Dave Meltzer has given his thoughts and star ratings for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18.
The first major pay-per-view in 2024 saw New Japan put on another night of high-quality wrestling and multiple newsworthy moments. The ratings for the show have been published in the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
With new champions throughout the night, the biggest title change took place in the main event as Tetsuya Naito defeated SANADA to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Earlier in the night, Will Ospreay, Jon Moxley and David Finlay battled it out to determine the first-ever IWGP Global Champion. Finlay would ultimately win the match, utilising the no disqualification advantage of a triple threat match to have Bullet Club provide interference. After the match, Finlay got in the face of Nic Nemeth, who made the shock appearance earlier in the night.
Dave Meltzer’s Star Ratings For NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 Are As Follows:
Pre Show:
- Great-O-Khan, Taiji Ishimori, Toru Yano and Yoh won the New Japan Ranbo – **
Main card:
- Catch 2/2 [TJP and Francesco Akira] defeated Bullet Club War Dogs [Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney] to become the new IGWP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions – ***1/2
- Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Zack Sabre Jr. to become the new NJPW World Television Champion – ****
- Yuya Uemura defeated Yota Tsuji – ****
- House of Torture [Evil and Ren Narita] defeated Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya – **3/4
- Tama Tonga defeated Shingo Takagi to become the new NEVER Openweight Champion – ****1/2
- Hikuleo and El Phantasmo defeated Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi to win a winner-take-all match for the IWGP and Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships – ***3/4
- El Desperado defeated Hiromu Takahashi to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion – ****
- David Finlay defeated Jon Moxley and Will Ospreay to become the inaugural IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion – ****3/4
- Kazuchika Okada defeated Bryan Danielson – *****1/4
- Tetsuya Naito defeated SANADA to become the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion – ****1/2
In the same issue, Dave Meltzer reviewed and rated AEW Worlds End.