8 Ups & 6 Downs From NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling 2019

Okada vs. SANADA, EVIL vs. Ibushi, Liger vs. Suzuki, and more.

by Andy H Murray
Kazuchika Okada SANADA Kota Ibushi
NJPW

NJPW's last big one-night pay-per-view of the year, King Of Pro-Wrestling, hit Tokyo's famous Sumo Hall with a card boasting IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada vs. SANADA, the uber-heated Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Minoru Suzuki feud's expected conclusion, and EVIL challenging for Kota Ibushi's G1 Climax briefcase.

A lukewarm Destruction tour meant the pressure was on NJPW to deliver. Unfortunately, things were made even more complicated by Typhon Hagibis - the natural disaster tearing through Japan at the moment - and widespread travel chaos. Jon Moxley, so the story goes, couldn't make the show for that very reason, forcing him to vacate the IWGP United States Championship and pull out of his bout with Juice Robinson. Announcer Kevin Kelly didn't make it to the building until 10 minutes before bell-time. It was, by all accounts, a nightmare to deal with.

Whether or not this factored into KOPW's quality is unknown, though this was a middling show as far as NJPW's one-nighters go. Potential highs were marred by predictability and other booking concerns, and while it would be a stretch to call anything on this show outright bad, saying King of Pro-Wrestling lived up to the hype would be similarly disingenuous.

Let's break it down...

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Andy has been with WhatCulture for six years and is currently WhatCulture's Senior Wrestling Reporter. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.