Partial card released for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13
Wrestle Kingdom 13 is starting to shape up, with a number of high profile matches now confirmed for January 4.
In a press conference held this morning, New Japan announced that a singles match between Kazuchika Okada and Jay White will take place at the Tokyo Dome. White and Okada have been feuding for months, hitting a crescendo at Destruction when both White and Okada’s longtime manager Gedo turned on him. White issued the challenge to Okada a few days ago at Power Struggle.
Chris Jericho will also defend the Intercontinental title against Tetsuya Naito, who made the save for EVIL at Power Struggle after Jericho had successfully defended the title against him. Naito issued the challenge, but backstage following the event Jericho said he wouldn’t accept it. Apparently, the match was made anyway.
In the junior heavyweight division, it was made official that KUSHIDA will battle the Bullet Club’s Taiji Ishimori, who sent the message he wanted a shot after attacking KUSHIDA with a crutch at Power Struggle. And despite Roppongi 3K winning the Super Jr. tag league, the IWGP Jr. titles will still be defended in a triple threat match that will also include BUSHI & Shingo Takagi and champions Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Desperado.
Here are the list of matches announced so far for Wrestle Kingdom 13:
- Kenny Omega vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP title
- Chris Jericho vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Intercontinental title
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
- KUSHIDA vs. Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Jr. title
- El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Roppongi 3K vs. Shingo Takagi & BUSHI for the IWGP Jr. tag team titles