Tag: wrestle kingdom 14

Full cards released for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The full cards for both nights of Wrestle Kingdom 14 have been released.

Based off of last night’s World Tag League finals, additional matches have been added to both cards. Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley in a Texas deathmatch for the IWGP United States title has now been confirmed for January 4 following last night’s angle, where Moxley laid out Archer and challenged him to a match.

A pair of eight man tag team matches were also added to the January 4 card, featuring CHAOS vs. Bullet Club and Los Ingobernables de Japon vs. Suzuki-gun bouts.

January 5 will have KENTA vs. Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Openweight title as well as Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA for the RevPro British Heavyweight title. Juice Robinson will also challenge the winner of the IWGP United States title match the previous night.

Jushin Thunder Liger’s final match has also been confirmed. He will team with Naoki Sano to take on Ryu Lee and Hiromu Takahashi in a tag team match. Yoshiaki Fujiwara will be in Liger and Sano’s corner.

Here are the full cards for both Tokyo Dome events:

January 4:

  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight title
  • Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental title
  • Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Jr. title
  • Lance Archer vs. Jon Moxley in a Texas deathmatch for the IWGP United States title
  • Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. David Finlay & Juice Robinson for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles
  • Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI vs. KENTA,, Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi & Chase Owens
  • SANADA, EVIL, Shingo Takagi and BUSHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Minoru Suzuki, Taichi & El Desperado
  • Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa and Ryusuke Taguchi

January 5:

  • Double title match for IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho
  • The two non champions following the Intercontinental and Heavyweight title matches on January 4 will meet in a special singles match
  • KENTA vs. Hirooki Goto for the NEVER Openweight title
  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. SANADA for the British Openweight title
  • Juice Robinson will face the IWGP United States champion
  • El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs. SHO & YOH for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles

Moxley returns to NJPW, challenges Archer for Wrestle Kingdom 14

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Jon Moxley laid out a challenge for Wrestle Kingdom 14 to Lance Archer this morning at the World Tag League finals.

Moxley came out after a match that featured IWGP United States champion Archer and Minoru Suzuki. Moxley emerged from the crowd and confronted Archer. He eventually laid out both Archer and Suzuki with the paradigm shift DDT.

He took the microphone and said he wanted his belt back and he will get it back. He said he would get it at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in a Texas death match. 

Moxley then set up a table on the outside and tried to put Archer through it. Archer fought back and they both ended up brawling around the ring. Archer grabbed a ring barricade and threw it at Moxley, and Moxley eventually returned the favor as they both brawled to the back.

Archer won the title after an impromptu no disqualification match between him and Juice Robinson at King of Pro Wrestling back on October 14. Moxley was originally supposed to defend the title against Juice, but was unable to make it to Japan due to travel issues relating to a typhoon that struck Japan that weekend.

Double title match set for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 night two

Posted on by Bryan Rose

More matches have been announced for both Wrestle Kingdom cards, including the double championship match.

It was confirmed during tonight’s NJPW press conference that both titles will be on the line on the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 5. This double champions match will be between the winners of two matches that take place on January 4: Jay White vs. Tetsuya Natio for the Intercontinental title and Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight title.

The two non-champions after January 4 will compete the following day in a special singles match.

The press conference also confirmed several matches that were made during Power Struggle this past Sunday. January 4 will now have Will Ospreay defending the Jr. title against Hiromu Takahashi as well as the new Intercontinental title match. January 5 will have a special singles match between Chris Jericho and Hiroshi Tanahashi. The Jr. Tag Team title match, which will have champions Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo take on Roppongi 3K, will also take place on January 5.

As usual, the January 6 New Year Dash card will not have a card announced until bell time. It will host Jushin Thunder Liger’s retirement ceremony. 

Here are the current cards for Wrestle Kingdom 14:

January 4 – 

  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight title
  • Jay White vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental title
  • Will Ospreay vs. Hiromu Takahashi for the IWGP Jr. title
  • Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke & Tiger Mask (with El Samurai) vs. Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Ohtani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa & Ryusuke Taguchi (with Kuniaki Kobayashi)

January 5 –

  • IWGP Heavyweight champion vs. IWGP Intercontinental champion for both titles
  • The two non champions following the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental title matches on January 4 will have a singles match
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Chris Jericho
  • Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo vs. SHO & YOH for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles

Hiromu Takahashi returns, challenges Ospreay for Wrestle Kingdom 14

Posted on by Bryan Rose

After a 16-month absence, Hiromu Takahashi has returned to NJPW.

Following a successful IWGP Jr. title defense against BUSHI this morning at Power Struggle, Ospreay cut a promo asking who would challenge him next. After no one responded, he started to leave when a video started to play, similar to the time bomb vignettes that aired prior to Hiromu Takahashi’s return from excursion. The timer was set for January 4.

Hiromu Takahashi’s cat dolls Daryl and Naoru then emerged on the video screen and lit a bomb that started a timer for ten seconds. After a countdown clock ended at 0, Takahashi emerged.

After a few minutes of running around the ring and taking bumps into the barricade, he entered the ring and thanked the fans for waiting for him. He said he would make the Jr. division more fun, and mocked those for saying he should tone down his style by taking bumps all over the ring. He then, in English, challenged Ospreay to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 14.

Takahashi was IWGP Jr. champion when he broke his neck taking a dragon driver from Dragon Lee at the G1 Special in San Francisco on July 7, 2018. The title was later vacated on August 20 of that year.

Jericho challenges Tanahashi for Wrestle Kingdom 14 night two

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Chris Jericho has resurfaced in New Japan, challenging Hiroshi Tanahashi to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 14.

Jericho challenged Tanahashi at Power Struggle tonight following a tag team match where Kota Ibushi and Tanahashi defeated Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI. As the two were celebrating in the ring, a video aired showing someone vaguely looking like Tanahashi rocking out to his theme song. Suddenly, everyone in the video was laid out.

Jericho then emerged in the video wearing his Painmaker outfit. He challenged Tanahashi to a match on the January 5 card and warned that he’ll make this Tanahashi’s last match. Tanahashi accepted, saying he had no other plans for Wrestle Kingdom.

Nothing about All Elite Wrestling was mentioned in Jericho’s promo. He is the current AEW World Champion. Although he is an AEW contracted wrestler, his contract allows him to take dates with New Japan Pro Wrestling. He last appeared for the promotion at Dominion back in June, where he lost to Okada.

No other bouts have been confirmed for the Wrestling Kingdom 14 night two card aside from Jushin Thunder Liger having his retirement match. Okada vs. Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight title will take place at Wrestle Kingdom 14 night one on January 4.

Main event set for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 night one

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Coming out of King of Pro Wrestling, the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 14 night one is set.

IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada will defend his title against G1 Climax winner Kota Ibushi at the Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2020. Night two of Wrestle Kingdom 14 will then take place at the Tokyo Dome on January 5.

Okada and Ibushi both won their matches at King of Pro Wrestling this morning. Okada retained his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against SANADA in the main event, while Ibushi defended his title shot briefcase against EVIL.

Okada and Ibushi went face-to-face at the end of King of Pro Wrestling. Ibushi reiterated that he wants to win the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles. Okada told Ibushi it won’t be that easy and said he’ll have to go through him first.

Jay White is the current IWGP Intercontinental Champion.

Ibushi defeated White in this year’s G1 Climax finals. On his way to winning the tournament, Ibushi also defeated Okada when they faced off in the G1.

The formal announcement of Okada vs. Ibushi will likely come at a press conference regarding Wrestle Kingdom that NJPW is holding overnight tonight (2 a.m. Eastern time).

Jushin Thunder Liger to retire at Tokyo Dome in January

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Jushin Thunder Liger announced this morning that he will retire in January.

Making the announcement during a press conference Liger, 54, said that he hopes to wrestle all around the world until the next Tokyo Dome card in January, where he will retire. He will be out during the New Japan Cup tour as he will be in Ireland. He also hoped that he would be able to wrestle at the G1 Supercard event next month at Madison Square Garden.

Born Keiichi Yamada, he originally wanted to join New Japan’s dojo straight out of high school, but he failed to meet their height requirement at the time. He instead travelled to Mexico and trained there until he was asked back to train at the dojo, eventually having his debut match on March 3, 1984 against Shunji Kosugi.

After winning the Young Lion Cup in 1986, Yamada went on excursion and travelled across Europe and Canada, wrestling in England under the name Fuji Yamada. He also wrestled for a time in Stampede Wrestling, training in the famed “Dungeon” with the Hart family.

Returning to NJPW in 1987, he wrestled under his given name for a couple of more years before making his debut as Jushin Liger on April 24, 1989 at a Tokyo Dome event. In a unique move, his outfit, appearance and name would evolve over time in line with the anime his character was based on. By 1990, he “evolved” into Jushin Thunder Liger, the name he uses to this day.

Overseas, Liger made his debut for WCW in 1991 and feuded with Brian Pillman over the WCW Light Heavyweight title. He would appear sporadically for the company throughout the 90s, and later made appearances for Ring of Honor, Impact Wrestling and also made a one-time appearance for NXT in 2015, defeating Tyler Breeze.

In the early stages of his career Liger was a high flying innovator, creating the shooting star press as his finishing move. After a battle with brain cancer in 1996, he adopted a more technical style of wrestling.

Throughout his now nearly 40-year career, Liger has won the IWGP Jr. title 11 times, easily setting the record for most title reigns. He’s also won the Jr. tag team titles six times and won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament in 1994 and 2001. In addition to that, he held the J-Crown and won the Super J Cup in 1995 and 2000, along with countless other titles throughout the world. He entered the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1999.

In recent years, Liger has mostly been on undercards, usually teaming, sometimes feuding with Tiger Mask. His most recent appearance was on Tuesday morning’s New Japan 47th anniversary show, where he was unsuccessful in challenging Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Jr. title.

NJPW running back-to-back shows at Tokyo Dome in 2020

Posted on by Bryan Rose

For the first time in New Japan’s history, their annual 1/4 event will now run on two consecutive nights inside the Tokyo Dome.

Prior to the main card of Wrestle Kingdom 13, New Japan showed a video highlighting tour dates through August. But they saved the biggest news for last: Wrestle Kingdom 14 will be held on two consecutive nights. January 4 and 5, 2020.

This would be a big change in format from recent years. New Japan has ran the Wrestle Kingdom on January 4 while New Year’s Dash, a more angle-heavy show featuring tag team matches, usually runs the next day at Korakuen Hall.

Other dates announced include:

  • The New Beginning in Sapporo on February 2 and 3
  • The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11
  • New Japan Cup in Niigata on March 23 and 24
  • ROH/NJPW G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden in New York City on April 6 
  • Road to Wrestling Dontaku on April 20 in Aichi
  • Wrestling Dontaku 2019 on May 3 and 4 in Fukuoka
  • Best of the Super Jr. 26 finals take place on June 5 at Sumo Hall
  • Dominion 6.9 in Osaka Jo Hall
  • August 31 at the Copper Box Arena in London, England