NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Full Night 1 & 2 Cards Revealed
Katsuyori Shibata, Kazuchika Okada, Shingo Takagi, and more...
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.
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.
4 January
IWGP World Heavyweight Title: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada
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