NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Main Event Officially Announced

NJPW just made Wrestle Kingdom 16's IWGP World Heavyweight Title match official...

by Andy H Murray
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16
NJPW

Kazuchika Okada will challenge Shingo Takagi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 16, NJPW has confirmed.

The bout was made official at a press conference earlier today. It'll go down on the first of Wrestle Kingdom 16's three nights (4 January), which takes place in the Tokyo Dome, and will be followed by further shows on 5 January (also at the Tokyo Dome) and 8 January (Yokohama Arena), as NJPW's signature pay-per-view is spread across three days for the first time.

Takagi vs. Okada comes following the events of Power Struggle 2021 (6 November), where Shingo successfully defended his IWGP strap against Zack Sabre Jr. Okada, meanwhile, beat Tama Tonga at the event, thus retaining the right to challenge Takagi he'd obtained by winning this year's G1 Climax event.

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NJPW may end up booking further IWGP Title matches for Wrestle Kingdom, as has been the case at the last two WK events. Will Ospreay, who was stripped of the belt in May, is currently calling himself the "Real IWGP World Heavyweight Champion", which could conceivably be used to book him in a title fight with the winner of Okada vs. Takagi.

Shingo has been IWGP Champion since defeating Okada for the vacant strap on 7 June.

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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.