13 Ups & 4 Downs From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13

4. Jericho & Naito Bring The Plunder

Here's the part of the article where Wrestle Kingdom 13 gets absolutely f*cking brilliant.

Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito was everything it could and should have been. A bitter, violent plunder brawl, it wasn't as unhinged as last year's Alpha vs. Omega clash, but only just. In-line with their pre-match threats, these two fought like they were trying to end each other's careers, crafting an attritional masterpiece rife with callbacks to their previous confrontations, and highlighted by a world-class selling performance from Naito, who spent much of this bout on the receiving end of a Jericho-prescribed bludgeoning.

There was a piledriver on the ramp. A ghoulish DDT on an unbreaking table. Jericho nailed a bunch of chairshots. Naito DDT'd and German suplexed him onto said weapons. It was a near-perfect execution of the hardcore formula, and another NJPW hit for Jericho as his career progress through this unlikely Indian Summer.

Naito came off great in victory, having learned from past mistakes to finally vanquish the former WWE star. Jericho, meanwhile, is Teflon. He's an expert heat-generator who loses nothing in defeat, and if he does return, he'll have no problem maintaining his credibility.

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Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. 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.