NJPW kicks off the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 16 on Tuesday. In the main event, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion will face G1 Climax winner Kazuchika Okada, as well as three other title matches. The winner of Okada vs. Takagi will go on to the main event of Wrestle Kingdom Night 2 on January 5th to face Will Ospreay.
The big news of Wrestle Kingdom 16, besides the world title, is the return of Katsuyori Shibata. He’ll be wrestling in a sanctioned match for the first time since 2017. The match will be Catch Wrestling Rules and the opponent has been shrouded in mystery.
READ MORE: NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Preview: Night One (1/4)
Night 1 of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 is available on NJPWWorld.com. Here are the full results:
OPENING MATCH: NEW JAPAN RANBO (FINAL FOUR ADVANCE TO 1/5 KOPW 2022 MATCH)
Entrants:
- Chase Owens
- Aaron Henare
- Kosei Fujita
- Yuto Nakashima
- Ryohei Oiwa
- Master Wato
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan
- Minoru Suzuki
- Satoshi Kojima
- TAKA Michinoku
- CIMA
- Tomoaki Honma
- DOUKI
- Yuji Nagata
- Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Togi Makabe
- Bad Luck Fale
- Tatsumi Fujinami
- Toru Yano
Eliminations:
- Suzuki submitted Fujita
- Suzuki submitted Nakashima
- Suzuki choked out Oiwa
- CIMA pinned TAKA
- CIMA threw Wato over the top rope
- A bunch of people pinned Tenzan at once
- Yuji Nagata pinned Kojima (with help from DOUKI & Kanemaru)
- Fale threw DOUKI out of the ring
- Fale threw Kanemaru out of the ring
- Fale threw Honma out of the ring
- Fale threw Nagata out of the ring
- Makabe threw Fale out of the ring
- Owens & CIMA simultaneously pinned Fujinami and Makabe respectively
- Yano eliminated Henare
FINAL FOUR: Minoru Suzuki, Chase Owens, Toru Yano & CIMA advance to KOPW 2022 Four Way Match on 1/5. (27:14)
The main card is opened by a video message from Antonio Inoki, as this is the start of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s 50th Anniversary Year.
FIRST MATCH: SHO vs. YOH
YOH unleashes his fury for much of the opening. SHO is able to get some rogue offense on the outside, but YOH uses his anger to fuel him and dominates the start of this match. SHO comes back with a spear to turn the tide.
SHO begins using a lot of the attacks YOH used on him, but YOH still finds ways to escape. A vicious powerbomb followed by a cross-arm piledriver get a nearfall. YOH counters a Shock Arrow attempt with a Calf Killer to regain the momentum. Dick Togo distracts the referee while SHO submits to the hold.
YOH goes after Togo but eats a German Suplex from SHO. SHO goes back on offense by locking in Snakebite. YOH nearly passes out but fights to the ropes.
Dick Togo distracts the referee. SHO grabs a wrench and shushes the audience. YOH dodges the wrench and sends SHO into Togo and catches SHO in the Five Star Clutch for the pinfall in 12:34.
WINNER: YOH
After the match, SHO attacks YOH. YOH dodges the wrench attack again and takes SHO out with a Superkick.
NEXT PAGE: Results continued…
