NJPW announces Destruction cards, King of Pro Wrestling matches

New Japan announced their big matches for the next couple of months this evening as full cards for all three Destruction shows have been released, as well as key matches for King of Pro Wrestling in October.

IWGP Heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada will square off against the person who beat him during the G1 Climax tournament, EVIL, at King of Pro Wrestling. Tetsuya Naito will also look for his win back as he will take on Tomohiro Ishii for the Tokyo Dome briefcase.

Destruction this year will consist of three big events spanned across the month of September. On the 10th in Fukushima, NEVER Openweight champion Minoru Suzuki will defend against Michael Elgin. NEVER Six Man tag team champions EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI will defend against the Chaos trio of Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano and Rocky Romero.

The second show, held in Hiroshima on September 16hj, will have IWGP Intercontinental champion Hiroshi Tanahashi going against the man who beat him during the G1, Zack Sabre Jr. IWGP Jr. tag team champions Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi will mark their first defense of the titles, squaring off against the Suzuki-gun duo of Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi for the IWGP Jr. titles. In what is being billed as their final match, Roppongi Vice will face Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens.

The final show in Kobe on September 24th will have the first ever defense of the IWGP United States championship as champion Kenny Omega will defend against Juice Robinson.

War Machine will battle Guerillas of Destiny and the returning Killer Elite Squad in a triple threat match for the IWGP tag team titles. This match will go down on all three shows, all for the title.

Full cards can be seen below, along with dates and the times they will air live on New Japan World.

Destruction in Fukushima (September 10th, 3:00 a.m. EDT)

  • Minoru Suzuki vs. Michael Elgin for the NEVER Openweight title
  • EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI vs. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano and Rocky Romero for the NEVER Six Man titles
  • Tomohiro Ishii and Will Ospreay vs. Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi
  • Juice Robinson and David Finlay vs. Kenny Omega and Bad Luck Fale
  • War Machine vs. Guerillas of Destiny vs. Killer Elite Squad in a triple threat match for the IWGP tag team titles
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, KUSHIDA, Ryusuke Taguchi and Ricochet vs. Takashi Iizuka, Taka Michinoku, El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi
  • Baretta and Jado vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens
  • Tomoyuki Oka and Katsuya Kitamura vs. Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI
  • Yuji Nagata and Hirai Kawato vs. Manabu Nakanishi and Shota Umino

Destruction in Hiroshima (September 16th, 5:00 a.m. EDT)

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP Intercontinental title
  • KUSHIDA vs. El Desperado for the IWGP Jr. title
  • Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Will Ospreay and Gedo vs. Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA, BUSHI and Hiromu Takahashi
  • Juice Robinson and David Finlay vs. Kenny Omega and Bad Luck Fale
  • War Machine vs. Guerillas of Destiny and Killer Elite Squad in a triple threat match for the IWGP tag team titles
  • Ricochet and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi for the IWGP Jr. tag team titles
  • Kota Ibushi, Michael Elgin and Togi Makabe vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka and Taka Michinoku
  • Roppongi Vice vs. Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask vs. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Jado

Destruction in Kobe (September 24th, 3:00 a.m. EDT)

  • Kenny Omega vs. Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States title
  • Kazuchika Okada and Will Ospreay vs. EVIL and Hiromu Takahashi
  • Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Rocky Romero vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA and BUSHI
  • War Machine vs. Guerillas of Destiny and Killer Elite Squad in a triple threat match for the IWGP tag team titles
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi and Ricochet vs. Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taichi
  • Hirooki Goto, Baretta and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Bad Luck Fale, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens
  • Togi Makabe and David Finlay vs. Michael Elgin and Katsuya Kitamura
  • Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask vs. Taka Michinoku and El Desperado
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Hirai Kawato vs. Tomoyuki Oka and Shota Umino

King of Pro Wrestling (October 9th)

  • Kazuchika Okada vs. EVIL for the IWGP Heavyweight title
  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the Tokyo Dome match briefcase