The IWGP World Heavyweight Title will be up for grabs at NJPW’s upcoming Battle in the Valley PPV event.
In case you missed it, NJPW held a NJPW World special event in the form of ‘The New Beginning in Japan’ earlier this morning (2/11/23). During the show’s main event, IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada successfully defended his title against Shingo Takagi.
Following Okada’s victory, Okada called out Hiroshi Tanahashi, who came down to the ring and accepted Okada’s challenge for a title match at the company’s upcoming United States-based Battle in the Valley PPV event. Earlier in the event, Tanahashi claimed victory over Kenta in singles action, which apparently caught the eye of the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
NJPW Battle in the Valley Updated Card
- Kazuchika Okada (C) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi — IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
- KAIRI (C) vs. Mercedes Monè — IWGP Women’s Championship
- Fred Rosser (C) vs. Kentha — NJPW Strong Openweight Championship
- Zack Sabre Jr. (C) vs. Clark Connors — NJPW World Television Championship
- Motor City Machine Guns (C) vs. World Class Wrecking Crew — NJPW Strong Tag Team Championship
- Josh Alexander, Mascara Dorado, Rocky Romero, and Adrian Quest vs. KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight, Volador Jr., and The DKC
- Tom Lawlor vs. Homicide — ‘Filthy’ Rules Match
- Eddie Kingston vs. Jay White
- Bobby Fish vs. David Finlay *Pre-show Match*
- Alex Coughlin vs. J.R. Kratos *Pre-show Match*
Battle in the Valley takes place on Saturday, February 18 from the San Jose Civic Center in San Jose, California. In addition to the newly announced IWGP World Heavyweight Title match between Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi, the show will be headlined by the NJPW in-ring debut of the former Sasha Banks, who challenges fellow-former WWE star KAIRI for the IWGP Women’s Championship.
SEScoops’ report on The New Beginning in Japan can be found by clicking here.
