Two title matches added to NJPW Battle in the Valley 2025
Two matches have been added to Saturday’s NJPW Battle in the Valley 2025.
NEVER Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita, defending against KUSHIDA, and IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado, defending against Taiji Ishimori, have been added to the show.
Takeshita is coming off a big week that saw him defeat Powerhouse Hobbs at AEW Worlds End on December 28, team with Jun Akiyama in a win over Yuki Iino & Yukio Naya for DDT on January 3, beat Shingo Takagi at Wrestle Kingdom, and then Tomohiro Ishii at Wrestle Dynasty. KUSHIDA is coming off having made KENTA tapout today at New Year’s Dash.
Ishimori issued a challenge to Desperado for a title match during today’s New Year’s Dash event. He’s coming off having won the Lucha Gauntlet match at Wrestle Dynasty. Desperado is coming off winning the IWGP Junior title over DOUKI at Wrestle Kingdom when the match had to be stopped early due to DOUKI suffering an injury.
NJPW Battle in the Valley (Saturday, January 11) —
- Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Hechicero
- NJPW Strong Champion Gabe Kidd defends against Tomohiro Ishii
- Sumie Sakai retirement match: Hiromu Takahashi, Yuka Sakazaki, and Mayu Iwatani vs. Sumie Sakai, EVIL, and SHO
- New Japan Strong Tag Team titles: Jorel Nelson & Royce Issacs defend against Rocky Romero & YOH
- Fred Rosser & Matt Vandagriff vs. TMDK (Shane Haste & Bad Dude Tito)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado defends against Taiji Ishimori
- NEVER Openweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita defends against KUSHIDA