7 Ups & 5 Downs From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 (Review)
1. Karl Anderson (c) vs. Tama Tonga
This was way, way better than it had any real right to be, but such low standards were set by Karl Anderson wilfully taking the p*ss out of the art of wrestling itself in knowingly bad matches.
Tonga was in fantastic condition, Anderson wasn't far behind, the the two worked a competent but completely unremarkable match (save for an unfortunately botched finish) that wouldn't have looked out of place on Raw if it had gone five minutes longer than the nine it was allotted.
But there was a feeling of celebration in the air in Tokyo - the idea that normalcy was around the corner and Wrestle Kingdom was a monument to that. For such bland flavourless action to command a spot felt as much about Anderson's unique status between WWE and NJPW as it was the epic conclusion to a storied tale.