5 Ups & 5 Downs From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 (Night 2)

1. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay

Like the night one headliner, this was far from the insta-classic fans have come to expect in the Wrestle Kingdom main event spot, though it may be received as such by some corners of the fandom. This is understandable. Okada and Ospreay transparently structured the match to hit the exact beats of what is typically considered a consensus "great" match in 2022, choosing form over story, with a handful of shortcomings ultimately holding it back.

Ospreay's night one assertion that Okada was "exhausted" after wrestling Shingo Takagi didn't play into the match at all, with the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion as sprightly as his challenger. Okada's eye socket, injured by a bruising Pumping Bomber on the first night, barely factored into it either, and The Rainmaker merely threatened to target Ospreay's neck and knee early on. From there, there was no attempt at targeting and weakening body parts by the champ: the focus was on cool exchanges from two guys who know each other extremely well.

And that's fine. You can tell a good story with that. This one was forged from fragments of their previous encounters, with call-backs and subversions plenty, showing, primarily, that Ospreay is far from the boy he was when Okada first took him under his wing seven years ago.

Moments like Ospreay countering the Rainmaker into a Spanish Fly take immense skill and coordination. On that technical level, both wrestlers are amongst the best to ever do it. Their less elaborate spots were executed with pops and snap, too, and that the aimless, exploratory grappling that blights many a modern New Japan main event quickly gave way in the opening stages was welcome.

The late-match drama came a typical way. Ospreay kicked out of a Rainmaker, Okada kicked out of a Hidden Blade. Finally, after Ospready had emptied his tank, The Rainmaker hit his short-arm ripcord clothesline to take the fall and ensure he carries the belt through the first phases of NJPW's 50th anniversary year.

Provided he can fend off Tetsuya Naito, who challenged him after the bell.