Critics issued positive reviews; Philly.com said it featured "good, quality wrestling", while Paste magazine said it presented "some of the most passionate and poignant performance art today".

Wrestle Kingdom has been described as "New Japan's major annual show" and the "equivalent" of WWE's WrestleMania pay-per-view (PPV) event.

[15] The GFW version of the event was streamed worldwide (except in North America and Japan) on the Flipps application for Internet-connected smartphones, tablet computers and smart TVs.

[25][29] Another title that was contested at Wrestle Kingdom 9 was the IWGP Tag Team Championship, with Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson defending against Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata.

[33] In December, Goto and Shibata won the 2014 World Tag League tournament, defeating Anderson and Gallows in the final to earn another chance at the title.

[37] The latter became an eight-man tag team match, with Suzuki-gun represented by Iizuka, Shelton X Benjamin, and the Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer).

Yano recruited three partners from the Pro Wrestling Noah promotion: Naomichi Marufuji and TMDK (Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste).

[40] Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Jeff Jarrett—making his NJPW ring debut—were scheduled to represent the Bullet Club at the event.

[41][42][43][44] The first match of the PPV show saw reDRagon (Kyle O'Reilly and Bobby Fish) defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship against Forever Hooligans (Alex Koslov and Rocky Romero), Time Splitters (Alex Shelley and Kushida), and the Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson).

ReDRagon took over with a backbreaker and diving knee drop on Shelley, a double arm DDT and wheelbarrow suplex on Matt, and a super falcon arrow by Fish on Nick.

[2][45][46][47] In the second match, the Bullet Club's Bad Luck Fale, Jeff Jarrett, and Yujiro Takahashi faced New Japan's Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, and Tomoaki Honma.

[2][45][47] The third match saw Suzuki-gun's Davey Boy Smith Jr., Lance Archer, Shelton Benjamin, and Takashi Iizuka opposing Toru Yano and Pro Wrestling Noah representatives Naomichi Marufuji, Mikey Nicholls, and Shane Haste.

[2][25][43][45] The fourth match, between Minoru Suzuki and Kazushi Sakuraba, was conducted under UWFi rules; it would end with a knockout, submission, or referee stoppage.

Makabe won the match (and the title) with a running lariat and the King Kong Knee Drop from the top rope, followed by a pinfall at 12 minutes and 23 seconds.

Omega captured the championship after a snap dragon suplex, a bicycle knee strike, and the One Winged Angel (electric chair dropped into a one-handed driver), pinning the champion at 13 minutes and 20 seconds.

Ibushi ridiculed Nakamura and used several of the champion's moves, including the corner vibration boot, the reverse powerslam, and the Boma Ye knee strike.

Nakamura used a variety of knee-based strikes, and Ibushi's attacks included a standing corkscrew moonsault, a roundhouse kick, an elevated sit-out powerbomb, and a double stomp to the chest.

The challenger controlled the early match with a hanging DDT onto the floor, a Heavy Rain (Death Valley driver) on the entrance ramp, and the D.I.D.

[53] Kobe Shimbun's "Daily Sports Online" called Tanahashi "Mr. Tokyo Dome" for winning his fifth consecutive Wrestle Kingdom main event in the arena.

[54] Jason Namako of Wrestleview.com, who watched the Japanese version of the show via New Japan World, said that the event "proved one thing, puroresu is, beyond a shadow of doubt, indeed ichiban!!

The IWGP Heavyweight Championship match received five stars, with Caldwell stating, "There's nothing better in the industry than these two on a big stage in a big-time main event.

He praised Jim Ross, whose "timeless voice cut through the language barrier" for American wrestling fans, and likened his commentary to "reading the first English translation of Homer."

"[1] Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net predicted that even first-time viewers of New Japan would be "thrilled" watching this event.

[49] In his review, Vaughn Johnson of the Philadelphia Media Network through Philly.com wrote: "Everything that was presented to the worldwide audience was simple and didn't require anyone to know the Japanese language.

Johnson praised the event as "devoid of popcorn matches and silly gimmicks that insult your intelligence", and commentators Ross and Striker for focusing "on the action in the ring and the significance of it instead of cracking jokes and making a million plugs.

[59] According to commentator Jim Ross, Japanese television producer TV Asahi did not contact the English-language team during the event; he and Striker announced "by our instincts and it seemed to work out pretty well".

[63] Bullet Club captured two more titles in that event, with the Young Bucks winning the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship, and Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson defeating Hirooki Goto and Katsuyori Shibata in a rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 9 to regain the IWGP Tag Team Championship.

[64][65] Another rematch from Wrestle Kingdom 9 was scheduled for February 14 at NJPW The New Beginning in Sendai between Togi Makabe and Tomohiro Ishii for the NEVER Openweight Championship.

[67] Wrestle Kingdom 9 broke Yuji Nagata's streak of consecutive January 4 Tokyo Dome Show appearances at 21 by being featured on the pre-show instead of the main card.

[66] Nakamura's Wrestle Kingdom 9 opponent, Kota Ibushi, won the 2015 New Japan Cup tournament on March 15 by defeating Hirooki Goto in the finals, thus earning the right to choose a championship to challenge.