Liger 2 Mask & Taichi 12:12
7 Sho Tanaka 10 Nakanishi 23:28
8 Hiro Saito 8 Multiple wrestlers 22:20
9 Yohei Komatsu 12 Tonga 24:05
10 Captain New Japan 1 Tonga 11:28
11 Tama Tonga 13 Yoshi-Hashi 24:30
12 Yoshi-Hashi 14 Nagata 26:09
13 Manabu Nakanishi 11 Tonga 23:38
14 Yoshiaki Fujiwara 6 Multiple wrestlers 21:10
15 The Great Kabuki 4 Disqualification 20:15

References

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