With Power Struggle in the rear view window, we’re officially on our way to NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 13 event next January.
Granted, there’s still the World Tag League and Road To Tokyo Dome shows on the horizon, but that hasn’t stopped New Japan from hyping up their January showcase. NJPW took to NJPW1972.com earlier to day in order to announce a slew of new matches.
Joining the already established main event of Kenny Omega vs Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship are the following matchups:
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match
Suzuki-Gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado) (c) vs Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) vs Los Ingoberables de Japon (BUSHI & Shingo Takagi)
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
KUSHIDA (c) vs Taiji Ishimori
“The Rainmaker” Kuzuchika Okada vs “Switchblade” Jay White
IWGP Intercontinental Championship Match
Chris Jericho (c) vs Tetsuya Naito
A Battle Of Beliefs
Many of these feuds have only just been developed in recent months, particularly in the wake of both King Of Pro Wrestling and Power Struggle, and it will be interesting to see how each rivalry develops between now and January.
Either way, Wrestle Kingdom 13 is beginning to look like a genuinely stacked card that has a lot on the line across the board — including a clash of core ideologies between “The Best Bout Machine” Omega and “The Ace” Tanahashi that is indicative of the struggles between NJPW staying true to its Japanese ‘Strong Style’ roots versus changing in order to appeal to a broader, Western audience.
With this kind of card to look forward to, January can’t come fast enough for NJPW fans.
Are you counting down the days until Wrestle Kingdom? Which match are you looking forward to the most?
