NJPW has recently held Wrestle Kingdom 17. Jay White defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Title against Kazuchika Okada, AEW’s Kenny Omega challenges Will Ospreay for the IWGP US Title, KAIRI puts her IWGP Women’s Title on the line against Tam Nakano, Ren Narita battles Zack Sabre Jr to become the inaugural IWGP World TV Champion and more.
Welcome to another edition of Wrestling Republic’s coverage of New Japan Pro-Wrestling. This time, we’ll put the focus on NJPW’s most important event of the year.
The promotion has recently held Wrestle Kingdom 17, which took place from the iconic Tokyo Dome and served as a tribute to NJPW Founder Antonio Inoki. So, with nothing else to say, here are the full results of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17:
- Wrestle Kingdom 17 Kickoff, 3 Minute Exhibition Match: Ryohei Oiwa & Boltin Oleg battled to a 3 minute time-limit draw.
- Wrestle Kingdom 17 Kickoff, KOPW 2023 Qualifier New Japan Ranbo: SHO, Great-O-Khan, Toru Yano & Shingo Takagi won the New Japan Rambo and qualified for the KOPW 23 match at New Year’s Dash.
- Antonio Inoki Memorial, 6-Man Tag Team Match: Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima & Yuji Nagata defeated Tatsumi Fujinami, Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask – Makabe pinned Tiger Mask.
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, Tag Team Match: Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira & TJP) (c) defeated CHAOS (Lio Rush & YOH) to retain the IWGP Jr Heavyweight Tag Team Titles – TJP pinned YOH.
- IWGP Women’s Championship, Singles Match: KAIRI (c) defeated Tam Nakano to retain the IWGP Women’s Championship – KAIRI pinned Tam after hitting the Insane Elbow, V1 for the champion.
- Shortly after the match ended, Mercedes Mone (FKA Sasha Banks in WWE) made her way to the ring and confronted KAIRI. Mercedes wants to challenge KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Title, with the match made official for NJPW Battle at the Valley on February 18th.
- IWGP Tag Team Championship, Tag Team Match: Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) defeated FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) (c) to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions – YOSHI-HASHI pinned Dax after he and Goto hit Shōtō.
- NJPW World Television Championship Tournament Finals, Singles Match: Zack Sabre Jr defeated Ren Narita to become the first-ever NJPW World Television Champion – ZSJ submitted Narita with the Arm Lock Cross Hold.
- Shortly after the match ended, ZSJ reunited former colleagues Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste and officially joined TMDK.
- NJPW NEVER Openweight Championship, Singles Match: Tama Tonga defeated Karl Anderson (c) to become the new NJPW NEVER Openweight Champion – Tama pinned Anderson after hitting the Gun Stun.
- Keiji Muto’s Last NJPW Match, 6-Man Tag Team Match: Keiji Muto, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino defeated Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI) – Shota pinned BUSHI after hitting the Death Rider.
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, 4-Way Match: Hiromu Takahashi defeated Taiji Ishimori (c), El Desperado & Master Wato to become the new IWGP Jr Heavyweight Champion – Hiromu pinned Wato after hitting TIME BOMB II.
- IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship, Singles Match: Kenny Omega defeated Will Ospreay (c) to become the new IWGP US Heavyweight Champion – Kenny pinned Will after hitting the One WInged Angel.
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, Singles Match: Kazuchika Okada defeated Jay White (c) to become the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion – Okada pinned White after hitting the Rainmaker.
- Shortly after the match ended, ‘The Dragon’ Shingo Takagi makes his way to the ring anc confronts the new champion. After a staredown, Shingo wants to challenge Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Title and ‘The Rainmaker’ accepts.
This is all for our coverage of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17. Stay tuned to Wrestling Republic, as we’ll keep you updated with everything you need to know about NJPW and the world of Japanese Wrestling.
Where Can You Watch Wrestle Kingdom 17?
Fans will be able to watch NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 -as well as every other NJPW event- on the company’s official streaming platform, NJPW World.
You can also visit NJPW’s official website -as well as their Japanese & English Twitter accounts- for more information about the promotion, wrestlers, merchandise, fan club and details about their upcoming shows.
Photo Credit – New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)
