The latest Wrestle Kingdom event is now in the books, with this year's version of the top New Japan Pro Wrestling show being split over two nights. Having two mega cards take place, the company created two amazing shows.
New Japan has continued to prove they put on some of the greatest wrestling matches on earth, and both nights left plenty of people talking. With major title matches, bitter feuds ending, and an emotional retirement, Wrestle Kingdom 14 had it all.
Considering Wrestle Kingdom is New Japan's biggest event (or in this year's case, events), there was always going to be big talking points afterwards, and this year was no different. So let's take a look at the 10 biggest takeaways from the Wrestle Kingdom 14 shows.
10 Suzuki & Moxley Will Rule
While Wrestle Kingdom is often the end of storylines and rivalries, it can also be the launching pad for others. In the case of the IWGP United States Champion, Jon Moxley, it was the latter for him.
After managing to defeat Juice Robinson and bring an end to their story, the AEW star was seemingly leaving Japan as a solid champion. However, Minoru Suzuki had other plans as he made his way to the ring to challenge Moxley.
It sets up a huge blockbuster match that wrestling fans are incredibly excited about. The world is talking about this right now and everyone is ready to see an unbelievable strong style, brutal match between them.
9 Ibushi's Double Defeat
Fans had wondered for a long time what was going to happen with Kota Ibushi after he didn't want to sign a contract. However, now that he finally has a deal in place with New Japan, people expected the Golden Star to be pushed heavily.
However, Wrestle Kingdom 14 was an interesting time for Ibushi as he picked up back to back losses. While he looked great in both performances, as expected, having him lose twice was certainly not expected.
It now remains to be seen what will be next for him, but people are certainly intrigued to see what is going to happen.
8 Zack Sabre's Character Work
Everyone knows that Zack Sabre Jr is a technical master, with very few being able to even come close to what he can do in the ring. His submissions and reversals are out of this world, but his character work is often overlooked.
It's an excellent aspect of his overall talent as he knows exactly when to start turning things up a notch. Throughout his performances, he visibly becomes more aggressive and angry when things don't go to plan.
They are small details but there are some clear seeds being planted that could be setting up a fun storyline for him down the line.
7 Will Ospreay Thrives
Another Englishman who really thrived during Wrestle Kingdom 14 was Will Ospreay. The popular Junior Heavyweight has easily become one of the best wrestlers on the planet, and once again he proved that.
On the big stage, Ospreay always seems to stand up and get even better. Even though he was defeated, losing his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, he put on an amazing performance.
He is someone who has the ability to break into the main event scene of New Japan this year if he continues on this trajectory.
6 New Tag Team Champions
Wrestle Kingdom 14 saw brand new IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Champions crowned as New Japan shook up its list of champions. Having title changes is always essential on major shows, and this past weekend had plenty of them.
The Guerrilas Of Destiny were solid champions, but seeing New Japan push two incredibly wrestlers in David Finlay and Juice Robinson was excellent to see.
FinJuice have quickly become a team to keep an eye on in professional wrestling, and hopefully, this title victory will cement that fact. Everyone expects big things from them, and now they've been given a chance to showcase it.
5 The Forbidden Door Remains Closed
While Chris Jericho is able to work for both New Japan and AEW, the two major companies do not have a working relationship. It's something that everyone wants to see happen down the line, but clearly, that's not happening soon.
Jericho admitted that if Hiroshi Tanahashi could beat him, he would happily defend his AEW World Heavyweight Title against him down the line. However, Jericho picked up the win and promptly ended any hopes of that happening.
Fans will now be forced to wait patiently and hope that something changes down the line. Jericho made it clear in his press conference that he wants a relationship to be made, so hopefully, that is able to work.
4 Naito Gets His Moment
Wrestle Kingdom 14's final match of the weekend saw a mega main event between Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito. With both the IWGP Intercontinental and IWGP Heavyweight Title on the line, the stakes couldn't have been higher here.
Obviously, Okada is a name that everyone is familiar with and he was the clear favorite to become a dual champion here. But Wrestle Kingdom 14 proved to be Naito's moment in the spotlight.
It is clearly going to be a huge moment for the company and is a moment that will help solidify Naito as one of the top tier talents in the world.
3 KENTA Is A Star
If you only ever saw KENTA wrestle as Hideo Itami, you might question why there was so much hype around him when he originally joined NXT. Despite a few solid matches in WWE, it's fair to say things didn't really go to plan for him in America.
However, since returning to Japan, KENTA has been back at his absolute best. Putting on consistently high-quality matches on a regular basis, he appears to have regained his confidence.
This has been repaid by New Japan by the fact they had the show ended with him sitting on top of Naito with both titles. He is going to be a major player moving forward now for New Japan, which is an exciting time for him.
2 New Japan Sets The Bar
While more people might be watching WWE or AEW on a weekly basis, once again Wrestle Kingdom proved that New Japan Pro Wrestling is the standard-bearer. When it comes to the actual in-ring product, nothing even comes close to being on New Japan's level.
Every single match from the opening bout on night one to the main event of night two was superb. The standard seems to only be improving with every match as they constantly try to one-up each other.
Some of the things the wrestlers are able to do are simply amazing and will leave most wrestling fans stunned. It's a high standard for others to reach, but having a high bar is great for wrestling in general.
1 Jushin Liger=GOAT
Heading into Wrestle Kingdom 14, it was known that this would be the final time that the legendary Jushin Liger would be competing. Having pre-announced that he was retiring from the ring, this was always going to be an emotional moment.
The term 'GOAT' is one that gets thrown around a lot nowadays, often far too loosely. However, when it comes to Liger, he certainly deserves to be labeled in that way, as few wrestlers have done more for the industry than him.
This weekend might not have been his greatest match of all time, or his most memorable. However, it did allow the wrestling world to take a step back and remember his legacy and his career, which will be the biggest talking point from the weekend.