In 2022, New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is running their biggest Wrestle Kingdom yet. For the past few years, it’s been a two night event – but now it’s grown to three nights. January 4th & 5th are what fans have come to expect from the event, and on January 8th it will be NJPW vs. Pro Wrestling NOAH. However, the talent available for these cards just severely shrunk in size – as COVID-19 once again shuts down the borders of Japan.
Japan Locks Down It’s Borders Once Again
Right now, the new Omnicron variant of COVID-19 has some people very concerned. Reports are still fresh as this variant has only just popped up, but they claim it as being able to bypass the current vaccines. Responses from various countries has varied, but Japan went right back into locking down their borders in order to keep their population as safe as possible. In a report from Japan Times, the following would be stated.
“Japan plans to effectively close borders to new entries of foreign nationals, including business travelers, foreign students and foreign interns, government sources said Monday, as fears of the new variant grow. The envisioned plan reportedly does not affect foreign residents re-entering Japan and Japanese nationals.”
This will directly impact many companies who do business in Japan of course, but here we’re focused on New Japan Pro Wrestling. Right now, some of their biggest stars took a quick trip to the United States while World Tag League & Best of The Super Juniors take place in Japan. Big names from NJPW who were recently in the United States include Jeff Cobb, Tomohiro Ishii, Jay White, Kazuchika Okada & Will Ospreay. While Okada & Ishii are citizens of Japan and should have no issue returning, folks like White & Osprey might run into issues.
Will Ospreay Was Set To Main Event Night Two Of Wrestle Kingdom
Ospreay is the one with the most to lose however. Right now, he’s claiming to be the real IWGP World Heavyweight Champion, having been forced to vacate the championship after a neck injury. Due to this, he has called out whoever wins the Night One main event for a match the following night. This puts him in against either Kazuchika Okada or Shingo Takagi, both main event level matches for sure.
In addition, Osprey & Naomichi Marufuji have been teasing a match for January 8th, pitting the two innovators against each other for the first time ever. If Ospreay is unable to enter the country, then NJPW misses out on two huge matches. It’s possible that he will be able to get back in as he did properly move to Japan when he began to focus on NJPW.
Will Wrestle Kingdom be fine without the talent potentially stranded in the United States? Let us know what you think in the comment section down below.
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