{"id":33736,"date":"2018-01-03T15:33:04","date_gmt":"2018-01-03T21:33:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/?p=33736"},"modified":"2018-01-03T15:33:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-03T21:33:36","slug":"pruetts-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-12-preview-predictions-end-kazuchika-okadas-amazing-title-reign-tetsuya-naitos-time-take-spotlight-plus-ke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2018\/01\/03\/pruetts-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-12-preview-predictions-end-kazuchika-okadas-amazing-title-reign-tetsuya-naitos-time-take-spotlight-plus-ke\/","title":{"rendered":"Pruett\u2019s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 Preview and Predictions &#8211; Is this the end of Kazuchika Okada\u2019s amazing title reign? Is this Tetsuya Naito\u2019s time to take the spotlight? Plus Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, Young Bucks vs. Roppongi 3k, Cody vs. Kota Ibushi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White!"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"prowr-3262675750\" class=\"prowr-apple-podcast-button-link prowr-entity-placement\" style=\"margin-left: auto;margin-right: auto;text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/pro-wrestling-boom-podcast\/id1365989370\" aria-label=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?fit=320%2C78&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"SUBSCRIBE IN APPLE PODCASTS\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?w=320&ssl=1 320w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/advanced_ads\/2019\/07\/Logo2019_ApplePodcasts_320wide.png?resize=300%2C73&ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px\" width=\"320\" height=\"78\"   \/><\/a><\/div><p><strong>Editor&#8217;s Note:<\/strong> The following preview originally ran on the site on Tuesday. It is being bumped in the listing today with the show late tonight\/Thursday morning.<\/p>\n<p><b>By Will Pruett<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">These predictions are basically complete guesses. I mean, I know how professional wrestling tends to work and am using that to frame my analysis, but I have no insider information. Join me for live coverage of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 as it airs on Thursday morning at 1CT\/2ET. I\u2019ll be giving the results and analysis of the show for as long as I can stay awake!<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s a new year, which means we are just a day or two away from NJPW\u2019s biggest show of the year. Wrestle Kingdom 12, like the Wrestle Kingdoms before it, will take place on January 4 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It will be headlined by the winner of the G1 Climax tournament taking on the IWGP Heavyweight Champion. It\u2019s available live in the US (and worldwide) on NJPWWorld.com in both English and Japanese (although the site can be challenging to navigate in English sometimes). It promises to be an exciting show.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Tokyo Dome is a spectacle just below WrestleMania every year. It\u2019s always beautifully produced with elaborate entrances and costumes. Heck, Okada entered with a freaking dinosaur wielding a big ass sword one year and Nakamura entered while being used as a pole for a pole dancer. The Tokyo Dome is pretty fun.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Kazuchika Okada is in the middle of the greatest title run in professional wrestling history. Since June 19, 2016 Okada has held this championship racking up title defense after title defense, each one of them unique matches. He\u2019s had the best trilogy of matches since Flair vs. Steamboat in 1989 with Kenny Omega. He\u2019s brought the best out of every opponent he\u2019s faced including Cody, Bad Luck Fale, Shibata, and Marufuji. Okada\u2019s broken the record for longest IWGP world title reign in history.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tetsuya Naito is still the former IWGP Heavyweight Champion. He\u2019s seen his popularity climb in the last few years as a part of Los Ingobernables de Japon. He should be looked at as a victory for retooling wrestlers when they unexpectedly don\u2019t catch on. Okada vs. Naito was supposed to main event Wrestle Kingdom 8, but a fan vote allowed Nakamura vs. Tanahashi to main event over them. Naito was not as popular as he should have been. He\u2019s reinvented himself and discovered a new attitude that has served him well. He won the G1 Climax tournament defeating Kenny Omega in the finals in a fantastic match.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Okada does not have much left to do in this championship reign. He\u2019s proven himself to be one of the best wrestlers in the world. He seems to be reaching the end of this amazing story and title reign, even though he\u2019ll be the top wrestler in NJPW for another decade or so. Naito could use the win here to cement him as another tippy top guy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This should be the match everyone is buzzing about after staying up all night on Wednesday to watch. I\u2019d expect it to be in the Match of the Year discussion for 2018.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tetsuya Naito defeats Kazuchika Okada to win the IWGP Heavyweight Championship.<\/span><\/i><\/p><div id=\"prowr-1251062101\" class=\"prowr-content-4 prowr-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: prowrestling_incontent_2 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"prowrestling_incontent_2\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"prowrestling_incontent_2\", slotId: \"prowrestling_incontent_2\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><b>Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho in a No Disqualification match for the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; While Okada vs. Naito is the true main event, this match has the most buzz in the United States. Chris Jericho unexpectedly rolled into New Japan to challenge Kenny Omega, calling himself to Alpha of pro wrestling and setting up this uniquely branded encounter as Alpha vs. Omega.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After his recent WWE stints, I haven\u2019t been high on Chris Jericho. His \u201cList\u201d run with Kevin Owens never caught on with me. He\u2019s been missing a step in the ring. I\u2019m not sure how I feel about Jericho in this role. While it may bring more eyeballs to the show, are we missing out on something amazing because of it? I sincerely hope not. I hope Jericho is able to step his game up and, using all the tricks allowed to both men with the stipulation, have a match worthy of being a Tokyo Dome main event.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kenny Omega is still trying to define the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship after winning it in July in Long Beach. I could see this being the first title change for this very red belt. Omega is an attraction for NJPW not just in Japan, but around the world. In the United States, he\u2019s shown to be a real draw on any show he\u2019s on. Omega is ultra-talented. I am cautiously optimistic about this match, even though it doesn\u2019t excite me the way Omega vs. Ibushi in this slot would have.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Chris Jericho defeats Kenny Omega to win the IWGP US Heavyweight Championship.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Hiroshi Tanahashi cut off his hair after the G1 Climax tournament and nothing has been the same since. Okay, that\u2019s not true, but my heart has ached since Tanahashi\u2019s beautiful hair was sacrificed to film a movie. Why would anyone give up something so beautiful?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jay White reemerged in NJPW after the mysterious \u201cSwitchblade\u201d character was announced. After being teased on a few shows, White showed up as Switchblade and challenged Tanahashi for the Tokyo Dome. White is returning from his excursion to the United States where he worked often with Ring of Honor. This is a major spot for a young wrestler.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tanahashi has defined Wrestle Kingdom since its inception, participating in eight of the eleven prior main events. He has been the Ace of NJPW for years. While Okada is clearly the top wrestler now, Tanahashi has graciously stepped into the role of the veteran taking a step down and elevating younger talent. This is a big test for White.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m picking White to win to continue to clean sweep of major singles title changes and to see what he can do as a champion. This will be a major establishing moment for him and propel him to hang with NJPW\u2019s top four (Okada, Omega, Tanahashi, and Naito). Even if he doesn\u2019t work out as champion, chances are he can lose the title at one of the New Beginning shows in about a month. It\u2019s a low-risk high reward proposition for NJPW.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jay White defeats Hiroshi Tanahashi to win the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Marty Skrull vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Will Ospreay vs. Kushida for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; This will be a very fun match to watch. This will not be a fun match for me to do live coverage of. I may just type \u201cimagine all the flips\u201d and then the winner\u2019s name. This should be an athletic spectacle.<\/span><\/p><div id=\"prowr-1231405376\" class=\"prowr-content-5 prowr-entity-placement\"><!-- Tag ID: prowrestling_incontent_3 -->\r\n<div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"prowrestling_incontent_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"prowrestling_incontent_3\", slotId: \"prowrestling_incontent_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Skrull is the current champion, but I don\u2019t expect him to leave with the title. Kushida and Takahashi have had highlight singles matches together every time they\u2019ve been in the ring in 2017. I expect them to be a heavy focus in this match. Ospreay is pretty amazing and had some of the most notable Juniors matches in NJPW in years. this is going to be fun.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">I\u2019m picking Hiromu Takahashi (hopefully with Daryl Takahashi) to win this match and carry the Junior Heavyweight Championship for a while. It should be a very good night for Los Ingobernables de Japon. I\u2019d love to see him in singles title defenses against any of the wrestlers in this match.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hiromu Takahashi defeats the other competitors somehow to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Minoru Suzuki vs. Hiroki Goto in a Hair vs. Hair match for the NEVER Openweight Championship<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; I rarely care about the NEVER titles in NJPW. As a more casual viewer of NJPW, I\u2019ve yet to figure out where they fit in. There are a ton of belts flying around everywhere in NJPW and this one doesn\u2019t need to exist. With this said, I am excited for Minoru \u201cThe Barber\u201d Suzuki. Adding the Hair vs. Hair stipulation reignited this feud and has lead me to be very interested.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Minoru Suzuki defeats Hiroki Goto to retain the NEVER Openweight Championship and his cool hair.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Sanada and EVIL) for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; The tag team scene is one of the only parts of NJPW I usually ignore. It\u2019s not that anyone is bad, but it\u2019s a time issue. I also feel like the World Tag League tournament in November\/December of every year is the least interesting time to be a NJPW fan. With this said, this will be a damn good tag match.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">EVIL is coming off of a great G1 last summer and a win (followed by a loss) over Kazuchika Okada. That\u2019s big. Sanada has been a delight in this time as well. If you haven\u2019t seen KES in action, they\u2019re a fun bruising tag team. I don\u2019t expect this to be a long match.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Los Ingobernables de Japon defeat the Killer Elite Squad to win the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Cody vs. Kota Ibushi<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; This is the only non-title match on this show, as Cody lost the Ring of Honor Championship at Final Battle and this turned into a \u201cSpecial Singles Match\u201d between these two. Cody\u2019s best performances have been against the likes of Okada, who turn out special matches with everyone. I expect this to be a great match without much time allotted between these two.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It feels like this is a bit of a placeholder match, especially with Jericho taking the big spot with Omega. I expected Omega vs. Ibushi to be the semi main event of this show after the G1. Sadly this is not happening. This should be a stepping stone for Ibushi to that anticipated match (and the greatest romance in all of wrestling) with Omega.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kota Ibushi defeats Cody.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Gauntlet Match for the NEVER Openweight Six Man Championship<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; This is where the belts get absurd. Why do these belts exist? Did anyone want them? This is the \u201cget everyone on the show\u201d match we\u2019ve seen at a ton of WrestleManias and Tokyo Dome shows before it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Togi Makabe) survives to gauntlet to win the NEVER Openweight Six Man Championship.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) vs. The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; For years it has seemed like The Young Bucks were destined to open the Tokyo Dome in huge multi-team tag team matches that had more spectacle to them than substance. Finally, this is a chance to see Matt and Nick Jackson shine as the tag team competitors they are. Sho and Yoh have been impressive as the Junior Tag Champs, but this feels like it\u2019s The Young Bucks\u2019 time.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Young Bucks defeat Roppongi 3K to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Overall, I\u2019m excited enough about this show to stay up almost all night to see it (it should end around 4:00am-ish on the west coast) and even to volunteer to do live coverage for it on this very website (It\u2019s the one time per year I do live coverage)! Wednesday night\/Thursday morning is going to be a great time to be a wrestling fan. Tune in with me at NJPWWorld and let\u2019s have some fun!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Will Pruett writes about wrestling and popular culture at prowrestling.net. Of interest to him are diversity in wrestling and wrestling as a theatrical art form. To see his video series \u201cWhat I Love About Professional Wrestling\u201d <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCfMU6sUZAYG8YeYzoOgEQrQ\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">subscribe to his YouTube channel<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. To contact, check him out on <\/span><\/i><a href=\"http:\/\/twitter.com\/wilpruett\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twitter @wilpruett<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, leave a comment,\u00a0or email him at <\/span><\/i><a href=\"mailto:itswilltime@gmail.com\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">itswilltime@gmail.com<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><b>NEW:<\/b> You can now support Prowrestling.net when you shop Amazon. Just start your online Amazon shopping at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/prowrestling.net\/amazon\">Prowrestling.net\/amazon<\/a>. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.<\/p>\n<div id=\"prowr-480687200\" class=\"prowr-after-content prowr-entity-placement\"><a class=\"spreaker-player\" href=\"https:\/\/www.spreaker.com\/show\/pwboom\" data-resource=\"show_id=3275525\" data-theme=\"light\" data-playlist=\"show\" data-width=\"100%\" data-height=\"340px\">Listen to \"Pro Wrestling Boom Podcast\" on Spreaker.<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Editor&#8217;s Note: The following preview&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":33737,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50,27,76],"tags":[202,1241,706,278,1983,1086,479,709,1982,976,210,95,117,94,340,1981,1918],"class_list":["post-33736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mustreadarticles","category-viewpoints","category-willpruett","tag-chris-jericho","tag-cody","tag-cody-rhodes","tag-hiroshi-tanahashi","tag-ibushi","tag-jay-white","tag-kenny-omega","tag-kota-ibushi","tag-kuzuchika-okada","tag-naito","tag-njpw","tag-okada","tag-omega","tag-tanahashi","tag-tetsuya-naito","tag-wrestle-kingdom","tag-wrestle-kingdom-12"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pruett\u2019s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 Preview and Predictions - Is this the end of Kazuchika Okada\u2019s amazing title reign? Is this Tetsuya Naito\u2019s time to take the spotlight? Plus Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, Young Bucks vs. Roppongi 3k, Cody vs. Kota Ibushi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White! - Pro Wrestling Dot Net<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2018\/01\/03\/pruetts-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-12-preview-predictions-end-kazuchika-okadas-amazing-title-reign-tetsuya-naitos-time-take-spotlight-plus-ke\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pruett\u2019s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 Preview and Predictions - Is this the end of Kazuchika Okada\u2019s amazing title reign? Is this Tetsuya Naito\u2019s time to take the spotlight? Plus Kenny Omega vs. Chris Jericho, Young Bucks vs. Roppongi 3k, Cody vs. Kota Ibushi, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White! - Pro Wrestling Dot Net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Editor&#8217;s Note: The following preview...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/prowrestling.net\/site\/2018\/01\/03\/pruetts-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-12-preview-predictions-end-kazuchika-okadas-amazing-title-reign-tetsuya-naitos-time-take-spotlight-plus-ke\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pro Wrestling Dot Net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-01-03T21:33:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-01-03T21:33:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/prowrestling.net\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2018\/01\/WK12_logo_S.jpg?fit=2065%2C1459&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2065\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1459\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Will Pruett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Will Pruett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"10 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/03\\\/pruetts-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-12-preview-predictions-end-kazuchika-okadas-amazing-title-reign-tetsuya-naitos-time-take-spotlight-plus-ke\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/2018\\\/01\\\/03\\\/pruetts-njpw-wrestle-kingdom-12-preview-predictions-end-kazuchika-okadas-amazing-title-reign-tetsuya-naitos-time-take-spotlight-plus-ke\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Will Pruett\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/prowrestling.net\\\/site\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/18b8715fbf4523811238ea1695047f37\"},\"headline\":\"Pruett\u2019s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 Preview and Predictions &#8211; Is this the end of Kazuchika Okada\u2019s amazing title reign? 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