NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 To Be A Three-Night Event

From a one-day show, to a two-day event, to now a three-day spectacle...

by Andrew Pollard
Shingo Takagi
NJPW

Rather than the recent two-night format that has been in place for the past two years, New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that next year's Wrestle Kingdom will instead be a three-night affair.

This news was revealed during yesterday's Wrestle Grand Slam show, with Wrestle Kingdom 16 confirmed to take place on 4 January, 5 January and 8 January as NJPW looks to start 2022 with a bang. Those first two nights will emanate from the Tokyo Dome, while the 8 January leg will be held at Yokohama Arena.

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For the vast majority of its lifespan, Wrestle Kingdom was a one-night event. That changed with Wrestle Kingdom 14 in 2020, with the show taking place over two nights for Wrestle Kingdom 14 and Wrestle Kingdom 15.

Interestingly, New Japan didn't make any mention of New Year Dash! for next year; that event having taking place the night after Wrestle Kingdom since 2014.

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Obviously, the card for Wrestle Kingdom 16 has yet to take shape, although the impending G1 Climax 31 will start to put the pieces in place for NJPW's biggest show of the year - with the G1 running from 18 September to 21 October.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.