10 Big Predictions For NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 11
4. An Ace Dethroned
Current IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Kushida is a low-key Wrestler of the Year candidate. As the ace of NJPW’s JHW division, the former Time Splitter has put on a number of outstanding matches with opponents as diverse as Will Ospreay and Kyle O’Reilly in 2016, and after beating Kenny Omega at Wrestle Kingdom 10, he’s set to have another great match this year.
Hiromu Takahashi recently returned to NJPW after a long sabbatical in America and Mexico. Formerly known as Kamaitachi, Hiromu was revealed as the company’s ticking time bomb at November’s King of Pro Wrestling show, when he sauntered to the ring unannounced and issued this Tokyo Dome challenge. Kushida accepted, and at the World Tag League finals, Takahashi brutally assaulted the champion, and aligned himself with Tetsuya Naito’s Los Ingobernables.
This is a tremendous match on-paper. Kushida might be the JHW kingpin, but he wrestles a more grounded, grapple-based style than you’d normally associate with the lighter weight class. Takahashi, meanwhile, is a suicidal maniac who wrestles like he’s trying to kill himself. To say he’s fond of high spots would be a gross understatement, and Takahashi is more than happy to put his body on the line if it means coming away with the victory.
Kushida has recently expressed his desire to compete at Heavyweight level, and it might be time to transition him away from the JHW division. Takahashi has all the buzz in the world at the moment, and he’s the perfect candidate to take Kushida’s title away.