NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20 Results: Winners, Live Grades, Reaction and Highlights

Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20.

This is the biggest show of the year for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, but it's also special for another reason. This will be the night Hiroshi Tanahashi, one of the most important NJPW stars of the last 20 years, has his retirement match.

To cap off his career, Tana will step into the ring with one of his biggest rivals, AEW international champion Kazuchika Okada.

In addition to Okada, another AEW star will have a prominent spot on the card when Konosuke Takeshita puts his IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on the line in a title vs. title match against Yota Tsuji and his IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship.

Let's take a look at what went down at this year's Wrestle Kingdom.

Wrestle Kingdom Card

Here's a look at the full lineup for WK20:

• Shoma Kato and Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Katsuya Murashima and Masatora Yasuda
• El Phantasmo vs. Chris Brooks
• NEVER Openweight Six-Man Championship Ranbo
• Saya Kamitani vs. Syuri (Winner Takes All for the IWGP Women's Championship and Strong Women's Championship)
• Bullet Club War Dogs vs. United Empire (10-man tag match)
• Kosei Fujita vs.. Taiji Ishimori vs. El Desperado vs. Sho (No. 1 Contender's match for IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship)
• Evil vs. Aaron Wolf (Never Openweight Championship)
• Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji (Winner Takes All for IWGP World and Global Heavyweight Championships)
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada

Pre-show

El Phantasmo vs. Chris Brooks (NJPW World TV Title)

The pre-show kicked off with a singles match between Brooks and Phantasmo. Jado was in Phantasmo's corner and provided some fun moments during the fight, but Brooks was the standout here.

He and Phantasmo put in a fun and physical bout to get the action started on the show. Phantasmo picked up the win to retain his TV title.

Result: Phantasmo defeated Brooks

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Some of the open-handed strikes from Phantasmo looked incredibly weak. He was selling that he was worn out, but even with that, they could have looked better.
• Brooks' double underhook piledriver looked great.

Never Openweight Six-Man Ranbo

The NEVER Openweight Six-Man Championships were on the line in a huge Ranbo match with eight teams for a total of 24 competitors.

Toru Yano, Yoh and Master Wado were the reigning champions heading into this bout. There were no tags in this style of match. Eliminations were made with pins, submissions and throwing someone over the top rope to the floor.

Two teams started in the ring, with a new trio being brought in every minute. Some of the competitors were former world champions, current IWGP tag champs, and young stars looking to win their first belt.

A match with this many competitors is always going to be mayhem, so you can't expect a lot of technical wrestling. This was mostly about multi-man spots, elimination teases and the occasional comedic moment.

There were long periods of time when teams that were still in the match were just sitting around at ringside to keep the ring clear, but it also looked awkward at times.

Despite some moments that clearly didn't go as planned, such as Yuto-Ice's attempted elimination, this was about what you would expect from this kind of match. It had some fun moments, but this was never designed to steal the show.

Zack Sabre Jr. ended up getting the win to crown TMDK as the new six-man champs.

Result: TMDK won

Grade: C-plus

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Notable Moments and Observations

• The video package for Tanahashi at the beginning of the show was great.
• Sanada's entrance attire was awesome.
• The triple dropkick spot looked good.
• Thekla was there to accompany Clark Connors and his team.
• The announcers noted that this was also going to be Tiger Mask's final appearance in the Tokyo Dome since he is retiring in June.

Syuri vs. Saya Kamitani

The IWGP and NJPW Strong Women's Championships were both on the line in this title vs. title match with Syuri and Kamitani.

They started with a standard lockup and wristlock exchange. Syuri got the first two-count of the match, but neither woman had successfully landed a significant strike at this point.

They were trading holds and counters until Syuri hit a stiff kick to the back. Kamitani used the referee as a distraction so she could take control, and her cohorts at ringside helped her cheat, too.

The level of aggression went way up once both women started throwing forearms strikes in the middle of the ring.

This was a hard-hitting and entertaining match that showcased two women who deserve more attention on the international stage. Syuri was more aggressive at times, but Kamitani had the more impressive spots from the top rope.

There was a level of precision to their work that a lot of wrestlers work years to achieve. Both competitors did some excellent work in this bout. In fact, this will likely be one of the biggest highlights for most fans.

Both women came close to winning a few times, but when the dust settled, it was Syuri who walked away with both belts.

Result: Syuri defeated Kamitani

Grade: A-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• The announcers credited Kamitani for a lot of Stardom's recent success.
• The contrasting black and white gears was a nice touch.
• Kamitani came so close to not dodging a kick from Syuri that looked like it would have taken her head off.
• Kamitani's dive from the top rope to the floor looked good.

Bullet Club War Dogs vs. United Empire

The next bout was a huge 10-man tag match. Shingo Takagi, David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney and Hiromu Takahashi faced Great O-Khan, Callum Newman, Henare, Andrade El Idolo and a mystery partner who was revealed to be Jake Lee.

The War Dogs attacked United Empire during the introductions. Most of the men took their fight out of the ring, leaving El Idolo and Kidd as the first legal competitors for their teams.

Much like the Ranbo earlier in the show, this bout had a lot of people involved, so there were moments when people were just standing at ringside watching what was going on in the ring.

Even though there wasn't much a pattern to this match, we saw a lot of great sequences and spots sprinkled in throughout the fight.

This bout may have been an excuse to get a lot of these guys on the card, but it still provided some fun moments. Lee ended up pinning Takahashi with a huge running kick to get the win for United Empire.

Result: United Empire defeated Bullet Club War Dogs

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Takahashi's entrance gear is always awesome.
• Finlay was carrying a big fake minigun. Sound effects played when he pretended to shoot it, but nothing came out to make it convincing like sparks. It was kind of funny because it seemed so out of place.
• This show had limited time because it was also being broadcast on Japanese TV, so it was surprising to see them take up so much time with entrances.
• It sounded like the ring announcer mentioned AEW during Andrade's introduction. The commentators alluded to his legal issues with WWE, too.
• Finlay and Takahashi using each other as weapons was hilarious.

Sho vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. El Desperado

A new No. 1 contender for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship was decided in a Fatal 4-Way with Sho, Fujita, Ishimori and Desperado. Douki, the current champion, came out to watch the match from ringside.

Ishimori hit a big dive from the top rope while Sho was still making his entrance. Once all four men were ready, Sho ended up on the receiving end of a beating from all three opponents.

The action in this match had a quick pace. It never felt like we went more than a few seconds without someone hitting a move. It was easy to get invested because all four guys were working their butts off.

Sho taking out the ref allowed his friends to come in and help him cheat, but several other wrestlers who weren't even part of the match showed up to send Douki out of the ring.

This match had some enjoyable sequences, but they tried to throw too much into it once the ref was taken out. Sometimes less is more, and this would have been a good time to exercise restraint.

After the chaos settled down, El Desperado got the pin to become the new No. 1 contender.

Result: El Desperado won

Grade: B-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• The announcers said Douki chose not to compete so as not to overshadow Tanahashi's retirement. It was a good way to get heat on him.
• Fujita had one of the better entrances on the show.
• The spot with all three men holding Sho in a submission was fun.

Evil vs. Aaron Wolf

Olympic gold medalist Wolf was given a big opportunity in his debut match when he challenged Evil for the Never Openweight Championship.

Evil not only brought several members of House of Torture with him, but he took a cheap shot before the bell to get the match started.

Wolf was not intimidated and took the fight to the champion as they traded shots. Once Evil tricked Wolf into following him out of the ring, his fellow House of Torture teammates stomped him into the ground.

This bout was designed to make Evil look like a devious cheater while making Wolf look like a valiant fighter. The most surprising thing was that Wolf waited so long to start using his Judo skills. He spent most of the match trying to use wrestling maneuvers instead of the kinds of throws you would expect.

This match had its moments, but as a whole, it was exactly what you would expect from a rookie transitioning from another sport into pro wrestling. Wolf looked good, but you could also see his inexperience showing.

There was a lot of interference booked in this bout, especially during the second half, but Wolf was able to pull off the upset with a submission win to become the new Never openweight champion.

Result: Wolf defeated Evil

Grade: C

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Wolf has won several awards in Judo competitions. He is a big prospect for NJPW, so this was an important moment for him.
• The way Evil put a chair on Wolf's head and the hit it with another chair was wild.
• Wolf was doing a little overselling when he was being whipped into the corner.

Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji

The second of two title vs. title bouts saw Takeshita and Tsuji put their IWGP World and Global Heavyweight Championships on the line. It was made clear that this was not a unification match and both belts would be defended separately by whoever won.

They started with a relatively simple exchange, but as soon as Tsuji slapped Big Take across the face, the fight was on. They didn't rush to get to a breakneck pace, though.

They took their time building up to quicker sequences, so they spent an appropriate amount of time selling for each other during the first half of the match.

Both men looked good and delivered a great performance. They made sure this was not overshadowed by the main event by making this one of the best bouts of the night.

Both men stole the other's finisher as they were building toward the finish. After a long and hard-fought match that included several near-falls, Takeshita tapped to a Boston crab to give Tsuji the win.

Result: Tsuji defeated Takeshita

Grade: A-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• 46,913 was announces as the official attendance for the show.
• Takeshita's entrance music would be right at home in a Dynasty Warriors game.
• Takeshita had a big smile on his face as he walked down the ramp. It looked genuine.
• The blue thunder bomb from the top rope was one of the best spots of the night.

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada

The whole night led up to the main event when Okada stepped into the ring with a retiring Tanahashi for his final match.

Over the past 18 years, these two have been in over 300 matches together as both opponents and partners, so it made perfect sense for Okada to be Tana's final opponent in the Tokyo Dome.

Even if you don't watch NJPW regularly, you could feel how important this bout was from the way the crowd was reacting. Tana and Okada began with some basic wristlocks to east into what was sure to be a long match.

Okada is known for pacing himself, but it was even more evident in this match due to Tanahashi being a step slower than he was a few years ago. Tana could still go, but he is wise to hang it up before he slows down too much.

Okada hit a tombstone piledriver on the entranceway and looked like he might have the match in hand, but Tanahashi was able to make it back to the ring before a countout. The Rainmaker hit another when he got back to the ring, but he pulled Tana's head up before the ref could count to three.

Tana was able to kick out of a Rainmaker clothesline and break free from a Boston crab, which only served to further frustrate Okada. He also hit a Kinshasa to pay homage to Shinsuke Nakamura before hitting a frog splash for a close two-count.

This match was a combination of storytelling and great wrestling from two veterans. Tanahashi may not be as capable in the ring as he once was, but he had every fan on the edge of their seat.

After more than 30 minutes of action and several finishers, Okada finally got the win. This was the outcome we all knew was coming, but the way they got there was just about perfect.

Tana and Okada traded some words on the mat once it was over, and you could almost see a smile on the retiring star's face. Okada grabbed a mic and thanked Tanahashi before making his exit.

Result: Okada defeated Tanahashi

Grade: A-

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Notable Moments and Observations

• Jake Lee attacked Tsuji during his post-match promo.
• Tana's kneepad said "Thank you to everyone from Tanahashi."
• The way Tanahashi sold a DDT from Okada was interesting.
• Tanahashi hit a textbook crossbody from the top rope to the floor.
• The tiger suplex from Tana looked great.

The Final Word

Wrestle Kingdom 20 had its highs and lows, but there are three matches that are going to get the most attention after the show.

Syuri and Kamitani put on a fantastic match that ended with Syuri leaving with two titles. Later in the night, Tsuji did the same thing in a great showing against Takeshita.

However, the retirement of Tanahashi is what this show was built around, and his final match did not disappoint.

In recent years, it has become clear that he was nearing the end of his run, but he went out on a high note and put over Okada on his way out.

NJPW had a couple more surprises in store. Jay White came out at the end of the show. He presented Tana with some flowers and bowed to him before they embraced. Will Ospreay came out next to express his respect for The Ace.

Kenny Omega, an injured Kota Ibushi and Katsuyori Shibata showed up to help give Tana his final sendoff. Shibata and Tana traded a few chops before hugging. Keiji Mutoh got up from the announce desk to post with Tanahashi, too.

You couldn't ask for much more in a farewell. Tana had tears in his eyes the whole time, and so did some of the other guys in the ring. After everyone else had cleared out, Tetsuya Naito made his way to the stage to say his goodbyes.

This was a fun way to end a solid PPV and a great way to end Tanahashi's career.

Grade: B-plus