When it was announced that Wrestle Kingdom 16 would take place over the course of three nights, some eyebrows were raised. The two night Wrestle Kingdom is nothing new – having been done the past two years to fine success, but what was NJPW playing at, adding a third night? We would start to see matches added to the January 4th & 5th events, namely their main events, but nothing for the third night on January 8th. However, we now know the plans for Yokohama Stadium, as NJPW will clash with Pro Wrestling NOAH on that night.
NJPW & NOAH Clash On January 8th
Announced during a joint press conference held by Abema, Pro Wrestling NOAH will meet New Japan Pro Wrestling on January 8th. The show will be a Abema pay-per-view, with English commentary not set to be available until one week later on NJPW World and Wrestle Universe.
This is the first time these companies have worked together in several years, with NOAH having lent some talent for a G1 Climax in 2016. This mainly led to Naomichi Marufuji challenging Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Championship later that same year. Announced names for this event include NJPW’s Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shingo Takagi and NOAH’s Kaito Kiyomiya, Keiji Muto and Katsuhiko Nakajima.
The president of NJPW would say the following about this show during the reveal press conference.
“The match card is yet to be announced. NJPW and NOAH wrestlers have their own histories and backgrounds. It’s up to them whether they want to face off, or even join together… This is a rare opportunity, and it would be a somewhat of a waste not to have the two companies face off across the whole card.”
No Matches Announced, But Endless Possibilities For An Unforgettable Card
While no matches have been formally announced, some have been brewing for quite some time. NOAH’s rising ace Kaito Kiyomiya has been vocal about wanting to wrestling Kazuchika for quite some time now, which is a match that fans would gladly accept.
There are countless potential matches for the legendary Keiji Mutoh, who is one of the legends of NJPW who just happens to be working NOAH these days. We could potentially see him lock up again with Hiroshi Tanahashi, running back the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 2.
Meanwhile, Will Ospreay & Naomichi Marufuij are teasing a matchup on Twitter, which would see two innovators of their generations meet for the first time. Hell, we could even instead see KENTA defend the IWGP United States Championship against his old partner and rival at the event. The options are endless. Thsese are just big singles matches. Add in some heated multiman tags, junior heavyweight action and more? Suddenly you have a show that could steal the year.
What matches do you hope to see on January 8th? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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