NJPW News: Wrestle Kingdom 12 full match card announced
What's the story?
New Japan Pro Wrestling earlier today confirmed the full match card for next year's Wrestle Kingdom 12 show, which takes place at the Tokyo Dome.
Eight Title matches have now been confirmed to take place on the show, along with one special singles match and the traditional New Japan Rumble as well.
In case you didn't know...
Wrestle Kingdom is NJPW's biggest annual event, which is considered as the Japanese Wrestlemania and is also labelled as"the largest wrestling show in the world outside of the United States."
The event has been a real success ever since its inception and over the past few years NJPW has put up some of the greatest Pro Wrestling matches during their official January 4 show. The New Japan fans have also witnessed the likes of Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kurt Angle, Shinsuke Nakamura, Naomichi Marufuji, AJ Styles, Finn Balor (Then known as Prince Devitt), Kenny Omega and many more wrestle at the show.
The heart of the matter
The Wrestle Kingdom 12 show will be headlined by reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada who is all set to defend his championship belt against the winner of the G1 Climax 2017, Tetsuya Naito.
The co-main event will also feature two of the biggest stars in the current Pro Wrestling world as Bullet Club leader Kenny Omega defends his IWGP US Title against the returning Chris Jericho, in a No Disqualification match.
The prestigious IWGP Intercontinental Championship will also be up for grabs as Hiroshi Tanahashi gets set to defend the title against Jay White, who made his return to NJPW earlier this year.
In addition, Bullet Club member Cody Rhodes was also scheduled to defend his Ring of Honor World Championship during the event against Kota Ibushi, but that match has now been rescheduled as a Special Singles Match due to Cody losing the championship to Dalton Castle at this year's Final Battle PPV.
Other than that, the IWGP Tag Team Titles, the Junior Tag Team Titles, the Junior Heavyweight Championship and the Never Openweight Championship will also be defended at The Dome, come January 4. Here is the full match-card for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 12 show:
#1 New Japan Rumble:
As usual, NJPW will contest the traditional New Japan Rumble at the Tokyo Dome but, none of the competitors' name has been revealed yet.
#2 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship:
Roppongi 3K (Sho and Yoh) (c) vs The Young Bucks (Matt and Nick Jackson)
#3 Gauntlet match for the Never Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship:
Bullet Club (Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, and Bad Luck Fale) (c) vs Chaos (Beretta, Tomohiro Ishii, and Toru Yano) vs Suzuki Gun (Taichi, Takashi Iizuka, and Zack Sabre Jr.) vs Taguchi Japan (Juice Robinson, Togi Makabe, and Ryusuke Taguchi) vs Michael Elgin, Raymond Rowe and Hanson
#4 Special Singles Match:
Cody (With Brandi Rhodes) vs Kota Ibushi
#5 IWGP Tag Team Championship:
Killer Elite Squad (Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Hoyt) (c) vs Los Ingobernables de Japon (Evil and Sanada)
#6 Hair vs Hair and no seconds deathmatch for the Never Openweight Championship:
Minoru Suzuki (c) vs Hirooki Goto
#7 IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship:
Marty Scurll (c) vs Hiromu Takahashi vs Kushida vs Will Ospreay
#8 IWGP Intercontinental Championship:
Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs Jay White
#9 No Disqualification match for the IWGP United States Championship:
Kenny Omega (c) vs Chris Jericho
#10 IWGP Heavyweight Championship:
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs Tetsuya Naito
What's next?
Wrestle Kingdom 12 will take place on January 4, 2018, at the Tokyo Dome. The show can be watched live on NJPW's official website.
Author's Take
Wrestle Kingdom 12 promises to be an absolutely stellar show and could potentially turn out to be the best Wrestle Kingdom event in the NJPW history.