On a new Big Audio Nightmare, Mike Sempervive and I are here to talk the latest news and happenings around the Japanese professional wrestling landscape.
Topics include:
Wrestle Kingdom 16 night 3 and where the NJPW vs. NOAH story goes from here
Wrestling Observer Hall of Fame talk on Okada, Ishii, Ibushi, Naito and others
NOAH’s upcoming shows that include a major GHC Heavyweight Title match in February
Stardom’s next major show and how that will set up their next few months
The incredible Taichi vs. DOUKI match
All that and more right here on the original alternative: Adam & Mike’s Big Audio Nightmare.
It’s a special Sunday edition of Speak Now Pro Wrestling as I review not one but two shows in a super fun, lively and opinionated podcast.
At the top of the show, I recap Saturday’s AEW Battle of the Belts followed by a review of Wrestle Kingdom 16 night three which featured matches between New Japan Pro Wrestling vs. Pro Wrestling NOAH.
I will return for my normal slate of shows this week which includes NXT 2.0 on Tuesday, AEW Dynamite on Wednesday and joint AEW Rampage/WWE SmackDown coverage on Friday.
It’s a Pacific Rim tradition when Fumi Saito and Dave Meltzer get together and give their overall thoughts on Wrestle Kingdom.
In talking about Wrestle Kingdom 16, we focus specifically on the main events and the Tanahashi-KENTA match. Is NJPW relying too much on Americanized tricks and shortcuts? Is that what the audience wants from New Japan?
We also talk about NOAH, Stardom, Strong Kobayashi and more. Just click below to listen.
The WWE’s road to WrestleMania took a detour on 1/1 due to COVID-19, but the original plans on the final destination are said to be still in play.
Roman Reigns tested positive for COVID-19, with the WWE reporting it hours before the show started. The decision was made to move Brock Lesnar into the WWE title match and make it a five-way. Lesnar won the match, pinning champion Big E after an F-5, none of which was part of the original plans.
The belief is that Reigns vs. Lesnar, the match that was to headline the WWE’s first Day 1 show at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta, is still on top as the main match for the 2022 WrestleMania.
The original plan was for Reigns vs. Lesnar to headline for the Universal title. One would think it would be Lesnar defending since what would have made the most sense was Paul Heyman in some form costing Reigns the title. Instead, on Raw on 1/3 in Greenville, Heyman was back as being the advocate for Lesnar without any kind of dramatic angle. From there they could go a number of different ways, although long-term it makes more sense for Reigns to be a long-term champion simply because he’s full-time and Lesnar isn’t.
Due to injury, KENTA is off night three of Wrestle Kingdom 16.
NJPW has announced that KENTA is unable to compete at the final night of Wrestle Kingdom 16 due to sustaining multiple injuries. KENTA has a dislocated left hip, a broken nose, tendon damage to his finger, and several lacerations to his back.
“After his match on January 5 in the Tokyo Dome, KENTA has sustained a dislocated left hip, a broken nose, tendon damage to his finger, and severe lacerations to his back,” NJPW wrote.
“As a result, he will not be cleared to participate at Wrestle Kingdom 16 in Yokohama Arena Saturday January 8. We apologise to fans who were looking forward to seeing KENTA wrestle, and appreciate your understanding.”
KENTA lost the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship to Hiroshi Tanahashi in a no disqualification match at Wrestle Kingdom 16 night two. Near the end of the match, there was a scary moment where KENTA was sent off a ladder and his face was busted open when he hit a trash can. Tanahashi then won the match by giving KENTA a High Fly Flow off a ladder and through a table.
KENTA was set to team with Takashi Sugiura & Kazushi Sakuraba in a six-man tag match against Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & Taka Michinoku at Wrestle Kingdom night three. A mystery partner will be replacing KENTA in the match.
NJPW vs. Pro Wrestling NOAH is the theme of Wrestle Kingdom night three. The show, which begins at 3 a.m. Eastern time this Saturday, will be available via Abema pay-per-view.
NJPW’s Katsuyori Shibata went off-script in his return to the ring at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16.
According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, Shibata’s impromptu promo before his match with Ren Narita was indeed Shibata calling an audible and going forward with a different match than was planned.
“Everybody was freaking out backstage, nobody knew what was going on. This includes, like, the main people in the company, like [NJPW booker] Gedo and stuff like that. They didn’t know,” said Meltzer.
“He absolutely, 100 percent, nobody, I mean it’s possible somebody knew this, but nobody essentially knew Shibata was going to go out there and do a real match.”
Shibata vs. a mystery opponent was announced for night one of Wrestle Kingdom on January 4, with the opponent turning out to be Shibata’s LA Dojo student Ren Narita. It was announced that the match would be held under catch wrestling rules, with no strikes allowed. Shibata took the microphone before the bout began and declared that the match would now be held under regular pro wrestling rules.
“100 percent. He went out there, he told the ref and he told the fans that we’re going to do a regular match, and they went and did a regular match,” Meltzer said.
Aside from a five-minute grappling exhibition against Zack Sabre Jr. at the G1 Climax finals in October 2021, the Wrestle Kingdom bout was Shibata’s first match since suffering a life-threatening subdural hematoma in a match with Kazuchika Okada in April 2017.
Jeff Cobb suffered a knee injury at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer said that Cobb hurt his knee on night one of Wrestle Kingdom in a six-man tag where Cobb, Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan faced Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and BUSHI.
“Cobb’s knee was definitely hurting in the match, even though it really got hurt more the second day,” Meltzer said.
Cobb then took on Naito in a singles match on night two of the event, where Meltzer again said Cobb’s knee was hurt.
“Cobb got injured very early in the match,” said Meltzer.
There is no word as to the nature or severity of the Cobb injury, nor any word on if it will force him to miss time.
Cobb is coming off a banner 2021 in NJPW, having made it to the finals of the G1 Climax 31 tournament undefeated, before dropping his last bout in the series to Kazuchika Okada.
With Will Ospreay out due to injury and Aaron Henare unabe to enter Japan due to travel restrictions for much of the year, Cobb and O-Khan carried the United Empire faction for the bulk of the calendar year.
All told, Cobb wrestled 87 dates for NJPW in 2021, with 85 of those dates taking place in Japan. The other two dates were for NJPW Strong in the United States.
Adam Summers and Mike Sempervive are here with another Big Audio Nightmare to talk about a whirlwind week of news and events across the Japanese professional wrestling landscape.
Topics include:
Wrestle Kingdom 16 nights one and two in detail
The greatness of Kazuchika Okada and which of his incredible WK 16 matches was better
Katsuyori Shibata’s return!
The polarizing hardcore match between Hiroshi Tanahashi and KENTA
Stardom’s grand slam performance on the biggest stage
Plus, thoughts on recent great matches in NOAH, GLEAT, AJPW, Z1, BJW, Stardom, and more
All that and more, right here on the original alternative: the Big Audio Nightmare.
Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and Dave Meltzer is back with tons to talk about including all the NXT firings, AEW injuries from Wednesday, COVID updates, Tokyo Dome night one and two reports, AEW and NXT 2.0 TV reports, news and more. A PACKED show, so check it out~!
New champions were crowned today on night two of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16.
Hiroshi Tanahashi regained the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, defeating KENTA in a wild no-DQ match after hitting a High Fly Flow off a ladder through a table. KENTA was split open earlier in the bout after falling from the ladder and apparently hitting his face on a trashcan.
Tanahashi ends KENTA’s first reign with the US title at 59 days, and begins his second reign with the belt.
Earlier in the show, Minoru Suzuki became the provisional KOPW 2022, defeating Toru Yano, CIMA and Chase Owens in a four-way to determine the first trophy holder of the year.
Three championships were retained on today’s show, as Kazuchika Okada defeated Will Ospreay in the main event to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight title, and EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi and SHO defeated Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and YOH to retain the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team titles. Ryusuke Taguchi’s quest to begin the 69th IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship reign with Rocky Romero fell short in the main card opener, as Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask retained those belts.
Led by Keiji Muto, a group of NOAH talent appeared at today’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 event.
At least 27 different NOAH talents commandeered the ring. Kaito Kiyomiya and Kenoh cut promos, mocking the low attendance for the event, and setting the stage for the interpromotional card coming up on Saturday.
NJPW’s Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI made their way to the ring and teased a confrontation, but ultimately there was no physicality.
The two promotions will square off on night three of Wrestle Kingdom in Yokohama Arena on Saturday. Here is the lineup:
Wrestle Kingdom 16 night three, NJPW vs. NOAH, Saturday, January 8, 3 a.m. Eastern time on Abema pay-per-view —
On a new Pacific Rim, Fumi Saito and I review night one of New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 16.
While it wasn’t the best WK card of all time, it did have its moments from a great main event between IWGP Champion Shingo Takagi and Kazuchika Okada to the inspirational return of Katsuyori Shibata.
We also saw the crowning of some new champions and perhaps a new leader of the junior heavyweight division.
Fumi also talks about some of the subtle, cultural references you may have missed from night one before we do a preview of night two.
The effects of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19 led to a number of major changes and precautions in WWE.
Among the names advertised who didn’t appear on shows this week were Roman Reigns, Big E, Becky Lynch, Seth Rollins, Bianca Belair, Bobby Lashley, Queen Zelina, Shinsuke Nakamura and King Woods.
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MONDAY NEWS UPDATE
Bryan and I will be back tonight talking Raw and Day 1 fallout as well as the rest of the MMA and wrestling news with Wrestling Observer Radio tonight. You can send questions to the show at [email protected]
Tonight is the first night of WrestleKingdom at the Tokyo Dome. The show starts at 2 a.m. Eastern and 11 p.m. Pacific time.
New Japan Rambo (Royal Rumble) which will come down to four people who will then wrestle in a four-way tomorrow for the King of Pro Wrestling title
Sho vs. Yoh
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero vs. KENTA & Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo
Tetsuya Naito & Sanada & Bushi vs. Will Ospreay (first match back after months in Japan) & Jeff Cobb & Great O’Khan
Katsuyori Shibata vs. ? under grappling submission rules (no striking allowed)
Tomohiro Ishii vs. Evil for the Never open weight title
Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi vs. Hirooki Goto & Yoshi-Hashi for the IWGP heavyweight tag titles
Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP jr. title
Shingo Takagi vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP world heavyweight title
A full preview of today and tomorrow’s who is in the current issue of the Observer.
We are looking for reports from the WWE show last night in Fayetteville as well as reports from Greenville, SC, for Raw tonight with anything not on the live show such as Main Event or dark matches to [email protected]
We have multiple polls for this week:
Stardom Tokyo Sumo Hall from Wednesday (last day for the poll)
Pro Wrestling NOAH Budokan Hall from Saturday
WWE Day 1 from Atlanta
New Japan Tokyo Dome tonight
For all shows we are looking for a thumbs up, down or middle along it a best and worst match to [email protected]
Raw tonight in Greenville, SC should in theory get a ratings increase based on Brock Lesnar’s previously unplanned title win. Lesnar did agree to do tonight’s show as champion. The plan is a four-way with Bobby Lashley, Big E, Kevin Owens and Seth Rollins for the next shot at Lesnar’s title. The plan as of Saturday was for Lesnar vs. Lashley to be Lesnar’s next program. Damien Priest once again defends the U.S. title against Dolph Ziggler in a title can change hands via DQ match and A.J. Styles vs. Omos is also scheduled. The final regular season Monday Night Football game is tonight with the Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, which is not a particularly big game. However, WWE will have major competition the next two weeks with the College football championship game on 1/10, which is bigger than NFL competition and an NFL playoff game on 1/17 which should do huge numbers. However, with the Rumble coming and then Mania, Raw ratings almost always show an increase over the next three months.
Regarding the Jon Moxley rumors about his return, on Saturday night’s GCW show in Atlantic City, NJ, after Homicide won a Rumble style match, he issued a challenge for Moxley’s GCW title at the 1/23 show at the Hammerstein Ballroom. IF that match is taking place, there is no way Moxley’s first appearances won’t be on AEW television. So that would mean if Moxley is on that show, he is appearing on AEW and I can’t imagine Tony Khan would even let them announce the match officially before Moxley’s return.
I’ve been told the match that took place earlier today on the All Japan Korakuen Hall show with Suwama & Shotaro Ashino defending the tag titles against Kento Miyahara & Yuma Aoyagi was incredible.
The first Azteca Underground show put on by MLW will debut on Thursday on the MLW YouTube channel. King Muertes & Black Taurus vs. Alexander Hammerstone & Pagano headlines in a match tape in Tijuana. It will also air on Saturday on BeinSports.
WWE
NXT has a major event, New Year’s Evil, tomorrow
Tommaso Ciampa vs. Bron Breakker for the NXT title
Fabian Aichner & Marcel Barthel & Walter vs. Riddle & MSK
Mandy Rose vs. Cora Jade vs. Raquel Gonzalez for the women’s title
Carmelo Hayes vs. Roderick Strong with both the North American and cruiserweight titles at stake
A.J. Styles will also appear in a confrontation with Grayson Waller
Bill Goldberg will be appearing on the TV show The Goldbergs on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. on ABC-TV. Goldberg has appeared on the show several times in the past in a recurring role.
The red carpet premiere for The Peacemaker scheduled for Saturday in Los Angeles has been canceled due to COVID concerns. The debut of the HBO Max show, which stars John Cena, is 1/13.
AEW
Go Big Show, the competition show where Cody Rhodes is a host, returns for its new season on Thursday night on TBS.
The Jake Atlas debut airs on Dark Elevation tonight
Alex Reynolds & John Silver vs. Mike Orlando & Shayne Stetson
Jake Atlas vs. Serpentico
Megan Bayne (new gimmick) vs. Leila Gray
Scorpio Sky vs. Ray Jaz
Riho vs. Valentina Rossi
Jay Lethal vs. Troy Hollywood
Angelica Risk vs. Skye Blue
Andrade El Idolo vs. JP Harlow
UFC
Today’s grandstand challenge is boxing champion Amanda Serrano said she would sign a one fight deal against Valentina Shevchenko in exchange for UFC agreeing to give 50 percent of its annual revenue to the fighters (the fighters currently get 18-20 percent). This comes from Jake Paul’s demands that he would fight in UFC if they would do that, give fighters health care and increase the minimum per fight to $50,000. Of course none of this is going to happen and Serrano and Paul have no intention to fight in the UFC.
Sodiq Yusuff vs. Alex Caceres is earmarked for a 3/12 show.
Johnny Walker vs. Jamahal Hill is earmarked for a 2/19 show.
OTHER NOTES
The 1/14 GCW show in Detroit has announced Alex Shelley vs. Jimmy Jacobs, Bussy vs. 2 Cold Scorpio & Ricky Morton, Alex Colon vs. Hoodfoot and Rich Swann vs. Leon Ruff, plus Rhino on the show. Appearing as guests will be Kevin Nash and Sabu.
James Laurinaitis, the son of the late Road Warrior Animal, a former star at Ohio State and with the St. Louis Rams, is expected to join the Notre Dame coaching staff. This would be his first coaching job.
Bull Nakano and Barbara Blank, the former Kelly Kelly, have been added as guests for WrestleCon in Dallas in conjunction with WrestleMania this year.
The St. Louis Jewish Light website has an article on Wrestling at the Chase and the new book by that title that came out locally (not to be confused with the great book Larry Matysik wrote about that era). Wrestling at the Chase routinely drew 200,000 viewers per week just on KPLR-TV in St. Louis during its most popular period which would be from 1959 until probably early 1983. The title of the show remained until the late 80s when WWF used the Wrestling at the Chase title due to its popularity and familiarity in the market rather than WWE Superstars. (thanks to John Muse)
There was a mention of Jimmy Snuka on the NCIS Los Angeles show over the weekend. After Agent Roundtree jumps off a car to tackle a suspect, Agent Deeks says, “Roundtree my friend, that is the Jimmy Snuka superfly splash.” Roundtree had no idea what he was talking about. (thanks to Grant Zwarych)
Tom Lawlor faces Paradigm Pro middleweight champion Jordan Blade on Wednesday’s UWFI Rules Contenders series of IWTV. The show headlines a six-fight show under UWFI rules that includes Illinois All-State wrestler Tanner Keeler and MLW’s Gnarls Garvin.
Sanctuary Fight Club from Saturday night in Hamtramck, MI: Sam Beale b Tyler Elkins, Ren Jones b Jason Hotch & TJ Meyer, Dickie Brunson b Kevin Kalloway, Jody Threat b Billie Starkz, Joe Coleman NC Joe Demaro, Silas Young b Zach Gowen (thanks to Leonard Brand)
A Go Fund Me fundraiser has been created for funeral costs for Kirk White, the promoter of the Newark, CA-based Big Time Wrestling promotion, who passed away on 12/24 of a heart attack
CWE announced its 13th anniversary iPPV show on 2/24 in Stonewall, Manitoba.
Dave Meltzer and I are back on Wrestling Observer Radio talking all of the latest in pro wrestling.
We discuss the following:
WWE talent and executives missing the weekend house shows and RAW
New protocols for COVID-19 testing
Near record low attendance for WWE in Madison Square Garden and why
The passing of Markus Crane
Wrestle Kingdom
AEW Dynamite and NXT previews
Full RAW recap
Timestamps
Start: WWE and COVID
19:49: WWE at MSG record low attendance
32:52: Markus Crane passes away
34:32: Wrestle Kingdom 16 press conference, Stardom upcoming card
44:37: NXT lineup
50:21: AEW lineup
52:55: Raw thoughts
NJPW has announced the set of rules for Katsuyori Shibata’s return match at Wrestle Kingdom 16.
At Wrestle Kingdom 16 night one on Tuesday, January 4, Shibata will face off against a mystery opponent. It was revealed at a press conference/contract signing event overnight that the match will be contested under “catch wrestling rules.”
“Stretches and submissions will be in use, as well as throws. Victory will be attained as usual, via pinfall, submission, countout etc. However, strikes of any kind will be prohibited,” NJPW announced.
Shibata, who is the head coach of NJPW’s LA Dojo, was forced out of action for more than four years after suffering a subdural hematoma in a match against Kazuchika Okada at Sakura Genesis in 2017. He made his return to the ring at this year’s G1 Climax finals in October, going to a five-minute draw against Zack Sabre Jr. in a grappling exhibition.
Shibata spoke about the rules for his match at Wrestle Kingdom 16:
I wanted to give this a different name to the grappling exhibition match I had with Zack (Sabre Jr.) and set it apart as something else. Grappling rules is a concept that is already common in MMA, where strikes are banned. Catch wrestling rules is something that I think can be specific to pro-wrestling, and that’s why the name change is there.
To explain (those differences with grappling rules) more specifically, I think it allows for moves using the ropes, or more pro-wrestling styled, ‘three dimensional’, if you will, expression (than a grappling match). Victory to a pro-wrestler comes down to skill and technique in this environment, and it strips pro-wrestling right down to its essentials.
To go to the roots of wrestling a bit, pro-wrestling sprung out of what we call the Lancashire style in England, and that’s something we mustn’t lose sight of. I want a fusion in NJPW that brings the base fundamentals to the fold. This is something that’s just beginning, and I think these rules, match times and things of that nature can change as the concept evolves. That’s it!
Wrestle Kingdom 16 is a three-night event. The first two nights will be held at the Tokyo Dome on January 4 and January 5. The third night will be an NJPW vs. Pro Wrestling NOAH event at the Yokohama Arena on January 8.
