Stardom has announced two matches for the second night of Wrestle Kingdom 15.
During tonight’s Stardom Year End Climax 2020, the promotion announced onsocial media that not one, but two dark matches will be held on the second night of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 15 on January 5. The two matches will be Mayu Iwatani and Tam Nakano vs. Giulia and Syuri in a tag match, and Saya Kamtani, Azumi, and Utami Hayashishita vs. Maika, Natsupoi, and Himeka in a six-woman tag team match.
Stardom held their first dark match at the Tokyo Dome during last year’s Wrestle Kingdom 14 on the January 4 card. In that match, Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki defeated Hana Kimura and Giulia.
For 2021, Stardom will hold their 10th anniversary show on March 3 at Budokan Hall, a much bigger venue for their anniversary show. It will also serve at Mayu Iwatani’s 10th anniversary.
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
We look at New Japan’s road to the Tokyo Dome and the first group of major shows in 2021 as the lead story in the new issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
We look at the realities of business, the set up, the announced matches, and the last few shows leading up to the Dome events. We also have complete coverage from the Budokan Hall show and Super J Cup.
The new issue also covers:
TLC show, Smackdown live and taped shows, new television shows being considered, WWE Network special offer, Bill Goldberg talks who he’d like to wrestle, details on a new contract negotiation, more about wrestlers being sent for regular training, upcoming NXT matches, Hall of Fame, injury updates, new signing, new TV show, international ratings, how WWE & AEW fare compared to sports programming, new TV character identified, WWE market value and the most-watched shows on the WWE Network.
UFC monopoly lawsuit and its ramifications on both the MMA and pro wrestling business regarding competition, ability to hold people to long-term contracts, and competitor pay, and the kind of money we are talking about and why.
A bio of Dr. Alfonso Morales, the legendary Lucha Libre and boxing announcer, who passed away this past week. We look at his background and legacy and why he became so good at what he did.
Major lawsuit involving Lucha Underground and AAA and money figures for streaming content that AAA has received.
UFC 256, with the background of the show, match-by-match coverage and the stories behind the show.
TripleMania, with business notes, popularity, match-by-match coverage with star ratings and the story behind the show.
Tokyo Sports awards for 2020 covering Japanese wrestling, as well as a history for some of the major awards.
Television business, looking at stats not available elsewhere to get the deepest read into how shows are doing, what categories are doing well and how shows compare with previous weeks and one year ago.
Results of all the major pro wrestling events around the world over the past week.
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Daniel Bryan told BT Sports that his contract is coming up soon, and may consider transitioning into becoming a part time wrestler. “Now I have things in my life that I love more than wrestling,” he said. “I’m switching priorities in my life. My contract is coming up soon, and we’ll be looking at me transitioning to less than a full-time wrestler. I’ll be a full-time dad, part-time wrestler.”
William Regal announced on Twitter that Raquel Gonzalez would be banned from ringside during tonight’s Rhea Ripley vs. Dakota Kai match.
Ronda Rousey spoke to Digital Spy about her WWE run. While she enjoyed wrestling, she didn’t like the travel. “All I wanted to do between shows is lay down with my legs up and travelling you’re just sitting upright all the time and my back would kill me,” she said. “So the actual act of travelling I do not miss it all, it was the absolute [worst].”
Free matches added to their YouTube page today include an eight woman gauntlet match featuring Bayley, Sasha Banks, Natalya, Ember Moon, Dana Brooke, Alicia Fox, Mickie James, and Ruby Riott from the December 17, 2018 Raw, and Rey Mysterio vs. Seth Rollins for the United States championship from the December 23, 2019 edition of Raw.
Kevin Owens spoke to Comicbook on why NXT should be included in the WWE Draft.
A “10 Best Matches of 2020” special will be added to the on demand section of the WWE Network this Sunday.
Non-WWE indie content being added to the Network on Saturday includes EVOLVE 140, ICW Fight Club 151, wXw Catch Grand Prix #6, and The Best of PROGRESS Wrestling: Deep Cuts.
Other Wrestling
Attendance for large-scale events in Tokyo have been limited to 5,000 as a result of a resurgence in COVID-19 cases in Japan. This could end up having an effect on Wrestle Kingdom 15, though NJPW has yet to confirm any changes regarding their attendance.
Darby Allin spoke to Forbes on why he doesn’t watch WWE or other outside promotions. “I just watch skating videos. That’s it,” said Allin. “I don’t want to be inspired by anything. I want my body of work to be its own thing. I know it’s like that with skaters, a lot of skaters don’t watch certain videos because they don’t want their skating to be inspired just like I do with wrestling. I respect everybody’s hard work and stuff, but there comes a point where I just want to be in my own brain about things, I don’t want to be inspired by anybody.”
Impact’s first Year in Review episode last night scored 133,000 viewers, and did not make the top 150 shows on cable. This is down from last week’s 177,000.
The Acclaimed have released a diss track on The Young Bucks prior to their match tonight.
Zicky Dice wrote on Twitter that his contract with the NWA ends on January 1.
Erick Rowan talked to The Crash Report about being released by WWE, The Wyatt Family, and pitching alternative ideas to Paul Heyman regarding what was in the cage he would carry to the ring.
Satoshi Kojima challenged KENTA to face him at Wrestle Kingdom 15 for the IWGP United States Championship right to challenge certificate. Kojima issued the challenge at today’s Road to Tokyo Dome event.
KENTA had been set to defend his briefcase against Juice Robinson on night one of Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th. NJPW announced today that Robinson has suffered a fractured orbital bone and will be unable to compete.
Kojima and KENTA were on opposite sides of a tag match at today’s event. KENTA and Jay White defeated Kojima and Toa Henare after White pinned Henare with a Blade Runner.
Kojima stated that after 30 years in the business, “I’m going for it,” and asked if KENTA would accept a challenge from a 50 year-old man. KENTA attempted to hit Kojima with his briefcase. Instead, Kojima ducked the shot and hit a cutter. Kojima then went for a lariat, but Jay White made the save, pulling KENTA out of the ring.
Wrestle Kingdom 15 will be held over two nights on January 4th and January 5th, 2021. Both shows will air live on NJPW World at 3 a.m. Eastern time.
Here are the current lineups:
January 4 —
IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan
KENTA vs. ? for the IWGP United States Championship right to challenge certificate
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Guerillas of Destiny
Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo
New Japan Rambo
January 5 —
IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Winner of Naito-Ibushi vs. Jay White
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Hiromu-ELP winner
SANADA vs. EVIL
NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Jeff Cobb
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c)vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi
Juice Robinson is off Wrestle Kingdom 15 following an injury on a recent Road to Tokyo Dome show.
NJPW’s website announced this morning that as a result of a fractured orbital bone, Robinson will not be able to compete on both this morning’s Road to Tokyo Dome event or Wrestle Kingdom 15 next month. The company had just confirmed during today’s press conference that the match was scheduled for January 4. Robinson did not attend the event due to the injury.
The company’s website stated that “further announcements on the status of KENTA’s Tokyo Dome opponent will be made in due course.”
Robinson last competed in the main event of the Road to Wrestle Kingdom card on December 22. He teamed with Kota Ibushi and SHO in a losing effort against Jay White, KENTA, and Gedo.
Robinson was originally scheduled to compete this morning in a tag match with Toa Henare, facing KENTA and Jay White. Satoshi Kojima will replace Robinson on the card.
The full cards for both nights of Wrestle Kingdom 15 have been announced.
NJPW has added a King of Pro Wrestling Ranbo that will take place on January 4. There will be 22 entrants. The final four participants will move on to January 5, where they will compete in a 4-way match. The winner of that match will be the KOPW champion to kick off 2021.The 2020 champion will be determined this morning when Bad Luck Fale and Toru Yano will face against one another in a bodyslam or last corner pad match at the final Road to Tokyo Dome event of the tour.
Additionally, based on challenges made during this week’s Road to Tokyo Dome tour, KENTA will defend his IWGP US title briefcase against Juice Robinson. That match has been made for January 4.
The full cards for Wrestle Kingdom 15 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. Juice Robinson 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
4-way match for the KOPW title
Dark match featuring Stardom talent
NJPW’s New Year Dash!! event will take place on January 6 at Tokyo Dome City Hall
KENTA will defend his right to challenge contract for the IWGP United States Championship against Juice Robinson at Wrestle Kingdom 15.
KENTA said during today’s Road to Tokyo Dome show that he accepted Robinson’s challenge for the match. Robinson proposed the bout in backstage comments after yesterday’s Road to Tokyo Dome show.
KENTA had originally stated in post-match comments both yesterday and today that he does not want the match with Robinson, and is only interested in facing the United States Champion, Jon Moxley.
KENTA clarified in his backstage promo today that he sees the match with Robinson as an opportunity to face the fans in a match, according to NJPW commentator Chris Charlton’s translation.
Moxley won the U.S. title for a second time on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 4th of this year, beating Lance Archer. Archer had won the title after Moxley had been stripped for not being able to defend the title in 2019 due to travel issues related to a typhoon.
Moxley has managed two successful defenses during his current reign with the title. He defeated Robinson on night two of Wrestle Kingdom 14 on January 5th, then beat Minoru Suzuki at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 9th.
Moxley has not been able to defend the title since due to pandemic-related travel restrictions. Still, it is noteworthy that NJPW made the decision not to strip Moxley this time, when they stripped him under similar circumstances just last year.
Robinson is a two-time IWGP U.S. Champion himself and will now face KENTA for the right to challenge Moxley, the man who ended Robinson’s second reign with the title at the Best of the Super Jrs. 26 final in June 2019.
KENTA, Jay White and Gedo defeated Robinson, Kota Ibushi and SHO in the main event of today’s show at Korakuen Hall.
Wrestle Kingdom 15 will be held over two nights on January 4th and January 5th, 2021. Both shows will air live on NJPW World at 3 a.m. Eastern time.
Here are the lineups so far:
Unspecified night —
IWGP U.S. Championship right to challenge contract match: KENTA vs. Juice Robinson
Wrestle Kingdom 15 night one, January 4th —
IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental double title match: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship match: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship number one contender’s match: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo
Wrestle Kingdom night two, January 5th —
IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental double title match: Tetsuya Naito or Kota Ibushi vs. Jay White
NEVER Openweight Championship match: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Jeff Cobb
EVIL vs. SANADA
IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship match: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi or El Phantasmo
A match featuring Stardom wrestlers will take place at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Wrestle Kingdom 15 event.
During today’s Osaka Dream Cinderella card, the company announced that their wrestlers will compete in a match on the January 5 Wrestle Kingdom card. It wasn’t made clear if this would be a televised match or a dark match.
Stardom and NJPW share the same parent company, Bushiroad. Stardom was acquired by Bushiroad last fall.
A dark match featuring Stardom wrestlers took place at Wrestle Kingdom 14 prior to the start of the January 4 card. In that match, Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki defeated Hana Kimura and Gulia in a tag match when Iwatani pinned Kimura with a moonsault press.
Stardom additionally announced today a new logo design for 2021, when they will be celebrating their 10th anniversary. They will be running Budokan Hall for their tenth anniversary show, All-Star Dream Cinderella, on March 3. It will also serve as Mayu Iwatani’s 10th anniversary event.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has at least the top matches announced for its biggest shows of the year, WrestleKingdom 15, taking place on 1/4 and 1/5 at the Tokyo Dome.
No exact number of tickets released has been announced, but the latest word has the figure well under 20,000. The shows are not sold out which, like the 12/11 Budokan Hall show, highlights the difficulty in getting people to attend live events under these circumstances.
Both shows are scheduled for 2 a.m. Eastern time starts and the shows will likely be with fewer total matches and shorter time than in previous years when the usual five hour shows usually seemed too short.
Announced for the first night is a battle of junior heavyweight tournament winners as Hiromu Takahashi, who won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament on 12/11, faces El Phantasmo, who won the taped Super J Cup that aired on 12/12. The winner of that match gets a title shot at IWGP jr. champion Taiji Ishimori on the second night.
More matches have been announced for both nights of Wrestle Kingdom 15.
Following the events of the Best of the Super Junior/World Tag League finals, Hiroshi Tanahashi will now face Great-O-Khan in a special singles match on January 4. Khan destroyed both Henare and Tanahashi following a tag team match, with O-Khan focusing on Tanahashi’s knee.
World Tag League winners Tama Tonga and Tanga Loga, the Guerillas of Destiny, will face Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP Tag Team titles.
After he had won the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, Hiromu Takahashi challenged the winner of the following day’s Super J-Cup to a match. El Phantasmo defeated ACH to win the Super J-Cup back-to-back and accepted Takahashi’s challenge for January 4. Taiji Ishimori will be defending the IWGP Jr. title on January 5 against the winner.
SANADA and EVIL, meanwhile, will face each other on January 5. SANADA wildly attacked EVIL after Dick Togo choked out SANADA at ringside. The two ended up fighting all the way backstage.
Shingo Takagi and Jeff Cobb will meet for the NEVER title on January 5. Cobb pinned Shingo during the World Tag League, eliminating Shingo and SANADA from the tournament. Cobb attacked Shingo during the Budokan Hall finals show and held the NEVER title up high, indicating he was next for a title match.
Here is what is currently announced for both Wrestle Kingdom cards, which will take place on January 4 and 5 at the Tokyo Dome:
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
Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Guerillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team titles
Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo
January 5:
Winner of Naito-Ibushi vs. Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles
SANADA vs. EVIL
Shingo Takagi vs. Jeff Cobb for the NEVER Openweight title
Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu-ELP winner for the IWGP Jr. title
Three matches have been set for the January 4 and January 5 Wrestle Kingdom 15 cards.
It has been confirmed that Kota Ibushi will face Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Heavyweight title and the IWGP Intercontinental title on the first night of Wrestle Kingdom. In a press conference last night, Naito challenged Ibushi, saying that even though he had lost the briefcase, he did win the G1 in back-to-back years, and wanted revenge as that was something he had never done. He threatened to boycott both shows if he didn’t get the match.
Will Ospreay vs. Kazuchika Okada was also set for January 4. Ospreay challenged Okada at Power Struggle after Okada had defeated the Great O-Khan. Ospreay turned on Okada during the G1 Climax tournament, turning his back on his former CHAOS stablemate and forming his own stable with O-Khan and Bea Priestley The Empire.
Jay White, who won the Wrestle Kingdom 15 contract briefcase from Kota Ibushi at Power Struggle, will face either Tetsuya Naito or Kota Ibushi on January 5. That will depend on who is champion following the January 4 main event.
Jay White has beaten Kota Ibushi to win the contract that will grant him a double title match at Wrestle Kingdom 15, challenging Naito for January 5.
White scored the shock win after he blocked a kamigoye attempt by Ibushi. He instead countered with a backslide and put his feet on the ropes to score the win.
After the match, White openly taunted Ibushi with the briefcase. White celebrated on his way out, while a dejected Ibushi sulked to the back.
This is the first time that the Wrestle Kingdom contract briefcase has changed hands. Earlier on tonight’s show, KENTA defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi, successfully defending his briefcase that will give him a title shot against the current champion, Jon Moxley.
After Tetsuya Natio retained both of the Intercontinental and Heavyweight titles in the main event, Jay White came out and raised Naito’s hand. He said on January 4, he would take the day off. He then said on January 5, he would challenge for both championships.
Kota Ibushi then emerged. White reiterated that he had won the contract title briefcase and Ibushi had lost. Ibushi chased him and manager Gedo away, implying that their feud wasn’t done.
Kazuchika Okada has accepted Will Ospreay’s challenge for a match at Wrestle Kingdom 15.
The challenge took place after tonight’s match at Power Struggle, where Okada defeated O-Khan via referee stoppage with his money clip submission.
Ospreay, who was watching the match ringside, entered the ring after the match and confronted Okada. He said he used Okada to get more popular, and it worked. He eventually said that he wanted to end Okada’s career and challenged him to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 15. Okada accepted.
The two have been feuding since last month, when Ospreay turned on Okada following their G1 match, attacking him and leaving him laying with the running elbow to the back of the head. Since then, he has formed a new stable in NJPW called The Empire, which consists of himself, Great O-Khan, and Bea Preistley.
Wrestle Kingdom 15 is set to take place on both January 4 and 5.
The capacity for both nights of Wrestle Kingdom 15 will be capped at 20,000 people.
In an interview with Tokyo Sports, new NJPW President Takami Obari said that a limit of 20,000 people would be set for both nights. This is due to COVID-19 concerns. The Tokyo Dome ususally carries a capactiy of 50,000.
The company announced last week that they would once again run Wrestle Kingdom on two nights: on their usual January 4 date as well as the following day on January 5. Last year’s shows drew 40,008 and 30,063 respectively.
Obari, formerly CEO of NJPW of America, took over for Harold Meij as New Japan President after Meij resigned in September. Obari officially took over on October 23.
The next big show for NJPW takes place on November 7 with Power Struggle. The final major tour for NJPW prior to Wrestle Kingdom will follow on November 15 with two tournaments running at the same time, World Tag League 2020 and The Best of the Super Juniors 27. That tour will finish on December 11.
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.
