January 5, 20205 yr comment_5908578 Chris Jericho is a former IWGP Intercontinental Champion and won the NWA World Middleweight Championship in CMLL. La Sombra/Andrade is another former IWGP Intercontinental Champion in addition to being a former NXT Champion and the current WWE United States Champion. Tatsumi Fujinami won the UWA World Heavyweight Championship in Mexico and the CWA Intercontinental Heavyweight Championship in Europe. Road Warrior Hawk won the CWA World Heavyweight Championship in addition to all his tag titles in the US and Japan. I personally wouldn't count Sasaki since Stampede wasn't a major promotion and Puerto Rico is part of the United States.
January 5, 20205 yr comment_5908579 Night two was indefinitely better than night one. I wasn't even that hyped about the idea of Naito winning both belts, but both guys made me care. White/Ibushi and Jericho/Tanahashi were both better than they had any right to be.
January 6, 20205 yr comment_5908608 Terrific weekend of wrestling overall. Sort of devastated Ibushi lost two nights in a row and while I'm sure he'll get his moment down the line, Jay beating him in the end after the year he's had was a drag. Mixed feelings about the ending angle but Naito winning was the most important thing. Everything else ranged from solid to fantastic. Okada-Naito in particular was booked to perfection. So many great callbacks to the WK 12 match and they really knew how to milk the drama. Going to be a tough MOTYC to top.
January 6, 20205 yr Author comment_5908623 Just watched Liger's last match. Oh, man. That just pushed my "That is awesome!" button again and again, from watching Fujiwara make his way to the ring, to Liger making a hot tag to Sano, to the interesting dynamic of two legendary old rivals from the past teaming up against two rivals from the present, to the actual feeling of sadness watching one of the absolute Greatest of All Time go out on his back. So good. So fitting.
January 8, 20205 yr comment_5908719 The main event of night two was excellent, and KENTA got massive heat interrupting Naito. I also thought Jericho-Tanahashi was nearly as good, and in some ways, even more remarkable, given their age and other limitations. It was a different kind of match from the usual NJPW main event and I enjoyed it thoroughly. They did not go overboard with the smokes and mirrors, and while I don't really like Tanahashi, he was good here. Jericho is clearly having the run of his life. Wrestler of the year 2019 for me and already on his way to make a strong case for 2020 as well.
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