Here's a preview of the card from the pre-show match to the double main event:
Pre-Show Match - New Japan Rumble
NJPW's version of the Royal Rumble. This is not nearly so star-studded as the real thing. It's mostly just a way of getting older guys, legends, and bottom of the card folk onto the show. Wrestlers can be elimated by pin/submission/DQ in adition to going over the top rope. This starts around 2am EST and is probably skippable if you're not a hardcore fan.
IWGP Junior Tag Team Championship Match
Roppongi 3K (Sho & Yoh) (c) vs. Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson)
Sho & Yoh came back from their excursion to Mexico and the US a few months ago and got an immediate push in the Jr. Tag division. They're pretty good in the ring but they haven't quite connected with the fans since returning. Young Bucks have been the dominant team in this division for half a decade. They're usually very good at getting the crowd to come to life but it's tough in big domes like this. It's the type of match that would blow the roof off a smaller building as a featured match but might have an uphill battle being something special on this card in this building.
NEVER Openweight Trios Championship Gauntlet Match
Bullet Club (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa & Bad Luck Fale) (c) vs. Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi & Juice Robinson & Togi Makabe) vs. CHAOS (Trent Baretta & Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) vs. Suzuki-gun (Taichi & Takashi Iizuka & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs. War Machine (Hanson & Raymond Rowe) & Michael Elgin
Should just be a quick series of trios matches. The purpose is mainly to get as many undercard wrestlers on the card as possible in a match with at least some stakes. It could have some moments of brilliance but overall the conventional wisdom is that this will be the most forgetable match on the main show.
Kota Ibushi vs. Cody
This was originally supposed to be for the ROH Title but Cody dropped the belt to Dalton Castle recently. So now it's the only match on the show with no championship on the line. Say what you will about Cody in the ring but he's been able to project a star presence since coming into the Indies & Japan in a way that few ex-WWE seem to be able to do. Either of these guys could become a credible contender for any of the top singles titles with a win here so the result is up in the air (if tilted slightly toward Ibushi).
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match
Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. & Lance Archer) (c) vs. LIJ (EVIL & SANADA)
LIJ are part of Naito's group. They won the Tag League last month to earn this shot at the champions. KES are solid but also fit right into a vanilla heavyweight tag team division that has only rarely lit up the world during NJPW's current rennaissance period. EVIL is the rising star in this match so I'd expect him to be put over strong. This might be the ideal time to switch from English to Japanese commentary so you can hear "EVERYTHING~! EVERYTHING~! EVERYTHING IS EVIL~!!"
NEVER Openweight Championship Hair vs. Hair Deathmatch
Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Hirooki Goto
Suzuki is one of the best wrestlers in the world, even at his advanced age. Goto has about the same ability as Roman Reigns but with a more appropriate push. He hits hard and often has no regard for his own safety. This could end up being very, very good. However, both of these guys are also not afraid to have a stale, heatless match. The winner shaving the loser's head adds an extra layer of intrigue to this one and a reason to keep watching after the bell. Hopefully these two can bring out the best in each other.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
Marty Scurll (c) vs. KUSHIDA vs. Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi
In any other year than 2017 the NJPW Juniors division would have been the talk of the wrestling world. These four (along with Ricochet and Taguchi) have torn it up for the past twelve months in their various matchups. This time the four top stars, who have traded the title all year, are now in one match together. This should be fast-paced, wild, and reckless (in other words, everything that 205 Live is not). Hiromu will probably win but it could really be any one of them.
IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. "Switchblade" Jay White
The most intriguing match on the card. Jay White just came back from excursion and got immediately thrown into what is by far the biggest match of his career. The fans in Japan loved him as a Young Lion but have been puzzled by his new heel character. Further complicating matters is the fact that White's return was overshadowed by Chris Jericho's surprise challenge to Kenny Omega on the same show. And if that's not enough, Tanahashi badly needs to take time off to heal up a torn bicep that he's worked with for the past 8-9 months as well as a recent knee injury. But if Tanahashi can gut out one last big performance and White can live up to his potential this could end up being a classic.
IWGP United States Championship No DQ Match
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Chris Jericho
The angle setting up this match has been flat-out awesome. Blood feuds have been absent from major wrestling companies in recent years. Seeing a well-executed one now only highlights that absence. The No DQ stipulation adds two elements to the match. First it provides some smoke & mirrors cover for Jericho, whose best years in the ring are long behind him. Second, it varies the formula of the top matches. Even the best NJPW main events often seem like better versions of the same matches one might see on the undercard. This should be a fresh, intense match up that will tell the world a lot about what New Japan will look like in the coming months. An Omega win is the most likely outcome but Jericho has a conspicuous hole in his touring schedule right around the time of NJPW's next show on US soil.
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
These two have been loosely tied to each other for the past half decade. When Okada initially won the title the fans weren't buying his act until his incredible first defense against Naito. A few years later, these two were supposed to be in the main event of the Tokyo Dome only to have the fans vote for a Tanahashi vs. Nakamura Intercontinental Title match to close the show instead. Okada has held the title since July 2015 except for a period of two months when he dropped the belt to Naito before winning it back. Okada may be the biggest star and the best wrestler in the company, but Naito is the most popular with the fans and the biggest merchandise seller. Okada has now set the record for the longest IWGP reign as well as the most total days as champion. This feels like it will be Naito's time to take the top spot in the company. But it wouldn't be the first time NJPW (or a wrestling company in general) decided to delay the payoff of one of their biggest money feuds.
Enjoy the show!
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