A look back at the key matches, moments and players of the year
As 2024 looms closer, and along with it Wrestle Kingdom 18, it’s time to take a look back at some of the moments that shaped the year that has been 2023. May saw a new title born in the US, while a Gene Blast was felt in Fukuoka.
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Key cards
Wrestling Dontaku (Fukuoka International Center, May 3: 4489 sellout attendance)
Strong Style’s NEVER 6 Man reign comes to an end, IWGP Junior vs World Heavyweight Champion main event, and Moxley announces his return to Japan.
Best of the Super Jr. 30 (Korakuen Hall May 12, 1401 sellout)
Ultimate junior heavyweight showcase has cheering fans back for the first time in four years, kicking off in Korakuen.
Resurgence (Walter Pyramid Long Beach, 2903)
Shota Umino takes a win with Blackpool combat Club, Will Ospreay returns from injury and a first STRONG Women’s Champion is crowned.
Best of the Super Jr. 30 final (Ota-ku May 28 3132)
Master Wato completes a Cinderella run to the BOSJ trophy after a stunning final against Titan
Match of the month
NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship- Willow Nightingale vs Mercedes Moné (Resurgence)
Walter Pyramid in Long Beach was thunderous in their reception of Mercedes Moné, who was looking to bounce back from her loss of the IWGP Women’s Championship by claiming a title many thought made just for her. Willow Nightingale entered as an outside underdog, but was stunning in her performance, and though an injury to the CEO would mar the evening somewhat, Nightingale’s crowning glory was one of the most emotionally resonating moments of the entire year.
Moment of the month
Yota Tsuji makes a massive first impression (Wrestling Dontaku)
Some six weeks of mysterious vignettes aired from the New Japan Cup finals onward about a monster threatening to land in Japan and wreak havoc. The tease was so long some assumed the figure it concerned would never show, but at Dontaku show he did- revealed as a Yota Tsuji returning from excursion. After SANADA had defeated Hiromu Takahashi to retain the IWGP World Heavyweight title, Tsuji headed to the ring with a chilling bright white grin a mile wide, and a spear that took SANADA right out of his boots, instantly cementing Tsuji as a top flight figure in NJPW.
MVP of the month
David Finlay
David Finlay joining BULLET CLUB was met with a mix of skepticism and derision in March, and crashing out of the New Japan Cup in the semifinals didn’t help the Rebel’s case. But the spring saw him put in the legwork to recruit, all the while pursuing NEVER Openweight Champion Tama Tonga. Dontaku saw him defeat Tama to lift the NEVER title in one of the most convincing, and unsettlingly violent performances that the championship had ever seen- by the time Finlay revealed the War Dogs in June with the credo ‘bring gold or bring bodies’, there could be no sensible doubting that Finlay was the real deal.
