| Wrestle Kingdom 8 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Promotional poster for the event, featuring caricatures of various NJPW wrestlers | |||
| Promotion | New Japan Pro-Wrestling | ||
| Date | January 4, 2014[1] | ||
| City | Tokyo, Japan[1] | ||
| Venue | Tokyo Dome[1] | ||
| Attendance | 35,000[2] | ||
| Pay-per-view chronology | |||
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| Wrestle Kingdom chronology | |||
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| New Japan Pro-Wrestling events chronology | |||
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Wrestle Kingdom 8 in Tokyo Dome was aprofessional wrestlingpay-per-view (PPV) event produced by theNew Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)promotion, which took place at theTokyo Dome inTokyo, Japan on January 4, 2014.[1][3][4][5] It was the 23rdJanuary 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the eighth held under the "Wrestle Kingdom" name. Like the previous year, the event aired worldwide on internet pay-per-view (iPPV).
The event featured ten matches, six of which were contested forchampionships. For the first time in twenty years, theNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA)World Heavyweight Championship was defended during the event with NWA representativeRob Conway defending againstSatoshi Kojima. The event was headlined by a double main event;Shinsuke Nakamura defending theIWGP Intercontinental Championship againstHiroshi Tanahashi andKazuchika Okada defending theIWGP Heavyweight Championship against the winner of the2013 G1 Climax,Tetsuya Naito. A fan vote decided the order in which the two matches took place during the event; the Heavyweight Championship match went first and the Intercontinental Championship match was the final match of the event.[6] The event also featured outside participation fromWrestle-1 representativeKeiji Mutoh, who worked under his Great Muta character. The event also featured appearances byHarley Race,Marty Friedman andStan Hansen.[2]
| Role: | Name: |
|---|---|
| Commentators | Jim Ross (English-language announcer) |
| Matt Striker (English-language announcer) | |
| Ring announcers | Makoto Abe |
| Referees | Kenta Sato |
| Marty Asami | |
| Red Shoes Unno | |
| Tiger Hattori |
In addition to airing on traditionalpay-per-view (PPV) in Japan,[7] the event also aired worldwide on internet pay-per-view (iPPV) throughNiconico andUstream.[8]
Wrestle Kingdom 8 featured elevenprofessional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds andstorylines. Wrestlers portrayedvillains,heroes, orless distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[9]
On August 11, 2013,Tetsuya Naito defeatedHiroshi Tanahashi in the finals to win the2013 G1 Climax. The following day, Naito was given acontract granting him a shot at theIWGP Heavyweight Championship in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 8.[10] Despite being a clean cutbabyface, Naito was thoroughly disliked by NJPW fans, which led to NJPW changing their course of action, announcing a fan vote to decide whether the match between him and Okada or anIWGP Intercontinental Championship match betweenShinsuke Nakamura and Hiroshi Tanahashi would main event Wrestle Kingdom 8.[11] Nakamura and Tanahashi won the vote with Naito and Okada being demoted to the semi-main event.[12]
The event was also set to featureHirooki Goto's return match againstKatsuyori Shibata. Goto had broken his jaw during the previous summer's G1 Climax tournament and made a surprise appearance on December 8 to request Shibata as his opponent in his return match at Wrestle Kingdom 8. The two former high school classmates had faced off three times since May 2013 with two matches ending in draws and Shibata winning once. They were scheduled to wrestle again during the G1 Climax, but Goto had to pull out of the tournament with his injury just prior to the match taking place.[13]
On October 14, 2013,mixed martial artistsDaniel Gracie andRolles Gracie appeared atKing of Pro-Wrestling, announcing they would take part in Wrestle Kingdom 8. Later in the event,Kazushi Sakuraba andYuji Nagata, after their match against each other, accepted the Gracies' challenge for a tag team match at Wrestle Kingdom 8. Sakuraba had previously created a name for himself on the mixed martial arts scene as the "Gracie Hunter".[14]
Wrestle Kingdom 8 was headlined by a "double main event", featuring Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito and Shinsuke Nakamura defending the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi. In the first of the main events, Okada made his seventh successful defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Naito, while the second main event saw Tanahashi defeat Nakamura to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion.[2]
The event also sawKota Ibushi defeatPrince Devitt to become the newIWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.[2] Devitt wrestled the match covered in face and bodypaint,[1] debuting what would later become his signature big match look and part of his "Demon" persona.[15] After the match, Ibushi was approached by an unknown masked man, later identified asEl Desperado, who handed him a bouquet of roses.[2][16] In his return match, Hirooki Goto defeated Katsuyori Shibata, who afterwards helped him backstage.[2][1]
Other title matches includedSatoshi Kojima defeatNational Wrestling Alliance (NWA) representativeRob Conway to capture theNWA World Heavyweight Championship in a match that featured an appearance byHarley Race.[2] This marked the first time the NWA title had changed hands in Japan since March 2002.[17]Bullet Club'sDoc Gallows andKarl Anderson, the winners of the2013 World Tag League, defeated theKiller Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. andLance Archer) with help from their stablemateTama Tonga to become the newIWGP Tag Team Champions, whileThe Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) successfully defended theIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship in a four-way match.[2]
Dave Meltzer of theWrestling Observer Newsletter wrote that "by most normal standards, the show was very good", but felt that it did not match theprevious year's show, which he called "among the greatest wrestling events of all-time". He praised the final four matches, giving both of the main events four and a quarter stars out of five, while calling the first half "not good" and the tag team match involving the Gracies "kind of an atrocity".[18] In his review of the show, James Caldwell ofPro Wrestling Torch wrote that "[t]he big matches delivered, the undercard was hit-or-miss, and the event production was top-notch".[1]
Tetsuya Naito used the snub he suffered at Wrestle Kingdom 8 to turnheel and form theLos Ingobernables de Japónstable. When he finally won the IWGP Heavyweight Championship from Okada in April 2016 atInvasion Attack, Naito had managed to turn his career around and was now fully embraced by the NJPW fans.[11] There was another rematch between the two atWrestle Kingdom 12 on January 4, 2018, with the same result as Okada retained against Naito. 2 years later, in the main event of night 2 ofWrestle Kingdom 14,IWGP Intercontinental Champion Naito defeatedIWGP Heavyweight Champion Okada in aDouble Gold Dash match for both of the championships.
On the following months after his defeat to Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shinsuke Nakamura would go on to win that year'sNew Japan Cup and challenge Tanahashi for a rematch inInvasion Attack 2014 and would win the intercontinental title again.
