Kingston and Okada fall to Jay and Juice in NYC
The main event of Rumble on 44th Street saw a tag team preview of Wrestle Kingdom 17, as Jay White and Kazuchika Okada recruited Juice Robinson and Eddie Kingston to square off in the Times Square Palladium.
After some typical grandstanding from BULLET CLUB, Jay White would test Eddie Kingston with a chop, a move he would instantly regret. Sent reeling by the Mad King, White declared that he wanted Okada instead, but the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion didn’t have better luck with the Rainmaker. Forced to tag in Robinson who took his own beating from Kingston, White would distract his way into the match instead, holding Kingston back for a Robinson chop block.
Kingston would be buried in the wrong part of the ring, Jay and Juice delivering a punishing assault on the knees. Kingston would sacrifice his hurt knee by getting it in the way of a Robinson senton however, and after an enzuigiri, tagged in Okada who exploded on the BULLET CLUB members. Okada looked for the Money Clip on Robinson, but after an escape we were back to Okada vs White, and a series of thudding strikes exchanged before a shotgun dropkick.
After White stopped a Rainmaker attempt with some stinging chops, a dropkick brought in Kingston again, and the match broke down, all four men being knocked down to the mat in a pitched melee. Kingston would find his feet first, and rattled off brutal strikes to White and Robinson, before the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion was pinballed between both his opponents.
Still, the Switchblade’s counterpunching came into effect. Sleeper Suplexes connected to both Okada and Kingston, but the Mad King would fire up in front of his hometown crowd, delivering backdrop suplexes to both BULLET CLUB members. Despite having both knees chop blocked away, Kingston kept swinging before delivering a Uraken to White, but with the referee drawn by Juice, a low blow scored before the Bladerunner for three.
Post match, White reasserted that he was the ‘king of New York’ before declaring that Okada would fall to the Switchblade at Wrestle Kingdom 17.
