Power Struggle (2017)

Power Struggle (2017) is an upcoming professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event is scheduled to take place on November 5, 2017, in Osaka, Osaka, at the Edion Arena Osaka. It will be the seventh event under the Power Struggle name. So far four matches have been announced for the event, headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi defending the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Kota Ibushi.

Storylines
Power Struggle will feature professional wrestling matches that involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portray villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that build tension and culminate in a wrestling match or series of matches.

Power Struggle will be headlined by Hiroshi Tanahashi making his third defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Kota Ibushi. The match was set up during the 2017 G1 Climax, where Ibushi defeated Tanahashi on August 1 with his new finishing maneuver, the Kamigoye. Following the conclusion of the tournament, Tanahashi set out to avenge losses he had suffered during the tournament. After successfully defending his IWGP Intercontinental Championship on September 16 at Destruction in Hiroshima against Zack Sabre Jr., another wrestler who had defeated him, Tanahashi called out Kota Ibushi, offering him the next title opportunity. Ibushi accepted and the match was officially announced on October 10.

In the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match, Will Ospreay will make his first title defense against Marty Scurll. On October 9 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Ospreay ended a four-match losing streak against KUSHIDA and defeated him to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, becoming the first British to win the title. After the match, Hiromu Takahashi entered the ring to seemingly challenge Ospreay, but before he could do so, Marty Scurll came out, "snapped" Takahashi's fingers and made his own challenge to his compatriot Ospreay, which was accepted by the champion. The match was officially announced the following day. Ospreay and Scurll faced off during the 2017 Best of the Super Juniors tournament, where Scurll was victorious in his NJPW debut match.

The NEVER Openweight Championship will also be defended at Power Struggle with defending champion Minoru Suzuki making his fourth defense against challenger Toru Yano in a bullrope deathmatch. The two have been engaged in what has been called a "seemingly endless feud" since 2013, when Yano scored his first upset win over Suzuki in the 2013 New Japan Cup. Since then Yano has scored multiple wins over Suzuki with one long-term story involving Suzuki's inability to defeat his rival during NJPW's premier tournament, the G1 Climax. During the 2017 edition of the tournament, Yano again defeated Suzuki after tying him up with tape, which put him in line for a shot at Suzuki's NEVER Openweight Championship. At King of Pro-Wrestling, Suzuki teamed with his Suzuki-gun stablemate Zack Sabre Jr. to take on Yano and his CHAOS stablemate Hirooki Goto. After scoring a countout win over Suzuki, Yano took his rival's championship belt and fled the arena with it. Backstage, an irate Suzuki requested a bullrope deathmatch against Yano, which was officially announced the following day.

The event will also feature the finals of the 2017 Super Jr. Tag Tournament.

The event is also set to feature the debut of an individual dubbed "Switchblade", who has been featured in vignettes since the 2017 G1 Climax. The previous year, NJPW had done a similar deal with vignettes hyping "Time Bomb", who was revealed as Hiromu Takahashi at the 2016 Power Struggle.