New Japan Pro Wrestling’s biggest event of the year is only a few days away, taking place January 4th at Japan’s Tokyo Dome.
Over the past few months, fans have witnessed the card begin to take shape as feuds were developed and challenges made, leading to what has become a stacked card featuring some of the best performers New Japan has to offer.
It also appears the NJPW want to start as they mean to go once the event gets underway.
NJPW announcer, Chris Charlton, revealed via Twitter that Wrestle Kingdom 13 will begin with Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay. The two will be competing for Ibushi’s NEVER Openweight championship in a match that could steal the show — and that’s on a card featuring a number of matches that could do the exact same thing.
“#njwk13 ‘s main card starts with Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay. An insane match to start that event, but it’s just as much a. Statement of intent for the year as it is for WK13. It’s starting huge and only getting bigger.”
#njwk13 ‘s main card starts with Kota Ibushi vs Will Ospreay. An insane match to start that event, but it’s just as much a. Statement of intent for the year as it is for WK13. It’s starting huge and only getting bigger.
— chris charlton (@reasonjp) December 31, 2018
Describing it as a “statement of intent” couldn’t be more accurate. There’s no doubt that Ibushi and Ospreay will deliver something special and set the tone straight out the gate.
Wrestle Kingdom 13
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match: Kenny Omega (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
IWGP Intercontinental Title Match: Chris Jericho (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title Match: KUSHIDA (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori
IWGP United States Title Match: Cody (c) vs. Juice Robinson
IWGP Tag Team Title Match: Guerrillas of Destiny (c) vs. The Young Bucks vs. EVIL and SANADA
RevPro British Heavyweight Title Match: Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Title Match: Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado (c) vs. Roppongi 3K vs. BUSHI and Shingo Takagi
IWGP NEVER Openweight Title Match: Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will
Pre-Show
Gauntlet Match to determine #1 Contenders for NEVER Six-Man Titles:
Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, and Togi Makabe vs. David Finley, Jeff Cobb, and Yuji Nagata vs. Best Friends and Hirooki Goto vs. Killer Elite Squad and Minoru Suzuki vs. Marty Scurll, Adam Page, and Yujiro Takahashi