NJPW News: Full Match Card Confirmed for Wrestle Kingdom 13
What's the story?
New Japan Pro Wrestling have officially revealed the final match card for their biggest annual show of 2019, Wrestle Kingdom 13. NJPW took to their official website and various other social media platforms to confirm the added matches and we couldn't be more excited for the January 4 Tokyo Dome show.
In case you didn't know...
Wrestle Kingdom is NJPW's biggest annual event which is often considered the Japanese WrestleMania. It is also labeled "the largest wrestling show in the world outside of the United States."
This year's WK main event has solely focused on new and reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Kenny Omega, who defends his crown against 'The Ace of The Universe' Hiroshi Tanahashi, who won the grueling G1 Climax to earn his ticket to the top.
Elsewhere, members from NJPW's top factions in The Bullet Club, The Elite, Suzuki-Gun, LIJ, and CHAOS will all be wrestling in high-profile matches on the night.
The heart of the matter
At last night's World Tag League finals, the duo of Sanada and Evil won the World Tag League for the second year in a row by defeating the reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions, The Guerillas of Destiny. Following LIJ's win, Matt and Nick Jackson, The Young Bucks, invoked their IWGP Tag Title rematch clause and eventually earned their title shot as confirmed by NJPW today.
Elsewhere, the dream match that everyone has been wanting to see for a very, very long time has also been confirmed. Kota Ibushi won the Never Openweight Championship from Hirooki Goto and in his first title defense he will put that title on the line against the former IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Will Ospreay.
Below is the confirmed match card for Wrestle Kingdom 13:
#1. Pre Show #1 Contenders for the Never Six-Man Tag Titles Gauntlet Match
TBD
#2. Never Openweight Championship
Kota Ibushi (c) vs Will Ospreay
#3. IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championships
Suzuki Gun (El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru) (c) vs Roppongi 3K vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi and Bushi)
#4. RevPro British Heavyweight Championship
Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs Zack Sabre Jr.
#5. IWGP Tag Team Championships
Guerillas of Destiny (c) vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Sanada and Evil) vs The Young Bucks
#6. IWGP United States Championship
Cody (c) vs Juice Robinson
#7. IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship
Kushida (c) vs Taiji Ishimori
#8. Special Singles Match
Kazuchika Okada vs Jay White
#9. IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito
#10. IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Kenny Omega (c) vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
What's next?
Wrestle Kingdom 13 takes place on the 4th of January at the Tokyo Dome and by the looks of it, the fans of Pro Wrestling are in for yet another treat courtesy of NJPW.