News And Notes Following Wrestle Kingdom 12 – War Machine Finished, Title Changes, Attendance, And More

Following last night’s NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 PPV there are numerous bits of news and notes that show be pointed out.

– New Japan Pro Wrestling announced last night that the paid attendance for Wrestle Kingdom 12 was 34,995. Which is the biggest crowd for the event in 15 years, surpassing the 26,192 for Wrestle Kingdom 11 that was headlined by Kenny Omega vs. Kazuchika Okada, and the 25,204 for Wrestle Kingdom 10 that was headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada.

NJPW English Commentary Team of Kevin Kelly and Don Callis revealed during the show that the attendance was actually closer to 40,000 including comp tickets and sponsorship tickets.

– Kevin Kelly announced during the broadcast that NJPW’s streaming service New Japan World saw a huge spike in number of new subscribers prior to the event, the spike was likely due to the huge interest in Chris Jericho vs. Kenny Omega’s co-main event.

– On the pres-show for last night’s Wrestle Kingdom 12, Masahito Kakihara won the New Japan Rumble. It has been reported in the past that Kakihara has just recently returned to action after previously fighting a battle with cancer.

Kakihara defeated Katsuya Kitamura, BUSHI, Delirious, Leo Tonga, Manabu Nakanishi, Chase Owens, Yuji Nagata, TAKA Michinoku, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, El Desperado, Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask IV, Gino Gambino, Henare, YOSHI-HASHI, David Finlay, Yujiro Takahashi, Cheeseburger, Satoshi Kojima and Hiroyoshi Tenzan to win the 2018 New Japan Rumble.

– There were 5 title changes on last night’s Wrestle Kingdom 12 event.

The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson) defeated Roppongi 3K (Sho Tanaka & Yohei Komatsu) to become the new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Champions

CHAOS (Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii & Beretta) defeated Michael Elgin & War Machine (Raymond Rowe & Hanson), Suzuki-gun (Takashi Iizuka, Zack Sabre Jr & Taichi), Taguchi Japan (Ryusuke Taguchi, Juice Robinson & Togi Makabe) and The BULLET CLUB (Tama Tonga, Tanga Roa & Bad Luck Fale) to become the new NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Champions.

Los Ingobernables de Japon (SANADA & EVIL) defeated The Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr & Lance Archer) to become the new IWGP Tag Team Champions.

Hirooki Goto defeated Minoru Suzuki in a Hair vs. Hair Match for the NEVER Openweight Championship.

Will Ospreay defeated Marty Scurll, Hiromu Takahashi and KUSHIDA to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.

– Former ROH & IWGP Tag Team Champions War Machine (Raymond Rowe & Hanson) are expected to be finished with NJPW either at Wrestle Kingdom 12 or following NJPW’s New Years DASH! show tomorrow before they report to WWE where they would be joining the NXT roster.