New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/4/2025 Wrestle Kingdom 19 in Tokyo Dome

New Japan Pro Wrestling 1/4/2025 Wrestle Kingdom 19 in Tokyo Dome

Pre-Show IWGP World Heavyweight Title #1 Contendership New Japan Rambo Match - Satoshi Kojima vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Yuji Nagata vs. Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma vs. KENTA vs. Togi Makabe vs. Josh Barnett vs. Toru Yano vs. Taichi vs. Hirooki Goto vs. Yujiro Takahashi vs. SANADA vs. YOSHI-HASHI vs. Great-O-Khan vs. Alex Zayne vs. Oleg Boltin

Khan and Josh do some grappling then get back up. Josh takes him down and Oleg is next in. Oleg grapples with Josh and throws him down. Josh headlock takeovers him. Oleg headscissors him then goes for the armbar. Khan breaks it up. Goto is next in.

Goto lariats Oleg over then suplexes Khan onto Oleg. Josh spinning heel kicks Goto. Yuji Nagata comes in next. Josh lariats Oleg in the corner. Yuji and Josh trade kicks. Oleg tries to dump Josh over the top and both get eliminated.

Togi Makabe comes in. Yuji and Goto trade in the ring. Yuji hits forearms and boots in the corner. Togi chokes khan with a chain then foot chokes him. Yuji hits kicks on Goto and Togi drops Khan with a punch. Togi chinlocks Khan. Kenta comes out next.

Kenta and Yuji trade forearms. Kenta eye rakes him. Yuji facekicks him. Kenta hits punches on Yuji. Kent facekicks him off the apron for the elimination. Yoshi-Hashi is next in. Kenta and Yoshi trade forearms. Kenta stomps on him then rakes his eyes.

Yujiro Takahashi is next in. Yujiro trips Yoshi from the outside. Yujir corner facekicks Yoshi. Yoshi superkicks Yujiro and sends Kenta into him. Yujiro throws Yoshi over the top after Kenta pulls the rope down.

Toru Yano is next in. Yano pushes Kenta into Yujiro then pulls Kenta to the apron. Yano sends Yujiro into Kenta and Kenta is eliminated by falling off the apron. Yano then rolls up Yujiro and pins him for the elimination. Hiroyoshi Tenzan is next in. Khan hiptosses Togi for 2.

Tenzan hits Khan from behind and boots him. Tenzan hits headbutts on Khan. Tenzan hits mongolian chops on him then chokes him. Satoshi Kojima is next in. Yano gets double teamed by Tenkoji and takes mongolian chops from both. Tnzan misses a corner charge and is rolled up. Tenzan lariats Koji on accident and Yano rolls up Tenzan and pins him.

Tomoaki Honma is in next. Goto gets a 2 count on Khan. Honma misses a falling headbutt on Yano. Honma hits chops on Koji. then clubs on him. Koji takes corner attacks. Sanada is next in. Koji boots on and hits machine gun chops on Sanada. Togi hits corner punches on Sanada. Koji and Togi push each other. Sanada low blows Togi. He tries to eliminate Togi but Togi can't get over the top. Snaada low blows Koji and eliminates him.

Taichi comes in. Sanada sends Tai into the rails. Tomohiro Ishii comes in. Ishii and Honma forearm each other. Honma lariats him then hits a falling headbutt. Ishii hits forearms on Honma. Honma headbutts him, goes for a flying headbutt and takes a forearm. Ishii brainbusters him. Ishii pins Honma.

Alex Zayne is the last entrant in. Tai side kicks Sanada. Sanada makes it seem like Taichi low blowed him and the ref DQ'd Tai. This is after the ref saw Sanada do it earlier and did nothing. Tai facekicks Sanda off the apron for the elimination. They fight outside.

Alex hits a cinammon twist on Goto then pulls Yano over the top for the elimination. Khan puts Ishii on the apron. Alex gets put on there too. Khan pushes Ishii off the apron for the elimination. Alex hits a headlock + snapmare takeover then does a double flipping legdrop. Khan lariats Alex off the apron. 

Khan shoulders throws Goto. Khan pump kicks Goto. Khan hits mongolian chops on Goto. Goto hits a GTR on Goto and throws him onto the apron. Goto lariats Khan off the apron and wins.

Thoughts: It was long and not that good. The wrestling was all pretty weak for the most part and it wasn't that clean. This was not a good way to start things off.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title Ladder Match - Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) (c) vs. Catch 22 (Francesco Akira & TJP) vs. Ichiban Sweet Boys (Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles) vs. BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney)

Clark and Drila came out with girls. They all fight to start. Knight hits a sringboard crossbody on multiple people in the ring. Kevin jumps over a ladder and Kush dropkicks the ladder into 2 people. Kush then does a standing frog splash onto it.  TJP is chaired and Clark rams a ladder into opponents. Kosei takes a high/low chair shot.

Kush knocks Wardogs off the ladder on a double handspring back elbow. Kevin is pushed off the top rope into the ropes. Kevin jumps off the apron and has a chair thrown at his face. A table is put next to a rail. Drilla tries to do an over the shoulder piledriver onto Kush but misses the table.

Akira is on TJP's shoulders on the apron and he is dropped down into a senton on Drilla through a table. Rob hits a standing sliced bread and takes a springboard lariat from Kevin. Clark is laid on a bridged ladder and Rob springboard 450's Clark there. Kosei is put on Akira's shoulders and takes a flying cutter from a ladder. Rob climbs a ladder, TJP springboards onto it. TJP mists him then final cuts him off the ladder through a bridged ladder.

Akira is on Kush's shoulders and takes a Kevin dropkick. Drilla takes a flatliner into the buckles. Kevin is on top of a ladder. He tries to dive onto Drilla while Drilla takes a neckbreaker but mostly misses. Kush throws Kosei off a ladder and he lands chest first in a dangerous bump.

Rob is on like the 2nd rung of a ladder and Kevin jumping hurricanrana's him.  Kevin climbs a aldder and Drilla pushes the ladder over. Drilla and TJP climb a half-bent ladder together. Drilla is pulled into the ladder and falls off.

4 people fight on the ladders. 2 fall off. Akira takes a dragon sleeper while laying on the top of a ladder and Kosei grabs the titles to win the match.

Thoughts: It was your usual ladder match. They had a lot of dangerous spots here. A lot of them weren't hit that clean and I'll be surprised if nobody ended up injured out of this. 2 people would do a spot, one would go down then 1 or 2 people would takeover for most of this one. I didn't like it that much but it was not was boring. This was a spotfest. 

IWGP Women's Title Match - Mayu Iwatani (c) vs. AZM

I really don't think this one should be on the show. It just doesn't fit in.

The girls trade forearms. Mayu spin kicks her in the gut. Mayu is tripped and takes a PK and basement dropkick. AZM runs up the buckles and dives on Mayu outside. AZM la mistica's Mayu. Mayu rolls up AZM for 2. Mayu basement dropkicks her then hits a top rope splash for 2.

Mayu superkicks AZM. Mayu ends up in tree of woe and is double stomped down. AZM top rope double stomps Mayu for 2. AZM superkicks her then gets superkicked. Mayu flying kicks her then hits a top rope dropkick. Mayu misses a top rope moonsault. 

AZM canadian destroyers her then hits a double underhook canadian destroyer for 2. AZM comes off the top and flies into a double boot from Mayu. AZM la mistica's Mayu then gets a 2 count on her. AZM germans her for 1. Mayu germans her in return. AZM rolls her up for 2. Mayu tombstones her. Mayu top rope moonsaults her for 2. Mayu dragon suplexes her for the win.

Thoughts: I hated this. It was a no sell fest with Mayu taking two destroyers on her head and neither meaning anything. It was also rushed. 

NJPW World Television Title  - Ren Narita (c) vs. El Phantasmo vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Ryohei Oiwa

ELP topes Ren outside to start. Cobb and Oiwa shoulder battle and they double shoulder ELP over. Cobb and Oiwa trade forearms. Oiwa hiptosses ELP then shoulders over Cobb. Ren chokes Oiwa, ELP and Cobb. Ren legbars Cobb then Oiwa falling splashes Ren. Oiwa dumps Ren over the top. ELP flying headscissors Oiwa.

ELP walks up the ropes with Cobb's help. Cobb punches him down and he falls on Oiwa and Ren. Cobb tope con hilos onto his other opponents outside. Cobb does a uranage and lariats Ren into the mat. Cobb standing moonsaults Ren. Oiwa gutwrench suplexes Cobb for 2. 

ELP gets stuck up top. We get a 3 person tower of doom spot that ends with ELP getting superplexed. Ren gets 3v1'd. Cobb headbutts Oiwa then dropkicks him. ELP superkicks Oiwa. ELP is caught off a springboard and takes an F-5 from Cobb off of it. Oiwa lariats Cobb. Oiwa doctor bombs Cobb and Ren pulls the ref out on the count. Ren hits Oiwa with a push-up board. Cobb breaks Ren's push-up board. Ren low blows Cobb. Cobb hits a tour of the islands slam on Ren. ELP breaks it up with a springboard swanton, he then dives on Oiwa outside and springboard splashes Ren to win.

Thoughts: It was your usual 4-way here with mostly only 2 people in the ring at various times and people coming in and out at random. They did what they could with it it was watchable but not great.

Lumberjack Match - Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL

Evil had someone play music for him on a keyboard in a reaper costume. Tana side headlocks Evil. They pull each other's hair. Tana back elbows him and 2nd rope twisting crossbodies him. Evil sits in a chair and outside and drinks.

Tana is thrown out and tries to skin the cat. Togo interrupts him and Evil bites the leg. Evil hits a dragon screw variation on Tana. Tana gets stomped on by House of Torture outside. Evil puts a chair around Tana's neck and chairs it. Evil spray paints Master Wato outside.

Evil corner lariats Tana then fisherman suplexes him for 2. Tana dragon screws Evil. Tana flying forearms Evil then knocks House of Torture off the apron. Tana goes for a slingbade and Evil retreats to the ramp. Oleg Boltin carries Evil back in. 

Evil eye rakes Tana then Tana hits a twist and shout. Evil pushes the ref into Tana's way. Tana gets attacked by House of Torture and is chopped in the nuts. Everyones buddies fight in the ring. Wato ends up doing a tope con hilo on the heels. Evil lariats Tana twice. Tana hits an everything is evil on Tana then dragon suplexes him. Tana sling blades Evil for 2.

Tana top rope crossbodies Evil. Tana gets crotched on the ropes when the ref is pushed into the ropes. Tana then gets hit with powder. Evil superplexes Tana. Evil hits darkness falls for 2. Evil sharpshooters Tana. Tana lariats him and hits everything is evil. Tana no sells it and pins him.

Thoughts: It was the usual House of Torture BS here. It was all shenanigans from start to finish with little wrestling. The finish was stupid with Tana no selling Evil's finisher to win.

HoT attack Tana and his buddies after. They go to cut Tana's hair and they all back off from Katsuyori Shibata, who returns to help him. Shibata asks Tana for a match tomorrow if he's not tired. Tana says he's never been tired and says let's do it.

AEW International Title / NEVER Openweight Title Match - Shingo Takagi vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Don Callis is with KT. KT and Shingo hold their titles up at each other. They shoulder battle. KT facekicks him then flying lariats him. Shingo hiptosses him and shoulders him over. Shingo hits forearms then KT forearms him down. KT 2nd rope sentons him for 2. KT flying headscissors him. Shingo pop-up death valley drivers him on the floor.

Shingo superplexes him then sliding lariats him. Shingo hits a big lariat. Shingo exploders him and KT germans him. Shingo backdrops him and KT germans him back. They lariat each other at the same time. KT hits forearms. Shingo forearms him back. KT lariats him then hits a package tombtone. KT then wheelbarrow germans him. Shingo then flips him with a lariat. 

Shingo hits a made in Japan for 2. They lariat each other at the same time. KT flying knees him. KT hurricanrana's him off the top then pumping knees him. KT hits a blue thunder for 2. Shingo hits a last of the dragon. KT poisonrana's him. Shingo poisonrana's him but KT doesn't really even land on his head and he no sells it so who knows if it hit. KT forearms him in the back of the head.

They trade forearms. Shingo headbutts him in the chest, takes a pumping knee then hits his own lariat. KT hits a big forearm for 2. KT hits his spinning falcon arrow and wins.

Thoughts: I hated this. They didn't sell squat here. They no sold so bad at one point that I didn't even know if the attack actually hit. It was all action and big shots but none of it meant anything.

KT goes face to face with Ishii after, who he faces tomorrow.

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match - DOUKI (c) vs. El Desperado

Douki had some kabuki guy for his entrance.

Douki flying headscissors Despy out then topes him into the rail. Despy sends him into the rail then tope con hilos him. Despy hits his legs hard on the rails. Douki sends Despy into the rails. They trade forearms outside.

Despy backdrops Douki for 2. They trade shots and Douki step up enzugiri's him. Despy spinebusters him. Douki goes for the douki chokey and Despy cloverleafs him. Douki is caught on a slingshot and hurricanrana's Despy out. Douki top rope sentons a standing Despy into the rail. Douki holds his elbow after and the match is stopped due to injury.

Thoughts: The spot that caused the injury was stupid. There was no need for it and there was a lot of ways it could have gone wrong. The match was short and wasn't much before it ended. 

Despy is mad even though he won. Despy grabs the mic after. He says he won't say sorry and says this is the result when you put your all into something. He says they will do this again and hopes the fans will be there to see it. 

IWGP Global Heavyweight Title Match - David Finlay (c) vs. Yota Tsuji

Yota came out with a red hat. DF came out with a machine gun.

They lock up and DF hits his forearm into his face. They trade forearms. Yota drives DF's head into the mat. Yota tilt-a-whirl backbreakers him. DF catches Yota's tope and drives him into the apron back first. DF flying shoulders Yota into the rails. DF backbreakers him.

Yota armdrags him then hits his curbstomp combo. Yota hits forearms then shoulders him over. Yota splashes him for 2. Yota hits a flying headscissors. Yota then does a dangerous fosbury flop to the outside.

Yota hits forearms then DF lariats him over the top. DF goes with him. Yota's head is banged off the post. DF uranages Yota through the table. DF throws him in the ring then flying euros him in the corner. Yota suplexes him into the buckles. DF hits a 2nd rope powerbomb for 2. DF hits three dominators in a row. DF hits lariats then Yota flying knees him. DF tries a flying spear and runs into Yota's knee.

DF powerbombs Yota then buckle bombs him. DF hits another powerbomb for 2. Yota hurricanrana's him into the buckles. Yota flying pumping knees him then hits a marlow crash for 2. DF cutters Yota then hits oblivion for 2. 

DF hits a big spear then Yota stunners him out of a suplex attempt. Yota spears DF for 2. Yota hits forearms. Yota curbstomps him. DF hits overkill for 2. Yota hits a knee to the face then powerbombs him. Yota spears him and wins.

Thoughts: They didn't sell much here. Yota went throguh a table, took a 2nd rope powerbomb and a multiple dominators and none of them meant that much. At least Yota got the win and has ended Finlay's reign. The match wasn't that good but they worked better together than some of Finlay's other opponents.

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi

HT wore some giant monster costume out with giant balls bouncing around. Nait wore a snake head mask out.

Naito armdrags him over and poses. HT misses a basement dropkick on him and then takes one. Naito atomic drops him then ties up his arms and head. Naito stomps on him. HT hits chops and Naito spits at him. HT basement dropkicks him for 2.

Naito armdrags him then forearms him over. Naito baseball slides him. Naito neckbreakers him for 2. HT superkicks him then sunset bombs him on the floor. HT hits a death valley driver in the ring for 2. HT germans Naito. HT lariats Naito.

HT hits a nasty time bomb for 2. HT running lariats him. HT lifts him up and Naito hits a destino out of it. Naito hits elbows to the neck then hits a diamond dust. Naito hits another destino. HT blocks a 3rd destino with an emerald flowsion for 2. Naito hits back elbows. HT rolls him up for 2.

HT shotgun dropkicks him. HT then does his own destino. HT hits time bomb 2 for 2. Naito spinebusters him then hits destino for 2. Naito slams him then brainbusters him. Naito then does another destino and wins.

Thoughts: They pretty much skipped the  middle of the match and started doing big moves from the beginning of this. I didn't like this one that much. They really made Naito's destino look weak and I don't think they got as much story out of this as they could have. Naito ended up winning this one as expected.

Naito wants to do the LIJ fist bump after. HT bows to him then does it. 

IWGP Title - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs Shota Umino

To anyone checking this out years from now, this looked really weak on paper. Shota was not a main event plyer in 2024 and everyone thought this was not a Tokyo Dome worthy main. Zack wasn't in a much better situation as was seemingly almost randomly allowed to win the G-1 and title. I just blamed it on a lack of other choices and NJPW not respecting people like Goto.

Shota rode in on a motorcycle. They fight for wrist control early and trade wristlocks. Shota water wheel drops him and Zack gets right back up. Shota pulls his arms back and full nelsons him. Shota hits an armdrag, gets headscissored and ends up doing a basement dropkick to Zack. Shota cravates him and hits elbows to the neck. Zack arm whips him down.

Zack splits the fingers and hits kicks on Shota. Zack armbreakers him and hits euros. Zack cobra twists him. Shota hits a dropkick. Shota running euros him and fisherman suplexes him for 2. Zack is tripped into the ropes and Shota slingshot ddt's him on the apron over the middle rope. Shota sends Zack into the rails. Zack boots him off the rails then Shota shotgun dropkicks him. Shota bridging ddt's him on the floor while he's on the rail.

Shota does a coast to coast dropkick then lifting reverse ddt's him for 2. Zack twists the head with his feet and dropkicks him in the back of the head. Zack kicks Shota in the back. Zack hits boots to the head. They go head to head and trade forearms.

Zack rolling armbars him then armbars him. Zack switches to the triangle. Shota lifts him and slams him down. Shota hits a running euro. Zack dragon suplexes him then lariats him. Shota hits a cross rhodes. They trade shots. 

They trade euros. Shota euros him over. Shota overhead exploders him. Zack chest kicks him down. Shota dropkicks him and Zack PK's him. Shota tornado ddt's him then Zack hits a michinoku driver for 2. Shota back body drops him then lifts him in the air and ddt's him.

Shota hits ignition then spinning double underhook ddt's Zack. Zack twists Shota's leg then leg bars him. Zack figure fours the legs and Shota ropebreaks. Zack stomps Shota's legs. Zack hits leg kicks and dropkicks him in the leg. Shota tornado ddt's him.

Shota running knees Zack in the back of the neck. Shota tries to climb the buckles but falls down due to leg pain. Zack hanging guillotine chokes Shota on the buckles. Shota hits a top rope double underhook suplex.  

Shota stomp flurries Zack's back and pushes the ref away. Shota hits forearms and euros him. Zack hits leg kicks. Shota does revers curb stomps. Zack slaps him. Zack boots and foot slaps him. They trade slaps then slap each other at the same time. Zack slaps him down. Shota pumphandle emerald flowsion's him for 2 and euros him in the back of the neck for 2. Zack ankle locks him. Shota rolls him up for 2. Zack slaps him then is lariated.

Zack hits a michinoku driver for 2. Zack does a gotch style piledriver. Zack then does a cross-legged falcon arrow and wins.

Thoughts: It was a midcard match that went 40+ minutes and main evented The Dome. There was nothing special about this one. There was no great story here or any special logic. There wasn't any blood. There wasn't any big spots. There were no weapons used or anything like that. The crowd wasn't  that hot for it. Zack did some submissions but didn't really go too far with them and Shota just did his usual moveset. It was easily one of the weakest Dome matches ever in quality and in effort. This match should have never main evented The Dome. 

Zack says he'll be waiting for Shota after. Zack says happy new year and to enjoy tomorrow.

Overall thoughts: It was easily one of the weakest Dome shows NJPW has ever produced, on paper and quality wise. The talent's not really there and the booking did these wrestlers no favors. The AEW talent raids just killed the company along with NJPW relying on older names for far too long and not developing enough new wrestlers. 

The main went too long and was just a midcard match with no huge moments or anything you'd expect out of a Dome main event. Naito/Hiromu wasn't that good. Yota/Finlay overdid it though they at least worked okay together. Douki did a stupid move and got himself injured 5 minutes in to his match, ending the match completely. Shingo/Takeshita no sold so much at one point that they invented a new form of no selling. Tana/Evil had the usual shenanigans filled HoT match. The four-way was okay but it was a four-way. The selling was awful in Mayu/AZM and that match shouldn't have even been on the show. They tried in the ladder match but it wasn't great. The rumble wasn't any good and was not that serious.

If I had to rewrite this one, I would have cancelled Wrestle Dynasty. Then all the talent could focus on this show. I'd find a way to get people like Okada, Will Ospreay and Jay White on this. I would have gotten Oiwa into a better match and gotten people like Goto and Ishii in bigger matches. I would have gotten Zack out of the main as well.

I'd give this one a 3 out of 10. It was a poor card on paper and was poor in reality as well. Having another Tokyo Dome show the following day hurt the show further as people didn't want to get injured and not be able to wrestle on it.