{"id":72810,"date":"2019-01-04T01:52:24","date_gmt":"2019-01-04T07:52:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=72810"},"modified":"2019-01-04T06:30:18","modified_gmt":"2019-01-04T12:30:18","slug":"new-japan-wrestlekingdom-13-report-ongoing-results-of-omega-vs-tanahashi-for-iwgp-hvt-title-cody-vs-juice-jericho-vs-naito-for-iwgp-ic-title","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/01\/04\/new-japan-wrestlekingdom-13-report-ongoing-results-of-omega-vs-tanahashi-for-iwgp-hvt-title-cody-vs-juice-jericho-vs-naito-for-iwgp-ic-title\/","title":{"rendered":"New Japan WrestleKingdom 13 Report: Ongoing results of &#8220;Omega vs. Tanahashi for IWGP Hvt. Title, Cody vs. Juice, Jericho vs. Naito for IWGP IC Title"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-2092193282\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h3>NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING &#8220;WRESTLE KINGDOM 13&#8221; REPORT<br \/>\nJANUARY 4, 2019<br \/>\nTOKYO, JAPAN AT THE TOKYO DOME<br \/>\nAIRED LIVE ON NEW JAPAN WORLD AND FITE TV<b><\/b><\/h3>\n<p>Report by Dan Kuester (early matches) and Rich Fann (last four matches)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Announcers &#8211; Don Callis, Chris Charlton and Kevin Kelly<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NEVER Openweight Six-Man Championship No. 1 Contender&#8217;s Match (Pre-show) &#8212; \u00a0Togi Makabe, Toru Yano &amp; Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yuji Nagata, Jeff Cobb &amp; David Finlay vs. Hirooki Goto, Beretta &amp; Chuckie T vs. Minoru Suzuki, Lance Archer &amp; Davey Boy Smith Jr. vs. Hangman Page, Yujiro Takahashi &amp; Marty Scurll: <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I was actually fairly excited about this match replacing the New Japan Rumble as there was a considerable amount of talent involved for a pre-show match. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Well, it took me 25 minutes to get my password reset for NJPW World and even after I was able to get that established, it took me another 15 minutes to get logged in as the server for NJPW World appeared to be overloaded. \u00a0Once, I gave up trying to watch the Tokyo Dome feed and signed into an old show and then tried to get back in for the Tokyo Dome feed, I was able to actually see the feed. I did see Taguchi walking off (in victory?) holding up a chair and heard Kevin Kelly tell the fans they would be back in a while as I got the feed, \u00a0I seem to be unable to rewind the live feed and I am not going to tempt fate as it was VERY frustrating trying to get this feed to work and I do not want to tempt fate with such an amazing card to come. (I was able to confirm on Twitter that Yano scored the winning pin and that he, Makabe and Taguchi were the winning team).\u00a0 Jason Powell has a nice report on this match over at ProWrestling.net with all the details but Yano pinned Smith after a low blow to finish things off.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As we are about 15 minutes from the main show, they are showing the awesome montage of the big matches and stories from 2018 New Japan. \u00a0I\u2019ve seen this a few times and I will still take it over a WWE canned pre-show and it\u2019s not even close.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A friend of mine mentioned it also took him 25 minutes to log into NJPW World. \u00a0While I\u2019m pleased the company is doing so well, this is really unacceptable to not have the capability for subscribers to log in. \u00a0I was so desperate I tried to start a new account with a different email account and that was crashing. I am afraid they are leaving some money on the table this morning.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kevin Kelly and Chris Charlton (who I am thrilled is working this show as he adds a tremendous amount of knowledge and perspective) are back on the air at 5 until 2 AM Central. \u00a0They announced major cards in Dallas and London (August 31) for 2019 and I believe that New Year\u2019s Dash will be in the Dome next year.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-1838134209\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">NEVER Openweight Championship &#8212; Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Ospreay:<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u00a0I went into this match thinking it might be the best opener in the history of wrestling. \u00a0(I also went into this evening thinking there has never been a more stacked lineup for a wrestling card going into an event on paper also, so I&#8217;m pretty fired up for this show)<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This match opened with some rapid-fire offense and competing kicks. \u00a0Ibushi missed a high risk move early and Ospreay was able to land a space flying tiger drop before taking over with some more deliberate offense. \u00a0The announcers are doing a good job of letting the audience know this is Ospreay\u2019s first of many matches in the heavyweight division and that he clearly belongs there.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At about the four-minute mark Ibushi took over with some high flying offense including a missile dropkick. \u00a0This offense is not easy to keep up with, Ospreay landed a flying kick after Ibushi whipped him into the ropes, this is a fascinating match where there is a lot of high flying moves but also efforts at more traditional heavyweight moves where you are wearing your opponent out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They exchanged forearms just after the eight-minute mark and Ibushi got the best of the exchange. \u00a0The announcers have sold that Ibushi is controlling most of the offense although it seems fairly close to 50-50 to me. They kept reversing piledriver and Spanish fly attempts in a pretty amazing series of spots before Ospreay scored with the Spanish Fly. \u00a0He follows up with a vicious crescent kick to the head but then Ibushi reversed offense with a terrific rana.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ibushi with a Nakamura type Bomaye at the 11-minute mark. \u00a0This led to a close near fall after more offense by Kota (again this is not easy to keep up with!). \u00a0Ospreay knocked Kota off the top rope and Ibushi was stuck upside down but in an awesome spot, they exchanged slaps while Ibushi was stuck upside down in the corner!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ibushi reversed Will\u2019s offense from the top rope and landed a double stomp while Ospreay was spread out on the top rope. \u00a0He followed up with a (failed) belly to back from the middle rope which Will reversed a la the amazing tag match with Kenny and Tana a few weeks ago. \u00a0An awesome spot there and Kota sold it incredibly well. Kota landed the straight jacket for a near fall at the 16-minute mark. Great near fall off a package type piledriver by Kota at 17 minutes. \u00a0Will follows up the kick out with a vicious blow from behind to the back of the head (follow up to the Bomaye). Ospreay follows up with a storm breaker (Ibushi sold being out before this move) for the clean pin at the 18-minute mark.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This match told a great story and the offense was pretty amazing non-stop action but also some good selling. \u00a0I would have liked to have seen this go another five to ten minutes and the story was certainly set up to really push Ospreay as a legit heavyweight which I am all for. \u00a0I had enormously high hopes for this match and maybe it wasn\u2019t quite to that match of the year level but great overall offense and selling.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship &#8212; Yoshinobu Kanemaru &amp; El Desperado (c) vs. Roppongi 3K vs. BUSHI &amp; Shingo Takagi: <\/span><\/i><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-942781340\" class=\"pwtor-content-1 pwtor-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: pwtorchcom_test_300x600 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __300x600\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x600\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They started the match with a wide camera shot to show the back and forth diving offense by the various teams particularly Sho and Yo. \u00a0I thought this was a bit distracting. Sho and Yo were on most of the offense against the champs in the early going.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sho and Yo continued to dominate offense for the first five minutes before Shingo Takagi became involved and took over with some more powerful offense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Takagi hit Last of the Dragon on Sho and that was the end of the match at about the seven-minute mark. \u00a0This match was obviously too short to really get going but Takagi was pretty awesome on offense. They told a story where Kanemaru and Desperado were completely out of the match and were not involved in the finish which is kind of unusual for the champs in New Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RevPro British Heavyweight Championship &#8212; Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.: <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">My guy Taka Michinoku is doing his usual amazing job as the Hype Man. \u00a0I love this guy. ZSJR was so on fire after the New Japan Cup last year, I hope this match gets him moving back in that direction.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ishii tried an aggressive kick to open things up but he was too slow for Zack who took over and immediately hit a kick and started stretching Tomohiro. \u00a0Ishii had to get to the ropes for a break very early on in the match (just over one minute). Continued dominance on offense by Zack as there was another rope break at the three-minute mark. \u00a0Ishii finally gets on offense and works over ZSJR\u2019s ankle and then ran him over as if he were a tank. Ishii with some continued high impact offense along with a really impressive belly to belly. \u00a0Ishii hit an impressive superplex but ZSJ was able to take that shot and work over the arm of Tomohiro as the match hits six minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zack turns a submission hold into a suplex for an impressive looking near fall at seven and a half minutes in. \u00a0He followed up with the PK but could not hit the Zack driver. They then exchanged blows in the center of the ring and Ishii got the best of that as one might expect. \u00a0After some back and forth offense Ishii landed two vicious clotheslines. Some great mat wrestling showed that Ishii is amazingly athletic for the tank type guy that he is.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ZSJR locked in one of his amazing submission moves (I\u2019ll have to defer to Sean or Rich for the proper call on this) that I would best call a double octopus type move and Ishii TAPS OUT! \u00a0This made perfect sense because that was some vicious offense The match only went about 12 minutes but it was pretty great and the sudden ending made perfect sense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Man, I loved this match. \u00a0I do not feel I am doing justice to the amazing submission style wrestling that took place here coupled with HARD hitting action.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IWGP Tag Team Championship &#8212; Guerrillas of Destiny (c) vs. EVIL &amp; Sanada vs. The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson): \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">They gave the Guerrillas the full ring entrance and they wore some sort of Deadpool inspired gear on and all of their friends (such as Fale) accompanied them to ringside. \u00a0Chris Charlton pointed out the new \u201cGood Guy\u201d persona Tama Tonga has taken on on Twitter which is pretty funny.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tama Tonga tried to shake the hands of his opponents but no one was willing to partake. \u00a0However, Evil used this as a way to tag himself in the match. Matt Jackson got hit with a clothesline by Evil on the entrance ramp and the assumption is that his back is pretty messed up yet again<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nick had Evil in the Boston Crab and Tama Tonga (the Good Guy!) convinced his Tonga Loa not to break it up and he encouraged Evil to break the hold fair and square! \u00a0(pretty clever I think). Evil was able to tag in Sanada who took over offense on Nick Jackson who was then able to tag to Tama Tonga. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the six-minute mark, Sanada took over with some great flying offense outside the ring. \u00a0After some rapid tags, Matt Jackson hit a spear on Tonga Loa, Matt is still selling the back pretty obviously here. \u00a0After more rapid-fire offense, Nick Jackson hit a 450 on Sanada. Bad Luck Fale did interfere in the match but he was knocked out of the ring in pretty short order. \u00a0Jado was also interfering but the Bucks hit a SuperKick on him. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Evil and Sanada took over on offense at about the nine-minute mark and quickly knocked the Bullet Club out of the ring before hitting Matt Jackson with some pretty impressive double team offense and scored the clean pin at about the ten-minute mark after a Sanada Magic Killer and Moonsault. \u00a0Kevin Kelly points out that LIJ is 2-0 on the night so far.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Again, overall a very good match given the time constraints and given the fact that this match probably wasn\u2019t going to feature the Young Bucks all that strongly.\u00a0 I&#8217;m actually pretty interested in the &#8220;Good Guy&#8221; Tama Tonga and for the second time tonight the champs have lost the tag belts without being involved in the actual pin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At this point, the Torch Coverage is going to tag in Rich Fann although I will try to add a comment or two to his match summaries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IWGP United States Championship &#8212; Cody (c) vs. Juice Robinson: <\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Match started with a Cody sneak attack before the bell, which Juice countered. After another exchange, Cody came up lame on his knee, but Juice didn\u2019t relent, pressing on the gas and nailed a Juice Box. Instead of a pin, Robinson went to the top rope, which gave Brandi Rhodes an opportunity to cover Cody and protect him from Juice\u2019s attack. Moving to the apron, Cody and Juice traded attempts at their finishers on the hardest part of the ring, with Juice finally thrown into the post and to the floor. Back in the ring, Cody took control, and Kevin Kelly noted that both Cody and Brandi are wearing Jacksonville Jaguars colors due to their association with AEW and the Khan family. While Tiger Hattori is distracted with Cody, Brandi hits her bionic spear and mounted Juice. Tiger escorted Brandi out of the ring and ejected Brandi. In-ring, Cody hit Cross Rhodes for a 2.5 count, then attempted Din\u2019s Fire &#8211; which Juice finally countered out of and hit a Cross Rhodes on Cody for a long 2 count. After he preened a little, Cody hits Juice with a slightly less effective Juice Box for a 2 count. Kelly chimed in at this point, and noted that win or lose, Cody would be receiving meniscus surgery on his knee and pushed through for this defense.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A punching exchange led to a Left Hand of God by Juice, but before he could hit it Cody superkicked him. Another attempt by Cody is blocked, and Juice hit Pulp Friction. Instead of a pin, Juice picked Cody up for another Pulp Friction for the pin and the IWGP U.S. Championship. Good if short match, but given Cody\u2019s injury it made sense to be short and sweet. The constant references to AEW and Chris Charlton going as far as to say during the match it could be interpreted as an interpromotional affair could bode well for an AEW\/New Japan relationship long-term<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Winner: Juice Robinson by pinfall in 9:06 via Pulp Friction<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kuester Adds: \u00a0I agree with Rich on the prominent mentions of AEW which I find encouraging. \u00a0Also, I liked seeing the more mature and vicious Juice even though he is still clearly a good guy but it seems like he has progressed since winning the U.S Title the first time.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IWGP Jr. Heavyweight. Champion KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Pre-match, a fun open for champion KUSHIDA, with a child in a KUSHIDA mask being sold as his past self there for the match. After \u201cDoc Brown\u201d (Taguchi) made a few changes to the dial, out came full adult KUSHIDA, ready to defend his title.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After the bell, it was fast and furious with both Ishimori and KUSHIDA exchanging quick attacks, with Ishimori having KUSHIDA locked in a Labell Lock in the middle of the ring. After KUSHIDA escaped, he was eventually trapped on the second rope, which was compounded by Ishimori sliding under KUSHIDA for a sliding german suplex. Ishimori wasn\u2019t able to capitalize, however, as KUSHIDA slipped a keylock on to work on Ishimori\u2019s arm. At every turn, KUSHIDA\u2019s attempts to push the pace were thwarted by the power of Ishimori, until a mishap involving the referee gave KUSHIDA room to punt Ishimori\u2019s arm and work his style again. A partial Hoverboard Lock by KUSHIDA was reversed and powered into a Death Valley Driver by Ishimori, again highlighting the challenger\u2019s sheer power in his \u201cmuscle hamster\u201d frame. KUSHIDA hit a Back to the Future, and attempted to double up on the move, but Ishimori powered out. KUSHIDA hit his punch, but another attempt at Back to the Future failed. Ishimori hit Bloody Cross for the win and the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight title. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Winner: Taiji Ishimori by pinfall in 10:42 via Bloody Cross<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Kuester <\/em>Adds:<em>\u00a0 Good match, I liked the mat based focus at times.\u00a0 If Kushida is off to WWE I hope they give him a great opportunity to excel.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Clad in white and escorted to the ring by Gedo, Jay White looked like a million bucks walking down to the ring in preparation for his match with Okada. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No t-shirt, no balloons, All Rainmaker as Okada makes his way to the ring. Clad back in his traditional garb, though with a new chain and rope, Okada oozed confidence that befits the former 720 day IWGP Champ. Kevin Kelly noted that in his pre-match chat with Okada, the Rainmaker noted that Jay White was the toughest foreigner in the company &#8211; tougher than Jericho or Omega. The crowd erupted when Okada de-robed and it was seen that he was back in his traditional shorts and not the \u201cOkada Pants\u201d he was known for post-title match. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">At the bell, both competitors sized each other up, with Okada with the advantage, until a trip on an irish whip by Gedo gave Switchblade the edge. A Saito suplex over the top by White dumped Okada to the floor, where Jay White whipped Okada into the guard rail several times. In ring, a cravate by White was fought out of by Okada. White tried to preen in front of Okada after a corner exchange in his favor and ate a slap by the Rainmaker. While Okada had taken over control of the match, Don Callis noted that Okada\u2019s offense is similar to Bret Hart, in that you know what\u2019s coming but the lethality is in how well the practitioner does them. White took a powder to the outside, which gave Gedo an opportunity to try and sneak up on Okada. Okada saw this coming however and hit a cross body on both Gedo and White. Back into the ring, Okada hit an elbow from the top and the Rainmaker pose, another sign the full Rainmaker had returned. White reversed a Rainmaker attempt and hit a hellacious uranage for a 2 count. Gedo slid a steel chair to the side of the ring and tried to get the ref\u2019s attention, however Okada shoved White (with chair) into Gedo and nailed two beautiful dropkicks. Another Rainmaker attempt was countered by White, this time into a suplex that dumped Okada onto his head.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Kiwi Crusher attempt got 2.5 for White, and a Blade Runner was reversed by Okada into the Tombstone piledriver. Back to their feet, a dropkick by Okada was missed, which led to a sequence of a Blade Runner into a backslide Rainmaker attempt and ending with dropkick by Okada. At this point, both men just countered everything, with a discus Rainmaker finally hitting White. Another Rainmaker attempt is countered and White hit the Blade Runner for a stunning win. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Winner: Jay White by pinfall in 14:18 via Blade Runner<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Kuester Adds:\u00a0 I loved the match but I would have changed that finish on the fly.\u00a0 Okada was MEGA over and at the big card of the year I think send the crowd home happy when in doubt.\u00a0 This crowd was ready to explode in support of Okada.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jericho is known now as \u201cThe Alpha\u201d Chris Jericho in his ring announcement, and the jacket he\u2019s worn to the ring needs to be seen &#8211; as it\u2019s the best of Road Warriors x Motley Crue. Charlton notes that Naito has learned from prior exchanges with Jericho, already out of his LIJ suit and ready to wrestle, \u201cno longer tranquilo\u201d and that point is further proven by Naito hitting Jericho before the bell and dumping him outside. Because the wrestlers wouldn\u2019t listen, Red Shoes started the match as the brawl continued outside. Naito dumped Jericho on his head with a delayed piledriver on the stage and dragged the Fozzy frontman to the ring. Don Callis noted that Jericho changed wrestling last year walking away from the WWE and reinventing himself in New Japan. Charlton noted that Jericho has also colored the title in a way similar to Nakamura, as Naito removed a ring pad and hit Jericho with it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Naito dumped Jericho outside, then attempted his Tranquilo fake dive, going a step further and instead attempted a true dive, which Jericho countered with a kendo stick shot to the head. Now in command, Jericho peppered Naito with shots, and looked at Masahiro Chono at ringside commentating for the Japanese feed and asked, \u201cdo you like that sh-t?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Naito tried to fire back, but Jericho still had the kendo stick so that was short lived. Jericho dropped the kendo stick long enough to hit his springboard dropkick, which Callis noted he first debuted in 1993 in Japan. Jericho bounced Naito off the floor with a dropkick, then sent the announcers running as he hit a spike DDT on Naito on the announce table, which did not break.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jericho rang the bell and declared himself the winner, which Red Shoes and the crowd vociferously disagreed with. A lionsault gets two, and Kelly noted that there\u2019s a hole where Naito landed on the table, and Kelly mentioned that Austin and The Rock, two equals of Jericho \u201carguably\u201d couldn\u2019t put together combined the 20 years without injury Jericho has wrestled. Naito absorbed kicks to the face from Jericho to spit in Jericho\u2019s face and hit a neckbreaker from the corner for a near fall. With Jericho down, Naito stepped on his head and spat again, doing his LIJ pose. Jericho countered a gabron attempt into a Walls of Jericho, which Naito fought out of and stopped a Code Breaker attempt by Jericho as a follow-up. Naito hit Gloria for a two count, and his Destino attempt was countered into a Walls of Jericho, dragged back to the center of the ring after attempting to touch the ropes (which shouldn\u2019t matter in a no DQ match?) and Naito escaped with the still in ring kendo stick. Now with the stick, Naito extracted some payback with shots of his own on Jericho. Naito wound up like a baseball player to hit a home run off the dome of Jericho, but Jericho countered with a Code Breaker for a 2.4 count. Jericho left the ring and dumped 8 chairs into the ring. An attempted powerbomb onto the chairs by Jericho turned into a Naito DDT of Jericho onto the chairs, and then a Naito Code Breaker for a near 3 fall. Jericho tried to suplex Naito, but ate a German suplex onto the chairs, and a Jericho shove of Red Shoes allows Jericho to kick low Naito and hit a Code Breaker for a 2.9 count. Jericho left the ring to grab the Intercontinental title, screamed, \u201cyou want to be champ you son of a bitch?\u201d and ran at Naito with the title. Naito threw Jericho into the exposed turnbuckle from earlier head first and nailed a Destino for a nail-biting long 2 count. Naito hits Jericho with the belt, chucked it into the ringside area and hit another Destino for the win and the IWGP Intercontinental championship. \u201cThe global superstar has been ground to dust by the Star Dust Genius\u201d yelled Charlton.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Winner: Tetsuya Naito by pinfall in 22:30 via Destino<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kuester Adds: \u00a0Well that was really great. \u00a0A super face\/heel dynamic. I really should have had higher expectations for that match.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega vs. G1 Climax 28 Winner Hiroshi Tanahashi<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Omega and Tanahashi started the match with a typical rope exchange that would end with minor pats to the chest\/face, but Tanahashi had different ideas. When Omega patted him on the cheek, Tanahashi returned fire with a live round slap to Omega\u2019s face. Tanahashi then moved to the ground, getting Omega into an Indian deathlock and exchanged slaps to the face until a rope break ended the hold. At this point Charlton and Callis noted that Omega and Tanahashi come from different \u201cages\u201d of New Japan &#8211; Tanahashi holding on and dragging New Japan from the \u201cdark ages\u201d \u00a0into the current era, with Omega being the man of this current era. Omega and Tanahashi continued to go shot for shot with forearms, slaps and punches, and Omega gained the advantage after a high angle back suplex. Tanahashi rolled outside, which opened him up to Omega hitting another back suplex on the ring apron and then dumped Tanahashi into the announce area, hitting Milano Collection A.T. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Tanahashi incapacitated, Omega pulled a table out from under the ring. Before he could do damage with it, Tanahashi assaulted him and, rather than putting Omega on the table, threw him into the ring, showing he wasn\u2019t going to stoop to those tactics to win the title. Both competitors went back to haymaker shots in the center of the ring, and ended with Tanahashi on target with a Slingblade like spin punch to Omega\u2019s head. Omega tried to kick Tanahashi away, but received a dragonscrew legwhip. Tanahashi followed with his somersault senton and a two count, but his Slingblade attempt was blocked and Omega hit a Kotaro Crusher which spilled Tanahashi to the outside. Before Omega could hit his Rise of The Terminator, Tanahashi got back into the ring and hit a dropkick to the boos of many in the crowd. Tanahashi couldn\u2019t rest on his laurels, as Omega hit a snap frankensteiner and hit Rise of the Terminator. It was not a total success, as Omega\u2019s flight path hit both Tanahashi and the hard ramp area. Instead of taking the count out, Omega rolled Tanahashi under the bottom rope and into the ring, and followed with a dropkick from the top rope to the back of Tanahashi\u2019s head. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Omega hit a pair of snap dragon suplexes, with Tanahashi standing up each time. A V-Trigger put Tanahashi down, but Omega\u2019s follow up of a One-Winged Angel was countered. The sequence ended with a \u201cYou Can\u2019t Escape\u201d by Kenny Omega, which was stopped pre-flip by Tanahashi (due to Omega\u2019s knee going out prior to hitting the corner) and Tanahashi hit the nastiest dragonscrew legwhip I\u2019ve seen in a while from the corner to the mat. With Omega down at the 20-minute mark Tanahashi locked in a Texas Cloverleaf, that he transitioned to a Styles Clash for a near fall. From there, the Ace of the Universe went for a High Fly Flow, but Omega got his knees up at the last nanosecond. With Tanahashi in the corner, Omega went for a V-Trigger and missed, crashed into the turnbuckle and writhed in pain. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After both attempted to leave the ring to the floor, Tanahashi caught Omega\u2019s leg and dragonscrew whipped it in the ropes, and then a Slingblade onto the ring apron. With Omega incapacitated, Tanahashi put him on the previously set up table, and failed to hit a High Fly Flow from the top rope through the table as Omega moved. With Tanahashi out on the floor, Omega again decided against winning via count out and rolled Tana back into the ring. While Tanahashi was draped on the ropes, Omega hit a double stomp, and then several Tenryu-like powerbombs, each to 2 counts. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After both men went down during another exchange, Omega hit Tanahashi with a Slingblade and High Fly Flow. Tanahashi kicked out at one and then ate a reverse rana after another V-Trigger\/Slingblade attempt exchange ended in Omega\u2019s favor. Tanahashi got himself near the ropes and received another V-Trigger, but gave a reverse rana of his own when Omega went yet again for the One-Winged Angel. Tanahashi\u2019s dragon suplex to follow only got a two count, and the two High Fly Flows he hit in succession resulted again in an Omega kick out. Tanahashi attempted to go to the top rope again, but Omega hit a V-Trigger and then a super dragon suplex off the top for a near fall and the gasps of the audience and announcers alike. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The finishing sequence led with another One Winged Angel attempt that was countered with a combination of a Famouser\/Knee to Face and Tanahashi followed with a Slingblade and High Fly Flow to become the 8-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Both Omega and Tanahashi laid on the mat for several moments before Tanahashi rose to accept his prize and thank the 39,000+ that attended. By match end even Callis, an admitted \u201chomer\u201d for Omega could only smile and acknowledged the greatness of the Ace of New Japan. It is also notable that, like his prior feud with Okada, despite the loss at no point did Tanahashi receive a One Winged Angel. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Winner: Hiroshi Tanahashi by pinfall in 39:13 via High Fly Flow<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kuester Adds: That was an epic match and a fitting end to a tremendous card and a tremendous story of Tanahashi going from appearing to be one step behind the championship level of wrestlers to once again being the Ace of New Japan. \u00a0To be able to watch this card on NJPW World (and no doubt a compelling New Year\u2019s Dash show tomorrow) for about $9 makes this show a strongly recommended show easily.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-1855192056\"><div id=\"pwtor-4123368128\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>NEW JAPAN PRO WRESTLING &#8220;WRESTLE KINGDOM 13&#8221; REPORT JANUARY 4, 2019 TOKYO, JAPAN AT THE TOKYO DOME AIRED LIVE ON NEW JAPAN WORLD AND FITE TV Report by Dan Kuester (early matches) and Rich Fann <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2019\/01\/04\/new-japan-wrestlekingdom-13-report-ongoing-results-of-omega-vs-tanahashi-for-iwgp-hvt-title-cody-vs-juice-jericho-vs-naito-for-iwgp-ic-title\/\" title=\"New Japan WrestleKingdom 13 Report: Ongoing results of &#8220;Omega vs. Tanahashi for IWGP Hvt. Title, Cody vs. Juice, Jericho vs. Naito for IWGP IC Title\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,542],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tvshowsandevents","category-new-japan-ppvs"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2019\/01\/IMG_1781.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72810"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72822,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72810\/revisions\/72822"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}