Wrestle Kingdom 11 Recap 

If you have not seen this event,
I highly advise you to go see it. Not only does it have some of the most talented wrestlers to step foot in the squared circle, but it also has these bright, young men putting on the greatest matches of 2017. 

The event started off in the pre show at the Tokyo Dome. A lot of stars from Ring of Honor to CMLL to New Japan Pro Wrestling appeared, and since I don’t rate or judge these types of matches,
I have to admit that I did enjoy it. I especially enjoyed Michael Elgin returning and winning the New Japan Rumble to start off the event.

The first match to officially start off the event was Tiger The Dark, who was portrayed by Ring of Honor’s ACH, facing off against Tiger Mask W, who was portrayed by the returning Kota Ibushi. In the end, Tiger Mask W would pick up the W after hitting Tiger the Dark with a last-ride style Tiger Driver to officially get the show rolling.

The second match of the night was the Young Bucks, which consists of Matt and Nick Jackson, as they defended their IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against Roppongi Vice, which consists of Rocky Romero and Trent Beretta. 

By the end, Trent would make a shocking return and drop Nick Jackson from the top rope, as Rocky Romero would roll up Matt Jackson and get the three count and win the match, as well as the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.  With the win, it marked Rocky Romero’s seventh time winning the title.

The third match of the show was for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championship, which was defended by Ricochet, Satosji Kojima and David Finlay. They would face off against Bullet Club’s Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale and Hangman Page, CHAOS’ Jado, Will Ospreay, Yoshi-Hashi, and Los Ingobernables de Japon’s Bushi, EVIL and Sanada. 

It would be Bullet Club’s Yujiro Takahashi who would hit his finisher, the “Pimp Juice “, and pin Jado for the win to advance to the next team, which was Los Ingobernables de Japon. They would go on to quickly beat down Bullet Club and eliminate them within three minutes. 

After Sanada submitted Yujiro with his “Skull End”, Bullet Club was eliminated. The team and current NEVER Openweight 6-Man Champions Ricochet, Satoshi Kojima and David Finlay entered the fray.  In the end, EVIL distracted the referee, as Bushi spewed some green mist in Kojima’s face. EVIL hit his finisher “Evil” to win the match, as well as the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Championship for Los Ingobernables de Japon.

The fourth match was the New Japan debut of former WWE Superstar Cody Rhodes, who is now billed as Cody. He took on former NXT Superstar CJ Parker, who is now billed as Juice Robinson, as this was both their Wrestle Kingdom debuts. 

Cody took control as he worked over the left leg of Juice Robinson, and locked in a Reverse Figure Four Leg-Lock, which he calls the “American Nightmare “, until Juice made it to the ropes. He would then get hit with Cody’s finisher, the “Cross Rhodes”, giving Cody his debut win.