NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 Predictions - The Night Of Retains!

 Although I don't watch NJPW as much as most hardcore fans, I always try to watch Wrestle Kingdom as it's essentially their Wrestlemania and the card always looks stunning from top to bottom, especially this year. With many matches looking to be legit early MOTYC it's no wonder WK 12 is getting as much as hype as it has been, and with only a couple of days to go before the big event, here are my predictions for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12!

NJPW IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match

Roppongi 3K (c) Vs. The Young Bucks

While I haven't seen Roppongi 3K wrestle yet, they're coming into the match with a lot of momentum, having Rocky Romero coach them, winning the tag titles and winning the NJPW Super Jr. Tag Tournament. The Young Bucks are no strangers to WK having appeared at the event multiple times, and while their style isn't for me in terms of getting more and more over the top to the point where their first move should realistically be the finish, I think the match itself will still be very exciting. The Super Jrs always know how to put on exciting matches without making it feel repetitive or stale, and with 3K's hype of being, well 3K times better than Roppongi Vice, I think they'll retain the titles to give the duo another strong victory.

Winners - Roppongi 3K (c)

NJPW NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championship Gauntlet Match

Bullet Club (c) Vs. Chaos Vs. Michael Elgin & War Machine Vs. Suzuki Gun 

Vs. Taguchi Japan

With the men involved, this looks to be a hard hitting match but seemingly with no story outside of they're all rivalling factions. It's hard to call who will come out on top but I'm going with Buller Club retaining, G.O.D plus Fale arguably makes them the most powerful team, and with Elgin being in hot water recently, I don't think it would be wise for NJPW to give him a title for fear of backlash.

Winners - Bullet Club (c)

Cody Vs. Kota Ibushi

Cody for me hasn't been the amazing indy talent everyone claims he is, and that's not to say he's incapable of it, because he's a great wrestler, but I feel his work hasn't been what it could be. Probably because he knows he'll get booked off of his name alone with all the anti WWE marks flocking to see him and hear him bash WWE. His debut WK match last year wasn't anything special either, but him and Ibushi could produce an awesome match, with Ibushi's natural underdog likeness and Cody being a dickhead heel with his wife at ringside, we could have a compelling story on out hands for this match. As for the winner, this being Ibushi's return to WK as himself, I think he'll be winning, while he did fight in the G1 and it was billed then as his big return after 2 and a half years, I think a win here would help Kota as he didn't progress far in the tournament and then lost at Power Struggle against Tanahashi.

Winner - Kota Ibushi

NJPW IWGP Tag Team Championship Match

Killer Elite Squad (c) Vs. Los Ingobernables De Japon

Another hard match to call, with K.E.S being a fantastic team and L.I.D.J winning the Tag League but Evil & Sanada losing their NEVER Openweight 6 man tag titles last year makes me wonder if they'll be given another pair of belts so soon. The match itself should be very good as all 4 men are very talented and will shine on a stage as large as WK but I once again think we'll see the champions retain here, perhaps they face off again at the next big NJPW show with L.I.D.J taking the belts then.

Winners - Killer Elite Squad (c)

NJPW NEVER Openweight Championship Hair Vs. Hair No Seconds Deathmatch

Minoru Suzuki (c) Vs. Hirooki Goto

I'm looking forward to this match so damn much, Suzuki is up there as one of my favourite wrestlers from NJPW, being part of my favourite NJPW match ever and Goto is as stiff as they come having defeated Shibata for the title at last year's WK and Suzuki beating him for his current reign. While most people won't have this pegged as MOTN I think this could steal the show, both men hit hard and Suzuki's MMA background gives him a larger arsenal outside of hard strikes which is what the division is known for. While Suzuki's reign has been long, the stipulation makes it feel like he'll retain because there's not much of Minoru's hair to cut, plus a win here would solidify his reign as one of the best in the title's history with him already being the second longest champion at this point. Those two factors are what's making me say, another retain.

Winner - Minoru Suzuki (c)

NJPW IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Fatal 4 Way Match

Marty Scurll (c) Vs, Will Ospreay Vs. Kushida Vs. Hiromu Takahashi 

Another match I can't wait to see, the 4 best Super Jrs in my book, 2 of them being British stars who I adore. This will be an insane match and Marty will bring a unique element as he's much more of a technician than a high flyer, plus his chemistry with Ospreay alone will make the match amazing. Add on Kushida and Takahashi rekindling their feud and the historic moment of this being the first time the title has been defended in a fatal 4 way at Wrestle Kingdom and this has the recipe for MOTN and one of the best Super Jr. matches ever. As for the winner, again I'm going with the champion retaining, it's Marty's first defence, I just don't see him losing the belt so soon, plus it would only be Bullet Club's second win of the night.

Winner - Marty Scurll (c)

NJPW IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match

Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) Vs. Jay White 

Tanahashi is amazing and Jay White is a young blood with loads of talent, this match should be great and already has a built in story involving Tanahashi's knee, which spawned from a legit injury. With the knee injury plus there being less pressure for Tanahashi to be the ace of NJPW, I think Jay White will win the title, how long he holds it for I'm not sure, but it would be a nice shock and give Tanahashi time to heal and rest his knee.

Winner - Jay White

First Half Of Double Main Event - NJPW IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship No Disqualification Match

Kenny Omega (c) Vs. Chris Jericho

This is just surreal, late last year Chris Jericho appeared at Power Struggle to challenge Omega in a legit shocking moment despite their heated Twitter feud in the prior weeks leading up to the event. While I don't this will be MOTN, I do think this match be very good, the No DQ stipulation will help Jericho as he isn't in his prime anymore so instead going full on wrestling, they can break it up with weapons spots to fill those voids. NJPW have done well to make this title feel important and while I don't think it's the #2 belt of the promotion, having it as part of a "Double Main Event" at Wrestle Kingdom will definitely boost its worth even more. As for the winner it's hard to say, some say Jericho is there purely for scouting which leans more towards Omega retaining, that coupled with the stipulation making it seem like a feud ender, but on the other hand, bringing in Jericho with all this hype just for him to lose seems like a waste. It's not like this is the win Kenny needs to be seen as a huge deal in the promotion as 2017 saw him be given multiple 5+ star ratings by wrestling journalists and fans alike in multiple matches. I'm going with Jericho, purely because I'm a big fan of him and I don't want his time in NJPW to be a one and done.

Winner - Chris Jericho

Second Half Of Double Main Event - NJPW IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match

Kazuchika Okada (c) Vs. Tetsuya Naito

What will most likely be MOTN, I can't wait for this match, Okada being the top ace and Naito just being a twat who you genuinely hate for his disrespect of NJPW traditions. These two will have a killer match no doubt, both men are amazing and this is more than deserving of the top spot considering Naito beat Okada for the title only for Okada to reclaim the belt for current 560+ Day reign, the longest in the title's history! With all that in mind I think Naito will win here, for one thing, his reign was criminally short with how his character would suit holding the belt, tossing it around and disrespecting it, that's golden for him to have a long reign only to finally be toppled by the next big ace of NJPW. Plus it feels only fitting that the longest IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign should end at their Wrestlemania, while it wouldn't be a "Happy" ending, I think it would be the perfect way to end the show

Winner - Tetsuya Naito

But these are simply my thoughts, do you agree? Disagree? Let me know in the comments below or you can tweet me @BogglesTheOwl on Twitter or comment on my Facebook Page and don't forget to share this post with fellow fans and I look forward to writing to you guys again soon.