NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Full Night 1 & 2 Cards Revealed

Katsuyori Shibata, Kazuchika Okada, Shingo Takagi, and more...

Wrestle Kingdom 16
NJPW

NJPW splits its signature event, Wrestle Kingdom, into three separate shows for the first time in 2022, and yesterday saw the promotion finalise the lineups for the first couple of nights.

Included is confirmation that Katsuyori Shibata will work a singles match against an opponent to be confirmed. This follows yesterday's announcement that the LA Dojo head trainer and former NEVER Openweight Champion is returning to the ring, having worked a five-minute grappling exhibition with Zack Sabre Jr. in October.

Other new additions include YOH vs. SHO, NEVER Openweight Champion Tomohiro Ishii vs. EVIL, and IWGP Tag Team Champions Dangerous Tekkers vs. CHAOS' Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI on 4 January. The following night features new singles matches in Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb and SANADA vs. Great-O-Khan, and more.

Advertisement

A lineup for Wrestle Kingdom 16's third night (8 January) will be announced tomorrow (17 December). That show will see the stars of NJPW competing against the Pro Wrestling NOAH roster.

See below for the full 4 and 5 January cards.

Advertisement

4 January

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada

Advertisement

IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: El Desperado (c) vs.Hiromu Takahashi

IWGP Tag Team Titles: Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. and Taichi) (c) vs. CHAOS (Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI)

NEVER Openweight Championship: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. EVIL

Katsuyori Shibata vs. X

Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, and BUSHI vs. Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, and Will Ospreay

Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Rocky Romero vs. KENTA, Taiji Ishimori, and El Phantasmo

TOH vs. SHO

New Japan Rambo

5 January

IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Shingo Takagi or Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay

IWGP United States Title: KENTA (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb

SANADA vs. Great-O-Khan

NEVER Openweight Six-Man Titles: EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, and SHO (c) vs. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and YOH

KOPW Trophy: TBC vs. TBC vs. TBC vs. TBC

Stardom Showcase: Mayu Iwatani and Starlight Kid vs. Tam Nakano and Saya Kamitani

IWGP Junior Tag Team Titles: Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo vs. Ryusuke Taguchi and Rocky Romero

Channel Manager
Channel Manager

Andy has been with WhatCulture for eight years and is currently WhatCulture's Wrestling Channel Manager. A writer, presenter, and editor with 10+ years of experience in online media, he has been a sponge for all wrestling knowledge since playing an old Royal Rumble 1992 VHS to ruin in his childhood. Having previously worked for Bleacher Report, Andy specialises in short and long-form writing, video presenting, voiceover acting, and editing, all characterised by expert wrestling knowledge and commentary. Andy is as much a fan of 1985 Jim Crockett Promotions as he is present-day AEW and WWE - just don't make him choose between the two.