A tribute to the past and a bridge to the future at Wrestle Kingdom 17
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There was a lot to celebrate heading into January 4, 2023. Wrestle Kingdom 17 would be the culmination of 50 year anniversary festivities for NJPW, bringing the half century celebrations to a close and opening a new chapter. Meanwhile, after long years of pandemic enforced restrictions, capacity crowds were returning, and at the last mi9nute before event day, cheering crowds were confirmed for the Tokyo Dome to welcome a loaded card. Yet the biggest note for Wrestle Kingdom would be a poignant one. The death of founder Antonio Inoki in the autumn would transform the theme of the card into that of an Inoki memorial, and as such, represented the past present and future of a legendary legacy.
Wrestle Kingdom 17 would become, across TV, NJPW World and in person, the most watched Wrestle Kingdom to that point in history. While many of those that tuned in were there for the debut of Mercedes Moné, or the brutal war between Kenny Omega and Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Championship, the fitting main event was for the crown jewel of the King of Sports, challenged for by a man who had proudly worn the founder’s influence on his sleeve throughout 2022.
Having won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on January 4 2022, Okada took the responsibility of carrying the standard of New Japan Pro-Wrestling through its 50th year very seriously. The Rainmaker would repeatedly state that he hoped for Inoki himself to appear at a NJPW event to see him in action in person, but fate would have other designs. Inoki’s declining health would put paid to a personal appearance, while Okada would be separated from the World Heavyweight gold by the time summer rolled around.
Switchblade Jay White had been absent from Wrestle Kingdom 16, plying his trade in the US and under the banner of NJPW STRONG. White was out of sight and out of mind, but when the ninth anniversary of BULLET CLUB came around at Dontaku 2022 though, he returned to the forefront to lay out Okada and issue a challenge for his title. In their resulting title match at Dominion, Jay White would seize the IWGP gold, and retained it at forbidden Door in Ch9icago and against Tama Tonga in Ryogoku. Having fallen short of glory two years earlier, White saw WK17 as his chance to bathe in the splendour of a Tokyo Dome main event win, but Okada stood in his way.
The Rainmaker had won the G1, his second consecutive and fourth overall, but Jay White had the Rainmaker’s number, with none of their bouts on Japanese soil ending with Okada’s hand raised. That changed in the main event. In a culmination of their five prior singles matches, both champion and challenger knew one another like the backs of their hands, and that paid off in the closing stretch for Okada. White went for a ‘Jaymaker’ on Okada but the Rainmaker struck with his own version of the Bladerunner, before a Cobra Flowsion and emphatic Rainmaker ended White’s reign. The night would close with a fitting tribute, as Okada led the crowd in an emphatic cheer of ‘1,2,3 Daa!’ in tribute to one of professional wrestling’s greatest icons.
