Ranbo battle royal, fourth TV title competitor officially added to NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
The NJPW Ranbo has officially been added to Wrestle Kingdom 19.
The annual battle royal will take place on the kickoff portion of NJPW’s January 4 event. Additionally, El Phantasmo has been added to what will now be a four-way match for the New Japan World Television title.
After the Great-O-Khan retired the KOPW Championship at Road to Tokyo Dome, he suggested that the winner of the Ranbo should get a shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight title. New Japan confirmed the match and stipulation on Sunday.
ELP made his return on Saturday morning’s show and announced that he was medically cleared. After a match featuring the House of Torture, Jado appeared as Santa Claus and gave Narita a gift. When Narita opened it, it was a pair of ELP’s sunglasses, signaling ELP’s return after taking time off due to a cancer diagnosis.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 (Saturday, January 4) —
- IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Shota Umino
- Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi
- IWGP Global Champion David Finlay defends against Yota Tsuji
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defends against El Desperado
- NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi defends against Konosuke Takeshita (Takeshita’s AEW International Championship will also be on the line if still champion)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
- Four-way match: NJPW World TV Champion Ren Narita defends against Jeff Cobb, Ryohei Oiwa, and El Phantasmo
- IWGP Women’s Champion Mayu Iwatani defends against AZM
- Four-way match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight defend against Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita, TJP & Francesco Akira, and Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney
- Kickoff: NJPW Ranbo battle royal for future IWGP World title shot