Welcome to Bleacher Report's live coverage of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 on January 4.

Here's a look at the card for this year's event:

• Kushida and Kevin Knight vs. Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles vs. Francesco Akira and TJP vs. Drilla Maloney and Clark Connors (IWGP Jr. Tag Title Ladder match)
• Mayu Iwatani vs. AZM (IWGP Women's Title)
• Ren Narita vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Ryohei Oiwa vs. El Phantasmo (NJPW TV Title)
• EVIL vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (Lumberjack match)
• Shingo Takagi vs. Konosuke Takeshita (AEW International and NEVER Openweight Championship)
• Douki vs. El Desperado (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship)
• David Finlay vs. Yota Tsuji (IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship)
• Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi 
• Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino (IWGP World Heavyweight Championship)

Let's take a look at everything that happened at this year's Wrestle Kingdom PPV.

Jr. Tag Title Ladder Match

Wrestle Kingdom 19 opened with a four-way Ladder match for the Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships.

Kushida, Knight, Fujita, Eagles, TJP, Akira, Connors and Maloney all started fighting as soon as the bell rang.

This had so much going on that trying to recap what happened would be fruitless. If you have ever seen a multi-man Ladder match, you know it was chaos from beginning to end. This was no different.

Fujita and Eagles ended up winning the titles from Kushida and Knight after Fujita put Akira in a submission on top of the ladder and then grabbed the titles to claim victory.

This was a fun match with some entertaining moments, but it also had some slow areas and a few spots that did not go well, so it left a little to be desired.

Result: Fujita and Eagles won

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• NJPW ladders are very different from what U.S. fans are used to seeing. 
• Kushida is so different than he was in NXT in terms of his wrestling style. He feels freer in NJPW. 
• A handful of high spots did not go as planned. They either missed their mark or bumped awkwardly. 

Mayu Iwatani vs. AZM

The next match saw Iwatani defend her NJPW women's title against AZM in one of the most anticipated bouts of the night.

Both of these women are hard-hitting performers, so they wasted no time. They were throwing hands and diving onto each other immediately.

This was a well-paced match with both women getting almost equal time in the driver's seat. Just about everything they did looked good because they were leaving it all in the ring.

Iwatani hit a beautiful high-angle suplex to get the win and retain her title. This was one of the most physical bouts you will see all week and made both competitors look like stars.

They shook hands in a display of respect following the finish.

Result: Iwatani defeated AZM

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• AZM hit a beautiful dive from the top rope to the floor early in the match. 
• Iwatani has a nice superkick. She really throws herself into it. 
• The running kick from Iwatani in the corner looked nasty. 
• The double underhook destroyer from AZM was cool. 

El Phantasmo vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Renn Narita vs. Ryohei Oiwa

The NJPW Strong TV title was on the line in a Fatal 4-Way with Narita defending against ELP, Cobb and Oiwa.

All four competitors brought a little something different to this match. Cobb was the powerhouse, Narita was the villain, ELP was the hero and Oiwa was the wildcard.

This bout included a lot of high-risk spots, multi-man moves and temporary alliances. It was action-packed and unpredictable at times, which is a great thing for any match.

ELP hit a springboard splash to get the win and become the new TV champion after a great performance. The crowd gave him a great reaction as he celebrated with the belt. ELP has a tough road to get here, so this was a feel-good moment.

Result: El Phantasmo won to become the new TV champion

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Jeff Cobb's evolution into Rhyno 2.0 continues.
• It would be so scary to look up and see Cobb flying at you over the top rope. 
• The tower of doom spot looked good but took a bit too long to set up. 

Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Evil

Evil and Tanahashi met in a singles match, but unlike most bout, this one had wrestlers from both men's stables surrounding the ring as lumberjacks.

Tanahashi's career was on the line in this bout, so if he lost, he would be forced to retire from in-ring competition.

Evil took a break at ringside while his friends kept the other lumberjacks at bay. From that point, it turned into a group vs. group fight instead of a one-on-one encounter.

The match devolved into chaos as weapons were used, every rule was thrown out the window, the ref took a bump, and everyone at ringside got involved several times.

It looked like Evil was about to win, but Tanahashi rolled him into an inside cradle and scored the win to keep his career alive. This was a solid match but overbooked, to say the least.

As House of Torture was attacking Tanahashi after the match, Katsuyori Shibata showed up and drove them all away. Shibata then asked Tanahashi for a match at Wrestle Dynasty and they shook hands to make it official.

Result: Tanahashi defeated Evil

Grade: B

Notable Moments and Observations

• Evil used a chair like a bat to hit another chair that was around Tanahashi's neck. 
• Tanahashi's kneepad said, "Thank you to everyone from Tanahashi." 
• The ref slapped Evil when he wouldn't let go of his shirt, so Evil pulled him into the way when Tanahashi was running at them to take him out. 

Shingo Takagi vs. Konosuke Takeshita

Takeshita took on Takagi with both of their titles on the line, so one man was going to leave this match with both the AEW international and NEVER openweight titles no matter what.

They started by running straight at each other with shoulder tackles to see who could knock each other down, but neither man budged.

These are two big, mean dudes, so this was not a pretty match. They were beating the daylights out of each other with everything they could pull out of their respective arsenals.

Takagi put up a good fight, but this was Takeshita's match to lose. He looked as precise and aggressive as he ever has.

They did a great job building to the finish where Takeshita pinned Takagi to become a double champion. This was a brutal and highly enjoyable match. The only downside is that we didn't get more of it.

Result: Takeshita defeated Takagi

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• Takeshita used his music from DDT wrestling for this match. 
• It's always surprising how quick Takeshita is for a man his size. 
• Takeshita's forearm shot being a near-knockout blow is such a simple but cool signature moves. 

Douki vs. El Desperado

The Jr. Heavyweight title was on the line when Douki put the belt on the line against El Desperado.

They didn't take long to take the fight out of the ring and start throwing each other into the barricades as hard as possible.

They were going hard and taking each other to the limit, but the match came to an unfortunate conclusion when Douki suffered an injury that forced the match to be ended on the spot.

El Desperado was visibly upset and clearly worried about Douki. He may have left with the title but the health of his fellow wrestler was more important.

We won't be grading the match due to the way it ended, but just know that both men put in a great effort to make this a fun performance before it was over. Best wishes to Douki on his recovery.

Result: El Desperado won by referee decision

Grade: Incomplete

Notable Moments and Observations

• The entrances for both men were cool. Douki's was especially interesting. 
• The senton Douki hit from the top rope to the floor was wild. The way both men landed looked brutal and it's what led to the match being called off. 

David Finlay vs. Yota Tsuji

The next match on the card saw Finlay defend the Global Heavyweight Championship against Tsuji.

Much like the men in the match before them, they wasted no time taking this match outside the ring and using the surroundings to inflict damage.

Finlay channeled his dad a bit with some stiff strikes, and Tsuji used his speed to keep the action exciting. They worked together well to give us a good show.

This bout felt a little more focused than some of the matches we had seen before it. It was just two men fighting with no shenanigans or outside interference, which is exactly how it should be most of the time.

They stretched out the final sequence as long as possible before Tsuji hit a Spear to get the win and win the belt. This was a great match that elevated both the winner and the title at the same time.

Result: Tsuji defeated Finaly to win the global title

Grade: B+

Notable Moments and Observations

• The camera didn't catch all of Finlay's pyro during his entrance, so his minigun looked more like a toy than a weapon as he was swinging it around. 
• Tsuji almost missed the mark with his dive over the top rope. Finlay bumped for him but it didn't look like he needed to. 
• Tsuji went through one of the small NJPW tables and it looked like a painful bump. The table shattered. 
• The running knee from Tsuji in the corner looked awesome. 

Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi

The penultimate match on the card saw two NJPW mainstays go to battle with Naito taking on Takahashi. Even with no titles on the line, this felt like an important match based solely on the presentation of both men during their entrances.

They took a slow approach and worked a very technical style during the first few minutes. They focused mostly on takedowns and submissions instead of strikes and suplexes.

While both of these men are celebrated performers, you could tell they were having issues at certain points. One particular tornado DDT spot clearly didn't go the right way because neither man was able to complete the rotation.

Naito ended up scoring the win after a long fight. Both men looked absolutely wrecked by the time it was over.

Result: Naito defeated Takahashi

Grade: B-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Takahashi's entrance gear was on a new level of hilarious. 
• Naito's mask was awesome. 
• Either both guys were a little gassed after about 10 minutes or they were taking it easy to save energy for the finish. 

Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Shota Umino

The main event of Wrestle Kingdom was the world title match between Sabre and Umino. The bout was preceded by a video package to hype their fight.

ZSJ and Jon Moxley's protege started with a simple lockup and spent a moment sizing each other up. They were in no rush since they knew it would likely be a long match for both of them.

The first couple of minutes was a bit slow and then they went from 0-60 and started throwing kicks and strikes left and right.

They paced themselves well and incorporated short bursts of high-energy offense in between longer moments of selling.

Umino looked like he had something to prove and told Sabre to give him his best shot a few times in the match. ZSJ looked like he was growing frustrated at not being able to put him away.

Sabre's technical mastery was on full display throughout this contest, but whenever it looked like he had it in the bag, Umino would find a way to make a comeback. This became a battle of attrition as both men kept failing to put the other down long enough to win.

After a long up-and-down match that left both men battered and bruised, ZSJ scored the win to retain his title. This match really showed how much Umino has grown as a performer over the last couple of years.

Result: ZSJ defeated Umino

Grade: A-

Notable Moments and Observations

• Umino drove a motorcycle to the ring. It was kind of a weird bike to ride to the ring. 
• There was an off moment when Sabre just sort of sat there and took a few elbow strikes without trying to block them. 
• Stomping on someone's elbow is always going to look painful. 
• The way Sabre sold a DDT on the apron was hilarious. He was upside down on his head for several seconds. 
• Umino was bleeding from the mouth after a stiff uppercut. 
• The referee, who is Umino's dad in real life, seemed to give him a little leeway when he was stomping Sabre on the apron after he should have been made to stop. 

The Final Word

This year's Wrestle Kingdom was a solid show from top to bottom, but two matches stood out the most in different ways.

ZSJ and Umino had a great performance in the main event that elevated Moxley's protege even in defeat.

The other bout that needs to be highlighted is the women's title match between AZM and Iwatani. They packed a lot into the time they were given and did not hold back for a second.

With Wrestle Dynasty less than 24 hours away, some of these competitors are pulling double duty this weekend, but it should end up being a fun two days of action.

Grade: B+