ANOTHER NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Main Event Revealed
NJPW shoots for another year of multiple IWGP Title matches at Wrestle Kingdom 16.
Will Ospreay will challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 16's second night, NJPW has announced.
New Japan is splitting its biggest show of the year into three separate events for the first time in 2022. The first takes place in the Tokyo Dome on 4 January, as is traditional, and will be headlined by IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Shingo Takagi vs. G1 Climax winner Kazuchika Okada.
The winner of that match progresses to face Ospreay the following night in the Dome. NJPW is yet to confirm the top match for WK 16's third night, which takes place at Yokohama Arena on 8 January.
Ospreay, who has been calling himself the real IWGP World Heavyweight Champion since returning to NJPW in August, confronted Okada at this past weekend's Battle in the Valley event in California. The Englishman was stripped of the IWGP strap due to injury in May, clearing the path for Takagi to ascend and take the vacant belt.
Okada, meanwhile, has taken to carrying the classic IWGP Heavyweight Championship design around as his G1 trophy, saying that he wants to hold it until Kota Ibushi returns from injury.