RADICAN’S BIG MATCH SPOTLIGHT: 1/4 NJPW WK 13 – Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada

RADICAN’S BIG MATCH SPOTLIGHT
NJPW WK 13: KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. JAY WHITE
JAN. 4, 2019
THE TOKYO DOME
TOKYO, JAPAN
AIRED LIVE ON NJPWWORLD.COM & FITE.TV

Commentators: Kevin Kelly, Don Callis, Chris Charlton

KAZUCHIKA OKADA vs. JAY WHITE (w/GEDO)

MATCH ANALYSIS

They had a fast exchange early and Okada caught White with his signature sliding dropkick. Gedo interfered and tripped Okada to give White the upper hand. White hit a Saito suplex that sent Okada over the top to the floor. White slammed Okada into the guardrail and then into the apron several times. White hit another Saito suplex. WHite worked a neck crank on Okada inside the ring. Okada fired up and hit some big forearms. White fired back with a slap to Okada’s face. Okada glared at White and charged at him in the corner. White hit another slap and put Okada in the seated position, but Okada nailed White with a slap of his own. Okada then caught White with an elbow off the ropes before playing to the fans. Okada hit a DDT, but White kicked out at two. Okada hit his signature corner dropkick a short time later and White went flying to the floor. Gedo tried to attack Okada from behind, but he was ready for it. He whipped Gedo over the guardrail. Okada then got a running start and wiped out Gedo and White with a big splash over the guardrail. That was impressive. Okada went up top and dropped his signature elbow. He then hit the Rainmaker pose, but White blocked his Rainmaker attempt and hit a STO and a big German. White followed up with a big uranagi, but Okada kicked out at two.

White went for the Blade Runner, but Okada punched out of it. White then nailed Okada with a big clothesline. White distracted the ref and Gedo got a chair and put it on the apron. Gedo then got up on the opposite apron and the ref tried to move him away. Okada ducked a chairshot and shoved White into a Okada. Okada then hit the Too Awesome Dropkick and the fans fired up. Okada went for The Rainmaker, but White ducked and hit the choke variation suplex. White followed up with his old finish The Kiwi Crusher for a near fall. He held onto Okada’s wrist and went for the Blade Runner, but Okada slipped out and hit a tombstone. The announcers noted the entire crowd was behind Okada. White hit a combination of blows and Okada went for a dropkick, but White held onto the ropes. White went for The Blade Runner, but Okada turned it into a backslide. White got up, but Okada nailed him with a dropkick! Both men countered each others finishers. Okada finally hit a spinning Rainmaker on White. WOW! Okada went for another Rainmaker, but White turned it into the Blade Runner for the winner. That’s a shocking result there.

WINNER: Jay White in 14:00 (****)

After the match, the announcers said Okada can’t beat Jay White. Then they said nobody can beat White.

RADICAN’S ANALYSIS

This was a really good match. It’s amazing how far White has come after debuting his character in NJPW a little over a year ago. White has really taken to his character and developed his persona in recent months. He got the best of Okada in tag matches leading up to to this match and he beat Okada and Tanahashi during G1.

This win was a signature win for White. He had some help from Gedo during the match, but in the end he won on his own, which makes this victory even more impressive. I didn’t think Okada was going to lose on this stage in The Tokyo Dome and at Wrestle Kingdom. Okada came back with his old Rainmaker gear and it seemed like the Okada everyone knows was fully back after going through a period of disenchantment after his title to Kenny Omega at Dominion back in July.

For White to beat Okada on this night in front of this crowd, which was fully behind Okada is amazing. The back and forth counter sequences they did down the stretch around White’s Blade and Okada’s Rainmaker was great. What made the result shocking is that Okada had just hit a spinning Rainmaker and was going for his traditional Rainmaker, but White countered it and hit The Blade Runner and pinned Okada right in the middle of the ring.

For Okada not to kick out and for the match not to continue was the right call. Sure, these two could have had an even better match and gone over 20 minutes, but the way White won the match in decisive fashion means that everyone is going to be looking for answers when it comes to how to beat White in 2019. This match will be a thrilling moment to look back on in a few years when White is on top of NJPW.

Contact Sean at radicansean@pwtorch.com. Follow him on Twitter @sr_torch