NJPW to crown new IWGP Tag Team Champions at Wrestle Dynasty

NJPW has revealed its plan to crown new IWGP Tag Team Champions.

Great-O-Khan & HENARE were scheduled to defend the titles against The Young Bucks at Wrestle Dynasty, but the belts have officially been declared vacant after HENARE sustained a knee injury. Now, it will be O-Khan and a partner of his choosing facing The Young Bucks at the January 5 event to determine new champions.

The injury to HENARE happened near the end of World Tag League. He and O-Khan were still in contention to win B Block at the time but had to withdraw from the tournament.

Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi went on to win World Tag League. While the winners usually get an IWGP Tag Team title shot, Naito & Hiromu are not sure if they’ll ever challenge for the titles.

Wrestle Dynasty is set to include talent from NJPW, AEW, Stardom, CMLL, and ROH. It will be the first time The Young Bucks have wrestled in Japan since 2019.

NJPW has also confirmed that the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship will be on the line at Wrestle Dynasty. Zack Sabre Jr. and David Finlay are the current champions but have title defenses at Wrestle Kingdom 19, which is taking place from the Tokyo Dome one day before Wrestle Dynasty.

Here’s the updated Wrestle Dynasty card:

Wrestle Dynasty (Sunday, January 5 airing live on NJPW World) —

  • Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Ricochet (will be an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match if Sabre retains against Shota Umino at Wrestle Kingdom)
  • Shota Umino vs. Claudio Castagnoli (will be an IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match if Umino wins the title at Wrestle Kingdom)
  • David Finlay vs. Brody King (will be an IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship match if Finlay retains against Yota Tsuji at Wrestle Kingdom)
  • Yota Tsuji vs. Jack Perry (will be an IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship match if Tsuji wins the title at Wrestle Kingdom)
  • Kenny Omega vs. Gabe Kidd
  • Great-O-Khan & TBD vs. The Young Bucks for the vacant IWGP Tag Team titles
  • International Women’s Cup four-way match (winner receives a title shot in the promotion of their choosing)
  • Tomohiro Ishii challenges either Shingo Takagi or Konosuke Takeshita for the NEVER Openweight Championship (AEW International Championship will also be on the line if Takeshita still holds the title when he faces Takagi at Wrestle Kingdom)