Tag: january 4

NJPW confirms KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima for Wrestle Kingdom 15

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Satoshi Kojima will face KENTA for the IWGP US title right to challenge contract on January 4.

NJPW shot an angle on this morning’s Road to Tokyo Dome show where Kojima challenged KENTA to a match for the briefcase. The company has now confirmed on their website that Kojima will replace Juice Robinson on January 4.

Juice Robinson had been slated to face KENTA for the championship at Wrestle Kingdom. However, he suffered a fractured orbital bone during the December 22 Road to Tokyo Dome show. He did not participate in the following morning’s press conference, and later was announced as being off the remaining Road To Tokyo Dome and Wrestle Kingdom cards due to the injury.

During this morning’s press conference, NJPW revealed the full cards for Wrestle Kingdom 15, which takes place on January 4 and 5. The cards are as follows:

January 4:

  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan
  • KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojma for the IWGP US title contract briefcase
  • Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Guerillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team titles
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo
  • King of Pro Wrestling Ranbo

January 5:

  • Winner of Naito-Ibushi vs. Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu-ELP winner for the IWGP Jr. title
  • SANADA vs. EVIL
  • Shingo Takagi vs. Jeff Cobb for the NEVER Openweight title
  • El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15 to be two-night event

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Like last year, NJPW will run Wrestle Kingdom on two consecutive nights.

The company announced tonight that Wrestle Kingdom 15 will take place on January 4 and January 5, 2021 at the Tokyo Dome. This follows a new trend that started this year, when NJPW ran the Tokyo Dome for the first time on two consecutive nights.

A date was not announced for New Year Dash, which took place this year on January 6.

Wrestle Kingdom 14, which also had Jushin Thunder Liger’s final match, drew 40,008 on night one with Kazuchika Okada retaining the IWGP Heavyweight title over Kota Ibushi. The second night, which was headlined by Tetsuya Naito defeating Kazuchika Okada to become both the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental champion, drew 30,063.

The last major events for New Japan this year include Power Struggle, which takes place on November 7, and the combination World Tag League and Best of the Super Jr. 27 tour, which starts on November 15 and runs through December 11.