NJPW Announce Full Line-Ups For Two-Day Wrestle Kingdom 14 Shows

14 stars in the Tokyo Dome.

by Michael Sidgwick
Painmaker Chris Jericho
Scott Lesh

New Japan Pro Wrestling has revealed the full line-ups for the two-day Wrestle Kingdom 14 super-shows.

On night one (January 4), Kazuchika Okada will face Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship, while Jay White defends his Intercontinental Title against Tetsuya Naito. The respect winners advance to a unification bout on January 5, as the runners-up square off in a third place playoff.

Also set for January 4 is: Will Ospreay Vs. Hiromu Takahashi (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title), Lance Archer Vs. Jon Moxley (United States Title Texas Death Match), the Guerrillas of Destiny Vs. David Finlay and Juice Robinson (IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Title match), YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano, Tomohiro Ishii, and Hirooki Goto vs. Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, Bad Luck Fale, and KENTA, BUSHI, Shingo Takagi, EVIL, and SANADA vs. El Desperado, Taichi, Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr., and the wild, nostalgia-fuelled retirement spectacular pitting Jushin Thunder Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami, The Great Sasuke, and Tiger Mask (with El Samurai) against Naoki Sano, Shinjiro Otani, Tatsuhito Takaiwa, and Ryusuke Taguchi (with Kuniaki Kobayashi).

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January 5 is rounded out, more divisively, with Hiroshi Tanahashi Vs. Chris Jericho, Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo vs. Roppongi 3K (IWGP Junior Tag Team Title), KENTA Vs. Hirooki Goto (NEVER Openweight Title), Archer/Moxley Vs. Juice Robinson (United States Title), Zack Sabre Jr vs. SANADA (RevPro British Heavyweight Title), and Jushin Liger and Naoki Sano vs. Ryu Lee (Dragon Lee) and Hiromu Takahashi

There's no space across two nights (!) for a Tomohiro Ishii nor Shingo Takagi singles match, which is disappointing, as is the absence of Katsuyori Shibata. His physical work in two awesome angles feels now like a cruel and counterproductive bait-and-switch.

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Still, those are minor complaints, relatively speaking.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!