My Trip/Guide to Japan to See NJPW Wrestlekingdom 11
You can check out a video documentary about my trip by clicking the video below its 30 mins long and details my trip as well as Wrestlekingdom 11
I have already flown 12 hours from Heathrow and been in Japan for 3 days already it's an incredible place, such a change of culture (a real shock) and such a beautiful place to be. My brother Michael, luckily has been before and has been very knowledgeable at showing me the sites, amazing shrines and places in this beautiful city.
It's such a happening city, felt very daunting at first but the people are so very kind and go out of there way to help you and to make you feel welcome.
To any fans thinking of coming over I say definitely do it, but give yourself time to prepare! I only had 3 weeks to prepare for this trip so wasn't enough. My phone hasn't been working over here and I couldn't get any money out on my card !
This is my first time ever in Toyko and I don't know the language and to be honest a little apprehensive too but I'm super excited as myself and my brother Michael are on the metro heading towards Toyko dome.
We have been talking about this for such a long time and now becoming a reality seeing Japan Pro Wrestling Wrestlekingdom 11.
We get in the metro in Shibuya (where we are staying) and We had to change at Nagatcho station and then went to Kouraken station. (Where Tokyo dome is) it only cost 200yen (£1.50 appox) for the 20 min journey.
We get off the train and walk to exit 1 and we are right outside Tokyo Dome. It's an incredible sight and a tremendous looking stadium.
As you walk to the stadium to your left of it is a roller-coaster that wraps around a building!
The doors open for the show at 15:30 and show starts at 17:00. Everything in Japan starts very promptly and exactly to time so was told to get to our seats with plenty of time and are ready for the show.
The doors open for the show at 15:30 and show starts at 17:00. Everything in Japan starts very promptly and exactly to time so was told to get to our seats with plenty of time and are ready for the show.
We walk round and find the right entrance Eventually we needed up queueing at the wrong gate to begin with then a nice member of staff directed us to where we should be.
We have electronic tickets with a QR code that you scan in it goes nice and smoothly and we scan our tickets we are in the stadium and find our seats no problem thanks to helpful and kind staff.
As you go in you a given a NJPW goodie bag with posters, and souvenirs which i thought was a nice touch.
As you go in you a given a NJPW goodie bag with posters, and souvenirs which i thought was a nice touch.
As you would of noticed the show is 6 hours long and there aren't any breaks for intermission, so either choose a match that you don't mind missing or if your like me practice the art of bladder control!
There are members of staff walking up and down the aisles with pepsi and coke and other members of staff with a beer pack on there pack who can serve you at your seat so you don't need to get up at all
Here is an intro video to WK 11
Here are the results
Michael Elgin won the New Japan Rumble
Tiger Mask W defeated Tiger the Dark
Roppongi Vice defeated The Young Bucks for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
Gauntlet Match for NEVER Six-Man Tag Team Championship: EVIL, BUSHI and SANADA defeated Ricochet/Satoshi Kojima, David Finlay and Bad Luck Fale/Yujiro Takahashi/Hangman Page
Cody defeated Juice Robinson
Adam Cole defeated Kyle O’Reilly to win the Ring of Honor World Championship
Toru Yano & Tomohiro Ishii defeated Guerillas of Destiny and Great Bash Heel to win the IWGP Tag Team Championship
Hiromu Takahashi defeated KUSHIDA to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hirooki Goto defeated Katsuyori Shibata to win the NEVER Openweight Championship
Tetsuya Naito defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi to retain the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Kazuchika Okada defeated Kenny Omega to retain the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Overall I really enjoyed the card and think It has to be the best live wrestling event I ever attended.
I have to discuss The Dream Team (Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson, Adam Cole) at Wrestlekingdom 11.
Its because of Kenny Omega that I went to Wrestlekingdom 11. I met Kenny in Taunton back on January 2015 and been a fan for a long time of his and the rest of the dream team.
To finally see Nick and Matt Jackson Live for the first time was a real treat. They were brilliant in their match and was sad to see them lose but they encapsulated incredible althletism, humour and great wrestling all in to one and that truly skillful thing to achieve to me the top tag team in the world today.
I don't get ROH TV in the UK and its hard to keep up with so getting to see Adam Cole for the first time was a very cool thing.
I love Adam Cole "Bay Bay" chant and his theme music and persona and so did alot of the fans around me who did it along with Adam in his match.
To see Adam not only win his match and Become new ROH World Champion but to do it for a record 3rd time and to witness that live was something very special to me.
I have to discuss The Dream Team (Kenny Omega, Nick Jackson, Matt Jackson, Adam Cole) at Wrestlekingdom 11.
Its because of Kenny Omega that I went to Wrestlekingdom 11. I met Kenny in Taunton back on January 2015 and been a fan for a long time of his and the rest of the dream team.
To finally see Nick and Matt Jackson Live for the first time was a real treat. They were brilliant in their match and was sad to see them lose but they encapsulated incredible althletism, humour and great wrestling all in to one and that truly skillful thing to achieve to me the top tag team in the world today.
I don't get ROH TV in the UK and its hard to keep up with so getting to see Adam Cole for the first time was a very cool thing.
I love Adam Cole "Bay Bay" chant and his theme music and persona and so did alot of the fans around me who did it along with Adam in his match.
To see Adam not only win his match and Become new ROH World Champion but to do it for a record 3rd time and to witness that live was something very special to me.
Kenny Omega and Okada delivered a tremendous main event.
It was a 45 min classic and a great example of why I love professional wrestling both men deserve huge credit for what they managed to create.
Okada and Omega gave us great psychology, hard hitting strong wrestling, Technical Wrestling, emotion and pure insanity - best match I have ever seen.
I have never seen anything like this 2 things that really stick out Dragon Suplex from Top Rope and Kenny Omega taking a back drop from the ring over the top rope through a table set up on the floor.
There were fans around me in tears in their eyes when Omega got pinned it meant so much to the fans.
In Wrestling those matches come along once in a lifetime and i was lucky enough to be in the right place and right time.
Kenny Omega Thank you for making my trip so special and truly unforgettable
Even Now in January it has got to be a front runner for Match of Year.
Now time for my rant at NJPW management.....
I felt that Kenny Omega should of been crowned New IWGP World Champion if NJPW want to make inroads into America and Europe as much as they say they do then making Omega champion here would of been a real statement of intent to fans worldwide that NJPW want to continue to push their brand forward.
It felt as if New Japan got scared and kept the belt on Okada, there were lots of fans in the arena that when Omega got pinned were very upset and unhappy.
I was sat with People from Australia, American, Canada and Japan all of which wanted to see a Kenny Omega win.
New Japan need to start putting faith in Kenny Omega because if they don't they could find themselves without him in the future.
Omega has attracted alot of fans like myself to watch NJPW and NJPW World its becoming a big revenue stream for NJPW, they need to realise his value and what he brings to the table, i just hope its not a situation where NJPW don't realise what they have until its gone.
It was a 45 min classic and a great example of why I love professional wrestling both men deserve huge credit for what they managed to create.
Okada and Omega gave us great psychology, hard hitting strong wrestling, Technical Wrestling, emotion and pure insanity - best match I have ever seen.
I have never seen anything like this 2 things that really stick out Dragon Suplex from Top Rope and Kenny Omega taking a back drop from the ring over the top rope through a table set up on the floor.
There were fans around me in tears in their eyes when Omega got pinned it meant so much to the fans.
In Wrestling those matches come along once in a lifetime and i was lucky enough to be in the right place and right time.
Kenny Omega Thank you for making my trip so special and truly unforgettable
Even Now in January it has got to be a front runner for Match of Year.
Now time for my rant at NJPW management.....
I felt that Kenny Omega should of been crowned New IWGP World Champion if NJPW want to make inroads into America and Europe as much as they say they do then making Omega champion here would of been a real statement of intent to fans worldwide that NJPW want to continue to push their brand forward.
It felt as if New Japan got scared and kept the belt on Okada, there were lots of fans in the arena that when Omega got pinned were very upset and unhappy.
I was sat with People from Australia, American, Canada and Japan all of which wanted to see a Kenny Omega win.
New Japan need to start putting faith in Kenny Omega because if they don't they could find themselves without him in the future.
Omega has attracted alot of fans like myself to watch NJPW and NJPW World its becoming a big revenue stream for NJPW, they need to realise his value and what he brings to the table, i just hope its not a situation where NJPW don't realise what they have until its gone.
Despite my annoyance at NJPW booking of the main event. In the end though I left feeling very happy and it felt like all the effort, time and travel was worth it.
Tips for travel
I'll give you some tips from my experience in Japan and where I went wrong, hopefully this will be useful to you if you decide to go to Japan in the future.
This holiday to Japan was booked with my brother with only a month to spare so there wasn't any preparation time. Before you go here are some things to remember. Make sure that Data roaming for Japan is enabled on your phone, I forgot to do this and as a consequence I couldn't contact anyone all week, I had no wifi and with limited knowledge of the language it was very disabling. .
In addition make sure you notify your bank that you are going abroad otherwise if you need any extra money you will not be able to draw any money out and don't forget to get some Yen before you go.
I brought our tickets through NJPW official E ticket partner https://ticket.tickebo.jp/pc/en/ they send you ticket as a QR code to your phone a week before the event you then save this as a picture to your phone and scan it through the card reader as you go through the gate at the stadium.
Wrestlekingdom 11 videos
Here are some video clips from Wrestlekingdom 11
Cody Entrance Clip
Naito Entrance Clip
Kenny Omega Entrance
Thanks for Reading
@jon422002
Jonathan Orchard
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