4 Ups & 5 Downs From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Night 1)

4. Jeff Cobb, Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan vs. Tetsuya Naito, BUSHI, and SANADA

United Empire
NJPW

The second of two multi-man warm-up bouts designed to build night two anticipation, this, like the other one, had no business being on a Wrestle Kingdom lineup.

It was an okay bout in and of itself. Will Ospreay's presence give it extra zest ahead of his IWGP World Heavyweight Title reckoning on night two, and there were some fun interactions between Tetsuya Naito and Jeff Cobb in particular, though these things were delivered through a rote layout and the match devolved into a big move buffet towards the end. From this, Ospreay scored the pin on BUSHI via Hidden Blade.

The opposing sides were left jawing, mocking, and taunting each other afterwards, as Naito prepares to face Cobb one on one and SANADA readies himself for Great-O-Khan. It was exactly the kind of fodder you'd expect to see as Road To card-padding, not on the biggest NJPW show of the year, and the post-match lacked any kind of impact, making this pure filler.

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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.