Wrestle Kingdom 14 is New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s biggest event of the year and this year it will take place across two nights with two IWGP World Heavyweight championship matches. The event will take place on January 4 and January 5, 2020 at the Tokyo Dome.
On the first night, G-1 Climax winner Kota Ibushi will get his rightful shot at IWGP World Heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada. That night will also feature an Intercontinental title match between Tetsuya Natio and Jay White with the winner going on to challenge the winner of the IWGP match on night two, winner take all.
This is a unique mini-tournament that will crown a double champion and set up what should be a solid two nights of New Japan Pro Wrestling action.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Betting Odds:
NIGHT ONE:
- IWGP Intercontinental Title: Tetsuya Naito (-400) vs. Jay White (+250)
- IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Kota Ibushi (-106) vs. Kazuchika Okada (-134)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi (-230) vs. Will Ospreay (+160)
- Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask (-500) vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi (+300)
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (-177) vs. Suzuki-gun (+125)
- Bullet Club (-190) vs. Chaos (+134)
- IWGP World Tag Team Title: Guerillas of Destiny (-139) vs. FinJuice (+100)
- IWGP United States Championship: Jon Moxley (-200) vs. Lance Archer (+140)
NIGHT TWO:
- Hiroshi Tanahashi (-125) vs. Chris Jericho (-112)
- IWGP Champion: Tetsuya Naito (-230) vs. Kazuchika Okada (+160)
- Jay White (-139) vs. Kota Ibushi (+100)
- Jushin Thunder Liger & Naoki Sano (-250) vs. Ryu Lee & Hiromu Takahashi (-400)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: Roppongi 3K (-200) vs. Bullet Club (+140)
- RevPro Heavyweight Championship:: SANADA (+110) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (-155)
- IWGP United States Championship: Juice Robinson (-205) vs. Jon Moxley (+200)
- NEVER Openweight Championship: Hirooki Goto (-155) vs. KENTA (+110)
NIGHT TWO UPDATE: It’s officially going to be Tetsuya Natio vs. Kazuchika Okada in the winner-take-all match on night two. While I would typically think of Okada in this match-up to truly establish him as the ace of his generation, it just seems like the entire story is building to Naito here. He overcame all of the odds against Jay White and now faces his biggest challenge here. A Naito loss would hurt him more than a win would help Okada/a loss would hurt Okada and I think it’s finally time that New Japan gave the LIJ and Naito fans the moment they cherish.
The line has moved quite a bit on Tanahashi vs. Jericho as the AEW title match being hinted at has really changed the perception. On the one hand, it feels like that could be the opening of that relationship between the two companies. On the other, it could be just a way to make Jericho’s inevitable win sting that much more. I am leaning Jericho here as a loss to Tanahashi would only hurt Jericho’s future options while Tanahashi doesn’t need it whatsoever.
I really can’t be bothered to form much of an opinion on the consolation match between Ibushi and White. Both of these men have a history with Naito that could set up a good rematch down the line. While both also have matches with Okada under their belt. Either option is fine and nothing sticks out.
The Moxley vs. Juice Robinson feels like the culmination of Juice Robinson as a key player in NJPW, but that tag title win has me having second thoughts. Who says that Moxley needs to lose here? He beat Juice once, but it wouldn’t kill anything for him to beat him again. Juice is a tag champion now and Moxley is a star. I know there are thoughts about the US title being a key part of the US expansion, but that’s more theory than fact. I can definitely see Mox retaining here.
My best bet of the night is Hirooki Goto. He needs to win here and he has a strong history at Wrestle Kingdom. I’m not convinced that we ever see the KENTA vs. Shibaata match so this story can get a strong ending with a happy Goto win here.
New Japan’s plans for the double title are so hard to figure out right now. On the one hand, the crowd has been waiting for Tetsuya Naito’s crowning achievement forever. He’s been kept away from Okada for so long that this would be a great time for him to finally get his moment by beating White and then beating Okada to become the double champion.
The only thing that stops me from thinking that is, they know that. They know that is a big match that people are waiting on and if they wanted to make that happen then it would be something that they would build up and advertise for months in advance. This is just a situation where it might happen. That is not quite the same and I am pretty sure we are not getting that straight match without that build.
That said, what will we get? It’s hard to see Okada losing the title on the first night. It’s harder to see Jay White winning on the first night because the Naito fans would be rioting. It’s a tough situation because you don’t quite know what we’ll get. Okada has already avenged his Wrestle Kingdom loss to White and then some. Ibushi winning the title and then wrestling White feels like a solid bet because it’s exactly the kind of thing I could see them doing, but then you realize that would see Okada vs. Naito in a “consolation” match that nobody would care about. That match has been built for too long to be given away in a nothing match like that.
Ibushi vs. Naito is the favorite and it makes a certain amount of sense. These two spent a good portion of last year absolutely killing each other and that is a big time match-up. You could really go either way with the title at that point and set-up a lot of fresh title match-ups. The only thing is that leaves Okada out in the cold and I just don’t see it. I don’t love the tournament idea, but there is a lot of questions that NJPW is going to make some tough decisions on for these matches and that is always fun.
Other big matches are Hiroshi Tanahashi as a big favorite against Chris Jericho. Jericho hasn’t gotten a win in Japan in a long time, but it also doesn’t really matter with him. The AEW of it all complicates things and it’d be great if this led to a match in America between the two, but that seems very unlikely at this point. Feels like Tana is a big favorite for a reason here. That said, Tana’s recent statement that if he wins that he will challenge Jericho in AEW adds an interesting wrinkle to this. Can AEW and NJPW work together to make that happen? Will they?
The same can be said about Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay. It’s hard to imagine Hiromu coming back from that devastating injury only to lose this match. Ospreay is probably ready to move up in weight class at this point too so this would be a good farewell for him.
The United States title situation is interesting. Jon Moxley and Lance Archer are going to go to war in the Texas Death match with the winner getting Juice Robinson on night two. Juice somehow finagled himself into two title shots in two nights, a great spot for him. The betting favorite seems to be Mox on night one and then Juice on night two. It seemed like the plan was always for Juice to beat Mox, but Moxley’s flight delay caused him to vacate the title which led to this scenario.
The best bet(s) on the board has to be going against Jushin Liger in his retirement matches. This guy has been losing all over the place and I don’t see him going for a “happy ending” in his last matches. He wants to help build the future of NJPW and I think he’ll eat some pins on both nights. After all, what would be the point of retiring if you can still win matches? He’s done. Go against him and cry from him on New Year’s Dash at his retirement ceremony.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 Results:
NIGHT ONE:
- Tetsuya Naito (-400) vs. Jay White (+250)
- Kota Ibushi (-106) vs. Kazuchika Okada (-134)
- Hiromu Takahashi (-230) vs. Will Ospreay (+160)
- Jyushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask (-500) vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi (+300)
- Los Ingobernables de Japon (-177) vs. Suzuki-gun (+125)
- Bullet Club (-190) vs. Chaos (+134)
- Guerillas of Destiny (-139) vs. FinJuice (+100)
- Jon Moxley (-200) vs. Lance Archer (+140)
