Heydorn's Brass Ring Ratings - NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
By: Zack Heydorn
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 lacked the star power that it’s used to having and featured new faces in prominent roles, but delivered in the ring like New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest show of the year usually does.
Yes, it felt strange waking up at three in the morning for a Wrestle Kingdom event that wasn’t going to feature Kazuchika Okada, Will Ospreay, Jay White, Tetsuya Naito, Kenny Omega, or Hiroshi Tanahashi in the main event. However, if you did roll out of bed to catch the event because of tradition, insomnia, or a beaming sense of pride for your New Japan fandom, the show was an exciting watch and one that may be remembered as a new launching point for the promotion — provided things are followed up on properly in the months to come in 2025.
Here are my Brass Ring Ratings for the show and here’s how they work … I call it like I see it and grade accordingly. Period.
New Japan Ranbo Match - Winner earns a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
Nothing special, but a Wrestle Kingdom tradition nonetheless. This was the big Battle Royal and it’s a staple pre-show match on the Wrestle Kingdom card each year. Hirooki Goto was victorious and the match was what it was. Totally fine from a Battle Royal perspective, but nothing that you need to go out of your way to see.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO
Ichiban Sweet Boys vs. Jet Setters vs. Bullet Club War Dogs vs. Catch 2/2 - Tokyo Terror Ladder Match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
All action and predictably a heavy spot-based ladder match. Like the Battle Royal, this was what it was. It was a ladder match, so each of the teams took their big bumps and dished them out. Ichiban Sweet Boys getting the victory and winning the titles is a perfectly reasonable direction to go. A good match — especially if you like the big spot style.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 3/4
Mayu Iwatani vs. AZM - IWGP Women’s Championship
This needed more time. Don’t get me wrong, Iwatani and AZM used what they had perfectly and wrestled a helluva match, but it felt like they could have gone through one or two higher gears if given the chance. Both women are supremely talented and they showed it off.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO
El Phantasmo vs. Ren Narita vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Ryohei Oiwa - NJPW World Television Championship
Nothing special here, other than the fact that thank goodness Ren Narita is no longer champion. El Phantasmo is a strong talent that can help make this championship what it needs to be. He’s a work rate guy and this title really needs that to function properly.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL - Lumberjack Death Match
It’s kind of sad to see Tanahashi working hardcore matches inside the Tokyo Dome. It wasn’t bad, but it was a far, far cry from what we’ve seen from Tanahashi on this show throughout the years. The Lumberjack Death Match stipulation existed to hide Tanahashi’s shortcomings brought about by age and damage. It worked to that end and he was able to vanquish the evil … EVIL. A pretty simple match that totally worked because of how over Tanahashi is. The bonus save after the end by Katsuyori Shibata was a special touch that fit well on such a big show.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/2
Konosuke Takeshita vs. Shingo Takagi - NEVER Openweight and AEW International Championship Winner Take All Match
This was great. Incredible striking and stiff moves really made the match feel like a fight. Takeshita and Takagi read what the world wanted this to be perfectly and delivered exactly that. Takeshita now holds both titles, so his tenure in New Japan isn’t over.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO
Douki vs. El Desperado - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Well, this is impossible to grade. Douki injured his arm and the match was stopped. Desperado won and was awarded the championship. Pretty disappointing because this had all the makings of a potential classic junior heavyweight match. Fingers crossed that Douki is ok.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - N/A
David Finlay vs. Yota Tsuji - IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
The match of the night. The pace that Tsuji and Finlay worked was insane. They were fast, but crisp and it made for many exciting spots and near falls. Tsuji got beat up in this one and sold as such all throughout the match. His work on that end made his comeback really fun and something that the audience was behind all the way. When it came time for Finlay to sell that comeback he did and the roof exploded off The Dome. Excellent stuff.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOOO 1/4
Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi
The announcers were tremendous at selling the gravity of these two squaring off, but the match didn’t deliver on that hype. It’s a match that would have been better five years ago. This was sloppy and disconnected much of the way and the most emotional part came after Naito defeated Hiromu and both men hugged it out. It happened. It’s over. Much ado about nothing.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OO 1/2
Zack Sabre Jr vs. Shota Umino - IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
A good match, but a mess of a match from a narrative perspective. Look, the wrestling was really solid. Both guys worked hard, the near falls played, and it felt like a Wrestle Kingdom title match. All that said, the announcers and match story were all over the place regarding Shota Umino. First, he’s a young up and comer getting his big shot, then he’s booed by the fans, then he pushes his father over and essentially cheats, and then he gets the sympathy spot of almost giving up in a submission hold. Like, pick a lane. All of that happening in one match doesn’t make any sense and made it impossible to either get behind Shota or ZSJ. Shota doesn’t feel authentic out there. It looks like he’s trying to juggle 11 different pieces of advice about him being a wrestler. He’s got to find a voice and his own presentation.
Heydorn’s Brass Ring Rating - OOO 1/4
What did you think of Wrestle Kingdom 19? Let us know in the comments!
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