NJPW: The 10 Best Events of 2023
With the COVID-19 pandemic finally starting to calm down in Japan, NJPW has managed to return to a sense of normality in 2023. Crowds still have to wear face masks, but they are allowed to do more than just clap. They are allowed to cheer for their favorite wrestlers, they are allowed to sit closer together, and they have been imperative in making New Japan Pro Wrestling feel like it used to.
So far on Vendetta Sports Media, we have ranked every Premium Live Event WWE has produced in 2023 (including NXT), and now it’s time to show some love to New Japan since their final event of the year took place just before Christmas. My name is Sam Palmer, and here are the 10 best NJPW events of 2023!
10. Best of the Super Juniors 30 (Day 1):
New Japan is known for its tournaments and the Best of the Super Juniors is one of their biggest. This year’s tournament was the 30th installment of the round-robin competition that has previously been won by Will Ospreay, Finn Balor and the late Eddie Guerrero. When BOSJ enters its block phase, it is over a week of straight-up junior heavyweight action, and this year’s curtain jerker did not disappoint.
Fans in Korakuen Hall saw 10 matches that varied in length, but all started 20 individual stories that would run through the tournament. The returning KUSHIDA, who was surprisingly beaten by DOUKI, CMLL’s Titan establishing himself as one of the dark horses of the competition against TJP and Yoshinobu Kanemaru proving that he still had something left in the tank by taking down El Desperado, one of the tournament favorites.
However, if there is one match you need to seek out, it’s the main event. “Speedball” Mike Bailey made his tournament debut against the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi, a match that could have easily been the final, but instead rounded off night one of the tour. Bailey did IMPACT Wrestling proud by picking up a big win, finishing off an event that set the stage for one of the most eventful BOSJ tournaments in recent memory.
9. Battle in the Valley:
If you needed any proof that women’s wrestling was alive and well in the United States, look no further than Battle in the Valley from February. New Japan’s American brand NJPW STRONG ran a number of pay-per-views in 2023 with this show in San Jose, Calif., being the first. Not only was it the first, but it sold out almost instantly based on the drawing power of one person: Mercedes Mone.
Formerly known as Sasha Banks in WWE, Mercedes Mone made her NJPW debut at Wrestle Kingdom 17 and made her intentions known: She wanted the IWGP Women’s Champion KAIRI (Kairi Sane in WWE). The match was set for Battle in the Valley the next month, and it’s safe to say that the two ladies delivered. The best women’s match happened on a New Japan show, and it was the reason why the building was sold out.
Elsewhere on the show, Eddie Kingston kicked Jay White out of NJPW for good in a hard-hitting contest, Zack Sabre Jr. proved why he’s one of the best in the world against Clark Connors, and the show was headlined by a generational rivalry making its American debut. Kazuchika Okada defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi in a match that might not have been as good as their matches from the past, but it was certainly a match worthy of headlining such an important show.
8. NJPW STRONG Resurgence:
Staying in the United States with our next entry, NJPW STRONG traveled to Long Beach, Calif., for “Resurgence,” a show that was set to make New Japan history. Just six months after crowning the first-ever IWGP Women’s Champion, the company was going to crown the first-ever NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship. To do this, the company set up a four-person, one-night tournament with four of the world’s top stars.
The women involved also represented four different companies: Stephanie Vaquer from CMLL, Momo Kohgo from STARDOM, Willow Nightingale from AEW and Mercedes Mone from New Japan. All four women delivered in their matches and, to the surprise of many, Willow defeated in Mercedes in the final after the former WWE Superstar injured her ankle. Not only was this on the show, but there was so much more.
Will Ospreay booked his place in the final of the IWGP United States Title Contender tournament by defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shota Umino and the Blackpool Combat Club defeated CHAOS in a wild trios match that would continue their rivalry, and AEW’s Toni Storm showed up to help her husband Juice Robinson beat Fred Rosser. The best New Japan event that took place in the United States this year, but not the best NJPW STRONG event, that would be…
7. NJPW STRONG Independence Day (Both Days):
Celebrating the US brand of NJPW on Independence Day in Japan doesn’t seem like it would work, but this two-day event turned out to be one of the most entertaining of the year. With the event taking place at the legendary Korakuen Hall, the shows would have a mix of American performers who don’t usually travel to Japan, and Japanese performers who don’t travel to the States.
Many stars got the chance to shine on both shows. The Bullet Club War Dogs left with three wins out of four, taking the NJPW STRONG Openweight Tag Team Championships from Bishamon and keeping the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships for themselves. Giulia made history by becoming the new NJPW STRONG Women’s Champion, and Eddie Kingston won his first championship New Japan by defeating KENTA.
However, the star of the show was Jon Moxley. The former AEW World Champion competed in two insane deathmatches, the likes of which New Japan fans might not have been exposed to before. Mox and Homicide were defeated by Jun Kasai and El Desperado on Day 1, but the AEW star did get revenge on Despy the following day. By far the best set of STRONG shows New Japan has produced this year, and hopefully, there are more to come.
6. Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Yokohama Arena:
2022 saw New Japan team up with Pro Wrestling NOAH for a special third night of Wrestle Kingdom 16. Many people may have thought this was a one-shot deal, but 2023 saw NJPW and NOAH team up one more time.
Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Yokohama Arena was headlined by a special best-of-five series between Los Ingobrenables de Japon from NJPW, and Kongo from NOAH. Five high-profile singles matches between 10 of Japan’s top talents were never going to be a bad thing, and while it got off to a bit of a slow start, the Shingo Takagi/Katsuhiko Nakajima vs Tetsuta Naito/Kenoh matches certainly delivered.
Elsewhere on the show, fans got to see a side of Kazuchika Okada they hadn’t seen in years when Kaito Kiyomiya, for whatever reason, decided to kick The Rainmaker directly in the face. This spawned one of Japan’s most heated rivalries throughout the first half of the year, and left fans wanting more from a potential annual tradition of New Japan and NOAH for years to come.
5. Power Struggle:
The final major stop before the Wrestle Kingdom card takes shape, Power Struggle 2023 was an outrageously good show that concluded with a five-match run full of twists and turns. Jon Moxley felt like a god when he walked through the Osaka crowd for his match with Great-O-Khan, which turned into a wild Falls Count Anywhere match because of course it did, it’s a Jon Moxley match.
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii continued their reign as the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions by defeating TMDK, something that shocked me in particular as the champions really don’t need the belts in the grand scheme of things. On top of this Hiromu Takahashi confirmed that he’d go into Wrestle Kingdom 18 as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion when he defeated Taiji Ishimori.
The featured bout on the card was the final of the Super Junior Tag League, which was won by Catch 2/2, who defeated the House of Torture (thank god for that). But the talk of the town once the event was over was the main event. Will Ospreay and Shota Umino produced one of the best NJPW main events all year which, thanks to David Finlay, was the final IWGP United States Championship match in history. Go and check this one out if you haven’t already.
4. G1 Climax 33 (Day 19):
The annual G1 Climax tournament always produces some of the best matches of the year, and this time around, the best was saved until last. The semi-final event produced an absolute barnburner between Will Ospreay and Tetsuya Naito; nights five and seven of the tournament were also big highlights from this year’s calendar, but the final night of the competition is what we’re going for here.
Kazuchika Okada and Tetsuya Naito produced a final for the ages as while both men have a storied past, this was the first time they had met in the final of the G1. Okada wanted to try and get his title back, and winning the tournament was the only way he could do it. As for Naito, he had always dreamed of doing the LIJ roll call with the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in hand at the end of Wrestle Kingdom.
The rest of the night might have been filled with multi-man tag team matches that really did vary in quality, with the LIJ/United Empire match being a particular example. However, when the show ends with a match as good as Okada/Naito, it warrants a place on this list.
3. Wrestle Kingdom 17 in Tokyo Dome:
The first stop of the year in the wrestling calendar is usually NJPW’s annual trip to the Tokyo Dome, and looking back at Wrestle Kingdom 17 one year one … it’s a really weird show. There is representation from NJPW (obviously), AEW, STARDOM, NOAH, and somehow, WWE. With that being said, being weird is sometimes a good thing.
Mercedes Mone made her shocking debut at the end of KAIRI’s match against Tam Nakano. Bishamon dethroned FTR to become the IWGP Tag Team Champions. Keiji Muto wrestled his final match for New Japan in an all-star trios match. Karl Anderson was somehow walking into the show as champion. Zack Sabre Jr. won his first singles title in NJPW after six long years in the company. Hiromu Takahashi became only the fifth man in company history to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship five times … AND THEN THE DOUBLE MAIN EVENT HAPPENED!
Kenny Omega made his grand return to New Japan to take on Will Ospreay in a match that will go down as one of the greatest bouts in company history and, to some, one of the best matches in wrestling history. This was quickly followed by Kazuchika Okada finally getting the better of Jay White to win his seventh world title. It’s safe to say that NJPW set the bar for themselves incredibly high.
2. Dominion 6.4 in Osaka-jo Hall:
If there is one thing that newer fans might find strange about New Japan shows is the amount of multi-man tag team matches that are used to set up future matches. While the bigger events in the year limit the amount to a select few, it was all killer and no filler when it comes to NJPW’s second biggest show of the year.
Outside of an eight-man tag between Just 5 Guys and LIJ, every match had something big on the line. Will Ospreay became the number one contender for the IWGP United States Championship defeating Lance Archer, Catch 2/2 and the Intergalactic Jet Setters had a fun sprint, as did Zack Sabre Jr. and Jeff Cobb, and Bishamon brought stability back to the tag team division as they filled the void left by Aussie Open who were recently signed by AEW.
David Finlay concluded with feud with El Phantasmo, Hiromu Takahashi finally put an end to “Watomania” as he defeated Master Wato. The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship match between champions Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kazuchika Okada and Tomohiro Ishii and challengers Jon Moxley, Claudio Castagnoli and Shota Umino ended up being one of the best tag team matches of the entire year.
Finally, SANADA continued his run of defeating his former stablemates when he defended the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against the man who replaced him in LIJ, Yota Tsuji. A fine way to round out the first half of 2023 for New Japan Pro Wrestling, but there was one more event that tops it.
1. Sakura Genesis:
Sometimes it’s easy to take the quality of wrestling nowadays for granted, and Sakura Genesis is a perfect example of this. It’s a show that has the strongest five-match stretch on any New Japan event all year, a stretch that can stand up to any five-match stretch on any show in any company all year, and many more exciting angles.
Mercedes Mone wrestled for New Japan at Battle in the Valley, but her fast-paced three-way match with AZM and Hazuki was her first in Japan, and it didn’t disappoint. Zack Sabre Jr. might have been eliminated from the New Japan Cup by Shota Umino, but he proved that when there was a time limit, he was one of the best in the world.
On top of these bouts, Aussie Open claimed they were the best tag team in the world, and they left Ryogoku Sumo Hall with the hardware to back it up in the show’s main event.
Hiromu Takahashi withstood the onslaught of offence from Robbie Eagles, tensions in Bullet Club finally spilled over as El Phantasmo was kicked out of the group by David Finlay, and in the main event, SANADA shocked the world by dethroning Kazuchika Okada to become the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in an outstanding match.
With Wrestle Kingdom 18 around the corner, 2024 already looks to be an exciting one for New Japan Pro Wrestling. However, Sakura Genesis 2023 is the bar that the company will have to surpass.
AND THAT IS THAT! What was your favorite NJPW event of the year? Let us know in the comments section below! Don’t forget to follow Vendetta Sports Media on all your favorite social media platforms.
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