Match Guide Reviews: Kazukchika Okada v Tetsuya Naito, Wrestle Kingdom 14
The best stadium main event I've seen since I started covering wrestling and what it says to me about All In 2024.
What a week it is! This weekend we get our second ever AEW stadium show with All In 2024. The card has been built very well and I think is much more of what I want to see from AEW than last year so I for one am very excited. I’m flirting with the idea of doing a preview show on my podcast feed later this week so if you are interested let me know, you might push me over the edge.
As part of the build up this week I sat down to write about what I think is the best main event to a stadium show to have taken place since I started covering wrestling in mid-2017. While rewatching and writing this piece it also spurred some thoughts about the All In main event coming up this weekend so make sure you read until the end to see those.
Kazuchika Okada v Tetsuya Naito
IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championship Match
Wrestle Kingdom 14, Night 2
Two lies that are constantly repeated about Japanese wrestling:
1. Unlike the boisterous Western crowds, in Japan the audience stays quiet and just claps politely.
2. In Japanese wrestling they don't tell stories or have characters, they just focus on the matches.
If you believe these things it's not your fault, they are thoughts that have been trotted out and even printed in books by numerous very well-known American wrestlers, commentators and journalists who you would expect to have forgotten more about wrestling than I will ever know. However, despite this, whenever I come across either of these lines it tells me one thing about the person saying them, that person has not watched very much Japanese wrestling. There is nothing in itself that is wrong with that but I guess I just don’t like such easily disproved falsehoods that are perpetuated by people who should know better.
However these two thoughts bring me to the match I'm speaking about today, Kazuchika Okada v Tetsuya Naito from Wrestle Kingdom 14, one of the most perfectly executed climaxes to a long story arc I've seen in wrestling since I started covering it back in 2017.
If you've never seen this match you will at least have heard those names before. They are the two preeminent names of a generation of New Japan wrestlers that came to the top after Hiroshi Tanahashi had pulled the company from its darkest years of the late 2000s. Along with Tanahashi, Okada & Naito were the lynchpins that pushed the company to one of its most popular and profitable periods of its existence, climaxing in Wrestle Kingdom 14, back-to-back nights at the Tokyo Dome that drew over 35,000 each night and were headlined by this match.
Firstly Kazuchika Okada, the Rainmaker, the chosen one of New Japan, a wrestler who won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in his second match in the company after graduating from the Young Lions training program and his excursion to America. Okada went on to validate his meteoric rise, successfully replacing Tanahashi as the constant at the top of New Japan cards.The high point his record 720 day reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion that included the groundbreaking four match series against Kenny Omega, the infamous match that temporarily ended Katsuyori Shibata’s career and a Tokyo Dome win against Naito himself. It was just one of many reigns with the company’s top belt but truly cemented him as one of the true greats of Japanese wrestling.
In contrast Tetsuya Naito’s time in the New Japan main event scene was what you might call tortured. His fist rise to the top came with winning the 2013 G1 tournament to earn the right to face the IWGP Champion at the Tokyo Dome. At the time this was a relatively fresh Okada still in his early heel phase and Naito, who dubbed himself The Stardust Genius, positioned himself as the hero that would overcome the brash champion and be the on to take New Japan into the future. Unfortunately the Japanese fanbase just never got behind Naito to do this and in an unprecedented move the main event spot at the biggest show of the year was put up to a fan vote with Naito & Okada losing their feature spot to an Intercontinental Title match between Tanahashi & Shinsuke Nakamura. Naito shouldered the blame for this and by the time he got to the Dome his confidence in himself to stand at the main event level was completely shot. He put on a disappointing showing and lost.
It could have been the end of the road for him at the top, a case of someone who seemed poised to rise up but just couldn’t take the final step. That was until a 2015 sojourn to Mexico with NJPW’s partner promotion CMLL awoke a new spirit in Naito. Entering into Los Ingobernables and partnering with La Sombre (AKA Andrade El Idolo) he took on the mantra of being ‘tranquilo’, ignoring what the fans wanted from him and instead focus on what mattered most to him.
Upon his return to New Japan Naito would create a Japanese offshoot of the faction Los Ingobernables de Japon to embody this newfound attitude. Instead of seeking the fans or company’s approval as he had previously, he would very literally spit in their faces, flouting the New Japan rules and doing everything he could to get under the skin of his opponents. The symbol of his contempt was most exemplified when he won the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in 2016, the same title that main-evented the Tokyo Dome ahead of him two years prior. Instead of holding the belt aloft, Naito would drag it on the ground, hurl it to the floor and begin to systematically destroy the belt, smashing it against the metal ring post and barricades, taking his frustration at his rejection in 2014 out on the symbol of his failure.
Naito’s new attitude saw a return to form that put his career back on track and as is so often the case in modern wrestling, when a wrestler is truly dialled into their character and is delivering such strong performances, the crowd began to get behind him too. By 2018 his career had come full circle and as he entered the Tokyo Dome to face Okada for the IWGP Championship for a second time, the chants of “NAITO, NAITO, NAITO” threatened to drown out his entrance music as he walked to the ring. While Okada was the top guy in the company, the once-scorned Naito had become the fan's choice.
It wasn’t to be for him that night though.
Almost as if he had forgotten the lesson he learned all those years ago, when Naito had Okada down, instead of finishing him he climbed the turnbuckles to deliver a Stardust Press, the corkscrew-moonsault he used when he was still dubbing himself The Stardust Genius. He missed, Okada hit the Rainmaker and Naito lost. A bitter pill that showed Naito still had more to learn before he could ascend but one that would be a masterstroke by the bookers who knew they had his fans in the palm of their hands.
The roads of the company’s two biggest stars came back together two years later for a third Tokyo Dome main event at Wrestle Kingdom 14. Both had a journey to get there, Okada through the disappointment of losing his championship to Kenny Omega & betrayal of his stablemate Jay White, a journey where he had to be humbled and build himself back up from scratch. For Naito it was a journey to learn what it truly meant to be tranquillo again at the hands of an unhinged Chris Jericho who truly did not give a single fuck.
As Okada and Naito came back together at Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 14 having fought their way through Kota Ibushi & Jay White respectively, they both carried in their signature belts. Okada’s prized IWGP Heavyweight Championship and Naito, his cursed IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The resplendent gold of the Heavyweight belt against the battered and tarnished white of the Intercontinental Champion metaphors for their holders. Water and oil, fundamentally different, they can never and will never be on the same page.
It is a match so layered in symbolism and allusions to the history of their rivalry. Even just the way Naito faced Okada told a tale: at Wrestle Kingdom 8, as Okada entered the ring Naito couldn’t even face his opponent, turning his back on The Rainmaker, in 2018, he glanced sideways, as if he wanted to but wasn’t ready to seize the moment, by Wrestle Kingdom 14 though Naito turned to face the golden boy of his generation head-on with no flinching, secure with in position and confident in his own way. To their credit, the Tokoyo Dome picked up on every single one of those nods to the past and rose in volume for each dramatic callback.
The match itself starts out very slow, milking the audience, it is something Okada does in all of his big matches and when it works it creates a sense of acceleration, a contrast between the slow start and fast-paced, counter-filled, heart-in-mouth, ending sequences. Truthfully this signature flourish is a trope that had been over-done across the wrestling world even in 2020, but in the main event of the biggest show of the year it does feel meaningful that two athletes meeting at the peak of their powers, with the highest of stakes at play, would want to slowly feel each other out at the beginning of their match.
The cavernous Tokyo Dome is alive with echoing calls for mostly Naito and sometimes also Okada throughout the whole match. The crowd is turned almost fully behind Naito though as Okada begins to target his opponent's knee, throwing Naito knee first into a ringside table that does not budge but stands resolute as a hard wall for Naito’s already fragile knee to be crushed against. If anything Okada’s control of the match only makes Naito more defiant, rising again and again against his more fancied foe.
The way New Japan films and lights its shows really stands out in this match. The low-angle camera shots make Okada & Naito look impossibly big, two titans standing toe to toe in the ring and the lack of continual cuts as moves take place emphasizes the impact of the action. It feels so spectacular and is frankly so superior to the generic western hardcam-centric style we see on weekly western wrestling shows
About two-thirds of the way through the match the pair trade elbows in the center of the ring and the way the crowd breathes in and exclaims after each elbow is like nothing I have ever heard in a wrestling match. The collective inhalation of air by the crowd as each wrestler draws back is audible and rises to an explosion of noise as each man lands their elbow.
That sound is only topped by the way the crowd rises in anticipation at the climax of the match when Naito’s signature Destino cannot get the job done and he once again turns to the turnbuckle and begins the climb to attempt the Stardust Press for the first time since he missed it in that same venue two years prior. This time though he is able to connect, finally putting to bed the heartbreak of the two previous Tokyo Dome main events and with a final Destino Naito wins the match, to deafening applause from the crowd.
Looking at this match three years later in the cold light of day I would venture to say it is Okada and Naito going out and playing the hits. While it is paced exceptionally, there isn't a whole lot of strategy or psychology to the match and Naito's selling of his knee is conveniently inconsistent at best. However, the story and crowd carry the match over any of those bumps, like The Rock v Hogan or Cody v Roman, sometimes what matters is the spectacle and a great ending.
For my money this is the best stadium main event I’ve seen since I started seriously writing about and reviewing wrestling in mid-2017 and rewatching it has given me a slightly different perspective on the upcoming All In main event. Firstly, stadium show main events are weird, everything needs to be a little slower to register with the bigger crowd and one thing Naito and Okada get so right is their match pacing. I think that is something both Danielson and Swerve will excel at, both have such great presence in how they present themselves, particularly in their body language. They are also both very good at pausing to let the moment in a match register, be it the way Danielson crouches in the corner before hitting the Busaiku Knee or Swerve as he rises for the Swerve stomp, those instincts will serve them well at All In.
Secondly and perhaps most importantly, while Swerve v Hangman may have been the hotter story and probably the one I wanted to see more, stadium show it is sometimes best to go with a simple crowd-pleaser. On Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom 14, Okada & Kota Ibushi had what you could probably say is a ‘better match’ if you were to judge the two in the cold light of day, it was hard-hitting and told a great story of Okada withstanding the supernatural force that was Ibushi on that night. However the match that generated the most noise, the better memories and had me truly jumping out of my seat was the simple story of Okada v Naito, the match that gave the biggest star a happy ending. As much as I’ve hand wrung about some of what Danielson is saying in the media ‘Bryan Danielson’s Final Countdown’ is a story that all wrestling fans can get into easily just as Naito v Okada was easy for the Japanese crowd to get into. Bryan Danielson finally winning the AEW Championship as Final Countdown blares will also most likely create the best ending to All In and loudest reaction that Tony Khan could have realistically booked this year, just as Naito finally hitting the Stardust Press did in 2020. As much as I love Hangman, he will get his chance to main event a show like this one day (maybe at that rumoured Australia stadium show TK) but for 2024 I’m at peace and even excited for Danielson v Swerve at Wembley and rewatching Okada v Naito helped get me there.
Kazuchika Okada v Tetsuya Naito rightly stands as a high water mark for New Japan Pro Wrestling. It is a match that headlined back-to-back 35,000+ crowds at the Tokyo Dome and it is the ultimate payoff to one of their greatest stories. With Okada having moved on and Naito on his last legs (or knees) we may never see them face again but when they did in 2020 they created one of the loudest, most enthralling and memorable pro wrestling memories that myself and many fans will ever have.
Let me know if you want to hear that All In card preview. The next episode of the AEW Match Guide Podcast will be released next Wednesday and we will be speaking about The Briscoes v FTR, Ring of Honor Tag Team Championship Match from Supercard of Honor 2022
I’ll be posting another written piece in a fortnight.
Also watch this space for a fun little merchandise collaboration. More will be announced in the next few weeks.