8 Ups & 6 Downs From NJPW King Of Pro-Wrestling 2019

Downs...

6. Rematches! Rematches Everywhere!

Kota Ibushi EVIL
NJPW

Four of King of Pro-Wrestling's top five bouts were rematches and while each can be explained and justified to varying degrees, this is part of a wider problem that has blighted NJPW throughout 2019.

Where once the company booked rematches with purpose, ensuring enough time had elapsed before repeating the booking, this is becoming a WWE-like tendency. Will Ospreay and El Phantasmo's last match was less than two months ago in the Super J Cup and before that, they collided in a May Best of the Super Juniors semi-final. Kota Ibushi vs. EVIL, SANADA vs. Kazuchika Okada, and Juice Robinson vs. Jon Moxley (before it was cancelled) were all G1 Climax repeats. A common practice around these parts, but one that increasingly results in diminishing returns.

It's hard to get too jazzed about a match you've already seen a few months ago and while neither of these matches suffered as badly as the Hiroshi Tanahashi/Zack Sabre Jr. rivalry earlier this year, something's got to give.

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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.