8 NJPW Titles That Changed Hands At Wrestle Kingdom 13
4. IWGP United States Championship
In which the so-called 'Three Star Cody' actually lived down to his very harsh and inaccurate reputation by earning a new nickname: One Stardust.
Cody does wrestling-as-theatre in an old school, camp fashion far better than many give him credit for, but this wasn't particularly good. Even if Cody wasn't draped in Jacksonville Jaguars colours, we'd have known his mind was elsewhere: he ran through his usual shenanigans that, divisive in most contexts, were wholly unsuited to this. Easily the worst match of the show, this felt less like a title match than a middling G1 Climax affair fought with the blocks already decided - deeply disappointing, given how wonderfully Cody played the championship occasion at ALL IN.
Bereft of much unpredictability and drama (and quality - Brandi went full Morasca in a silly sequence), it at least yielded a much-needed reset of a division that didn't require Cody's services as champion to begin with.
Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!
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