Kazuchika Okada continued his long run as IWGP champion last night at Wrestle Kingdom 12.
Tetsuya Naito proved to be one of his toughest battles yet, but Kazuchika Okada continued his long run as IWGP Heavyweight champion by defeating Naito with the rainmaker on the final bout of the Wrestle Kingdom 12 card.
Here is our full coverage of the title match:
The match begins with Okada backing Naito into the ropes for a few moments, Naito kicks Okada before landing a drop kick to his knee. Naito misses a second drop kick before exchanging arm drags with Okada, Naito took a break on the arena floor and Okada stomps away on him when he returned to the ring. Naito recovers to drop Okada with a hip toss followed by a basement drop kick, Naito goes for a slingshot drop kick and Okada catches him before placing him on the top rope. Okada then nails Naito with a drop kick that knocks him to the arena floor, Okada throws Naito into the barricade. Okada uses a running boot to the face to knock Naito over the barricade, Naito recovers to drop Okada on the barricade before landing a neck breaker on the barricade.
Naito waits for Okada to get back in the ring before stomping away on him, Naito then goes to the ring apron to nail Okada with a neck breaker. Naito gets Okada in the ring before landing a missile drop kick for a near fall, Naito would then attack the back of the head of Okada with a few strikes. Naito traps Okada in the corner before landing a plethora of strikes, Naito looks for a neck breaker and Okada gets free to land a few strikes. Naito recovers to drop Okada before landing a drop kick to the back, Naito downs Okada in the corner before landing a slingshot drop kick. Naito nails Okada with another neck breaker for a near fall, Naito also wrenches away on the neck of Okada.
Okada recovers to nail a charging Naito with boots to the face followed by a DDT, Okada then hits Naito with a forearm strike followed by back elbow strikes. Naito rolls out of the ring and Okada follows him out before kicking him in the face, Okada then uses the barricade to hit Naito with an elevated DDT on the arena floor. Okada gets Naito back in the ring and he misses a leaping back elbow strike, Naito catches Okada with a rope asssisted modified back breaker. Naito follos up by nailing Okada with a reverse DDT for a near fall, Okada recovers to nail a charging Naito with a flapjack. Okada follows that up by catching Naito with a modified Kryptonite Crunch, Okada slams Niato before going to the top rope.
Okada hits a downed Naito with a top rope elbow drop, Okada goes for the Rainmaker and opts for the cobra clutch instead. Naito gets free and Okada reapplies the cobra clutch, Naito eventually makes it to the ropes after a long struggle. Okada then gets Naito in the corner before landing a few strikes, Naito gets his boots into the face of a charging Okada a few times. Naito gets Okada to the ring apron before sweeping his legs, Naito then catches Okada with a rope assisted elevated neck breaker. Naito gets Okada to the top rope to land a super reverse hurricarana for a near fall, Naito follows up by nailing Okada with Gloria. Naito then attempts Star and Okada gets out of the way, Okada and Naito have a striking exchange in the middle of the ring.
Naito gets Okada down after landing a plethora of forearm strikes to the back of the neck, Naito then hits Okada with a spin kick. Okada quickly recovers and nails Naito with a drop kick, Naito also recovers quickly to hit Okada with a flying forearm strike. Naito traps Okada in the corner before landing a few more strikes, Naito then gets Okada on the top rope and he follows him up there. Okada and Naito have a striking exchange until Naito is knocked off the ropes, Okada misses the follow up missile drop kick against Naito. Naito tries going to the top rope and Okada drags him away, Okada grabs Naito and he nails him with a German suplex. Okada then connects with Rainmaker on Naito for a near fall, Okada looks for the tombstone pile driver and Naito escapes.
Naito looks for an enzaguri and Okada easily gets out of the way, Okada then locks a downed Naito in the cobra clutch. Naito escaps quickly and he catches Okada with Destino, Okada and Naito have another striking exchange while on their knees. Okada and Naito get up to cotinue their striking exchange, Naito spits at Okada before dropping him with a slap. Okada tries countering a charging Naito and Naito winds up landing a flip pile driver for a near fall, Naito goes for Destino and Okada counters with the Rainmaker. Okada goes for another Rainmaker and Naito counters with Destino for a near fall, Okada recovers to nail Naito with a few strikes.
Naito then catches Okada with a step up enzaguri to the back of the head, Okada recovers and cracks Naito with a drop kick. Okada follows that up with a tombstone pile driver on Naito, Naito then hits Okada with a Destino from out of nowhere. Naito goes for another Destino and Okada counters with a tombstone pile driver, Okada catches Naito with the Rainmaker for the three count.
Be sure to tune in at 4 p.m. EST this afternoon as we'll have a full rundown of the card in our post-show podcast, which you can see above.
