New Japan Pro Wrestling stood victorious over Pro Wrestling NOAH on Saturday. The final night of Wrestle Kingdom 16 saw NJPW clash with NOAH wrestlers in a special charity event in Yokohama. With a record of 6 wins, 4 losses, and 1 tie, NJPW won bragging rights until the next time these two promotions clash.
The night was a chance for young upstart Kaito Kiyomiya’s chance to get his hands on Kazuchika Okada, a match that Kiyomiya has been talking about since the beginning of the pandemic. Kiyomiya came up short, falling to a Rainmaker lariat and leavin Yokohama Arena in tears; crying on the shoulder of Keiji Mutoh.
世界よ、これが日本のプロレスだ❗️
?第九試合?
ダブルメインイベントⅡ 60分1本勝負【#新日本プロレス】#オカダ・カズチカ#棚橋弘至
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【#プロレスリング・ノア】#武藤敬司#清宮海斗勝利を掴んだのは…？！?#プロレスのチカラ @njpw1972 @noah_ghc
— ABEMA(アベマ) (@ABEMA) January 8, 2022
Los Ingobernables de Japon went to war with NOAH’s Kongo in the semi-main event. The two most popular factions in Japan had a blistering half-hour battle that saw former IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi get LIJ the win in the important semi-main event.
The biggest shock of the evening was the replacement for the injured KENTA. KENTA was supposed to team with Takashi Sugiura and Kazushi Sakuraba, but was taken out of action by the brutal No DQ match with Hiroshi Tanahashi on January 5th. His replacement was NJPW’s Toru Yano.
Yano switched sides to NOAH for one night, helping Sugiura-gun to victory against Suzuki-gun. The win was a modicum of revenge for Minoru Suzuki winning Yano’s beloved KOPW 2022 provisional trophy.
Here are the full results:
1/8
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 in Yokohama
Will be available on NJPWWorld.com and Wrestle Univese in 1 week
- Opening Match: Kosei Fujita wrestled Yasutaka Yano to a Time Limit Draw. (10:00)
- Opening Match: Yuji Nagata, Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima def. Muhammad Yone, Akitoshi Saito & King Tany by pinfall. (12:18)
Satoshi Kojima pinned King Tany via Lariat. - Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato def. Daisuke Harada, Hajime Ohara, Daiki Inaba, Yioshiki Inamura & Kinya Okada by submission. (11:42)
YOSHI-HASHI submitted Kinya Okada via Boston Crab. - SHO def. Atsushi Kotoge by pinfall via hitting him with a wrench. (8:20)
- HAYATA & Seiki Yoshioka def. Taiji Ishimori & Gedo by pinfall. (5:59)
HAYATA pinned Gedo via Headache. - El Desperado & DOUKI def. YO-HEY & NOSAWA RONGAI by pinfall. (9:09)
El Desperado pinned NOSAWA RONGAI via Pinche Loco - Takashi Sugiura, Kazushi Sakuraba & Toru Yano def. Minoru Suzuki, TAKA Michinoku & Taichi by pinfall. (9:37)
Takashi Sugiura pinned TAKA Michinoku via Olympic Slam. - Go Shiozaki & Masa Kitamiya def. EVIL & Dick Togo by pinfall. (9:53)
Go Shiozaki pinned Dick Togo via Gowan Lariat. - Yoshinari Ogawa & Naomichi Marufuji def. Zack Sabre Jr. & Yoshinobu Kanemaru by pinfall. (15:20)
Naomichi Marufuji pinned Yoshinobu Kanemaru via Shiranui. - Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, SANADA & BUSHI def. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kenoh, Manabu Soya, Tadasuke & ALEJA by pinfall. (26:33)
Shingo Takagi pinned Tadasuke via Last of the Dragon - Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi def. Keiji Mutoh & Kaito Kiyomiya by pinfall. (24:34)
Kazuchika Okada pinned Kaito Kiyomiya via Rainmaker.
NJPW will return on January 20th at 4:30am ET for New Years Golden Series on NJPWWorld.com
