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Revision as of 20:40, 4 January 2017

Wrestle Kingdom 11 in Tokyo Dome is an upcoming professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW). The event is scheduled to take place on January 4, 2017, in Tokyo, Japan, at the Tokyo Dome. It will be the 26th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show, which is NJPW's biggest annual event and has been called "the largest wrestling show in the world outside of the United States".[3]

The event will feature eleven matches, eight of which will be contested for championships. In the main event, Kazuchika Okada defends the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against 2016 G1 Climax winner Kenny Omega. Other featured matches include Tetsuya Naito defending the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Hiroshi Tanahashi, Katsuyori Shibata defending the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hirooki Goto and Kushida defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Hiromu Takahashi. As part of a partnership between NJPW and the American Ring of Honor (ROH) promotion, the ROH World Championship will also be defended at the event with defending champion Kyle O'Reilly taking on Adam Cole.

Production

Storylines

Wrestle Kingdom 11 will feature eleven 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.[4]

Kenny Omega Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge right certificate

Kenny Omega holding the briefcase containing a contract for a shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 11

Wrestle Kingdom 11 will be main evented by Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kenny Omega.[5] Okada won the title on June 19, 2016, by defeating Tetsuya Naito at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall.[6] Meanwhile, Omega became the number one contender at the Tokyo Dome by winning the 2016 G1 Climax the following August, defeating Hirooki Goto in the finals to become the first foreign winner of NJPW's premier tournament.[7] Afterwards, Okada successfully defended the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Pro Wrestling Noah representative Naomichi Marufuji, avenging a loss suffered during the 2016 G1 Climax,[8] while Omega defended his status as the number one contender against Yoshi-Hashi and Hirooki Goto,[9][8] leading to the match between Okada and Omega being made official for the Tokyo Dome in a press conference on October 11.[5] This match marks Omega's first ever shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship as well as the first singles match between him and Okada.[5]

Wrestle Kingdom 11 will also feature a match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship, where Tetsuya Naito will defend against Hiroshi Tanahashi.[10] In January 2016, Shinsuke Nakamura was stripped of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship after he announced that he was leaving NJPW for WWE,[11] which led to Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kenny Omega being put up in a match to determine the new champion.[12] Omega went on to win the match on February 14 at The New Beginning in Niigata,[13] which led to a rematch being booked in ladder match on June 19 at Dominion 6.19 in Osaka-jo Hall.[14] However, before the match, Tanahashi suffered a legitimate shoulder injury and was forced to pull out, being replaced by Michael Elgin,[15] who went on to defeat Omega to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion.[6] Elgin then entered a storyline rivalry with Tetsuya Naito,[16] during which Naito was backed by his Los Ingobernables de Japon (L.I.J.) stable, while Elgin had the backing of Hiroshi Tanahashi, who had started his own rivalry with L.I.J. member Sanada, after losing to him during the 2016 G1 Climax.[17] On September 25 at Destruction in Kobe, Naito defeated Elgin for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in a match that featured outside interference from the entire L.I.J. as well as Tanahashi.[18] A rematch was booked between the two for the November 5 Power Struggle event, but Elgin was forced to pull out of the match after suffering an eye injury.[19] Naito instead went on to defeat Ring of Honor (ROH) wrestler Jay Lethal to retain the title. Following the match, Tanahashi, who had defeated Sanada earlier in the event, confronted Naito, challenging him to a title match at the Tokyo Dome, which Naito accepted.[20] The match is set to break Tanahashi's seven-year streak of Tokyo Dome main events, although Naito did bring up the possibility of NJPW setting up a fan vote to decide whether the Intercontinental or Heavyweight Championship match would main event the show. This harked back to the 2014 Wrestle Kingdom 8 event, where Naito and Kazuchika Okada's IWGP Heavyweight Championship match lost the main event spot to Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura's IWGP Intercontinental Championship match, following a fan vote. Naito, however, claimed that he was against a fan vote, stating that he had always felt that the Heavyweight Championship should main event the Tokyo Dome and him being the Intercontinental Champion had not changed his mind.[21][22] Naito has yet to win a singles match in the Tokyo Dome, having lost all five of his previous matches.[23]

Hiromu Takahashi

Hiromu Takahashi, who will challenge for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 11

Another title match will see KUSHIDA defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Hiromu Takahashi.[10] This match was set up at Power Struggle on November 5, when, after KUSHIDA had defeated BUSHI to regain the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, he was confronted by the returning Takahashi, who challenged him to a title match. Takahashi was revealed as the surprise "time bomb", NJPW had promoted for the past months.[24] Takahashi made his debut in August 2010 and wrestled on NJPW undercards until June 2013, when he was sent on an indefinite overseas learning excursion, originally to the United Kingdom and eventually to Mexico and the Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) promotion, where he adopted a mask and the ring name "Kamaitachi".[10][25] Takahashi, as Kamaitachi, returned to Japan on January 24, 2016, wrestling Dragon Lee for the CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship at the NJPW and CMLL co-produced Fantastica Mania 2016 event.[10] Following the event, Takahashi returned to CMLL, where he remained until the following April, after which he began wrestling in the United States.[26] During his Power Struggle return, Takahashi was once again promoted under his real name and not as Kamaitachi.[24] On December 10, Takahashi attacked Kushida during a tag team match and afterwards joined Los Ingobernables de Japon.[27][28]

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship will also be defended at Wrestle Kingdom 11 with The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) defending against Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero).[10] Roppongi Vice earned the shot at the title by winning the 2016 Super Jr. Tag Tournament on November 5 at Power Struggle. Despite entering the tournament in the midst of a storyline, where Beretta and Romero had begun showing signs of dissension,[8][29] the two went on to defeat ACH and Taiji Ishimori in the finals to win the tournament and immediately afterwards challenged The Young Bucks to a title match at the Tokyo Dome,[24] which was made official two days later.[10]

The rest of the matches for Wrestle Kingdom 11 were announced on December 12, following the conclusion of the 2016 World Tag League.[30] On December 10, G.B.H. (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) defeated reigning IWGP Tag Team Champions Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa) in the finals to win their second consecutive World Tag League. This marked the first time in 22 years that NJPW's top tag team tournament had been won by the same team in two consecutive years. Hiroshi Hase and Keiji Mutoh had won the tournament in 1993 and 1994, when it was known as the Super Grade Tag League.[31] Following the win, G.B.H. challenged Guerrillas of Destiny to a rematch for the IWGP Tag Team Championship,[27][31] which was made official two days later.[30] Earlier in 2016, the two teams had met in two matches for the IWGP Tag Team Championship, which were both won by Guerrillas of Destiny; first on April 10 at Invasion Attack 2016, where they captured the IWGP Tag Team Championship and again on May 3 at Wrestling Dontaku 2016, where they successfully defended the title.[32][33] On December 16, Toru Yano returned to NJPW from a stay in Pro Wrestling NOAH, requesting to be added to the IWGP Tag Team Championship match with Tomohiro Ishii as his partner, despite the fact that Ishii had already been booked for another match at Wrestle Kingdom 11. The following day, Yano and Ishii attacked both G.B.H. and the Guerrillas of Destiny, stealing the latter's IWGP Tag Team Championship belts.[34] On December 19, Yano and Ishii were officially added to the IWGP Tag Team Championship match at Wrestle Kingdom 11, turning it into a three-way.

Shibatanever2

Katsuyori Shibata, who defends the NEVER Openweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 11

The NEVER Openweight Championship will also be defended at Wrestle Kingdom 11 with defending champion Katsuyori Shibata taking on Hirooki Goto.[30] Shibata and Goto were high school classmates, who started a storyline rivalry against each other following Shibata's September 2012 return to NJPW.[35] The rivalry lasted until January 2014, when the two came together to form a tag team, eventually winning both the 2014 World Tag League and the IWGP Tag Team Championship.[36][37] The team disbanded in March 2016, when Goto joined the CHAOS stable.[38] Shibata and Goto did not face each other until the 2016 World Tag League, where, on December 5, Shibata and his tag team partner Yuji Nagata defeated Goto and Tomohiro Ishii with Shibata pinning Goto for the win.[38] Five days later, Goto avenged the loss by pinning Shibata in a non-tournament tag team match and afterwards made a challenge for Shibata's NEVER Openweight Championship.[27][39] The match was made official two days later.[30]

On December 10, during the final day of the 2016 World Tag League, Los Ingobernables de Japon members BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA defeated Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Yuji Nagata in a six-man tag team match with EVIL pinning Kojima, one third of the reigning NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions, for the win.[27] Following the win, Bushi called out Kojima as well as his championship partners David Finlay and Ricochet.[40] Two days later, NJPW announced that at Wrestle Kingdom 11 Finlay, Ricochet and Kojima would defend the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship not only against the L.I.J. trio, but also against the Bullet Club trio of Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi and the CHAOS trio of Tomohiro Ishii, Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi in a four-team gauntlet match.[30] On December 19, after Tomohiro Ishii was moved to the IWGP Tag Team Championship match, his spot in the CHAOS team was taken over by Jado.

Other matches at Wrestle Kingdom 11 include the debuting Cody taking on Juice Robinson, Tiger Mask W making his second appearance following October's King of Pro-Wrestling, and Kyle O'Reilly defending the ROH World Championship against Adam Cole in a rematch from ROH's Final Battle event on December 2, 2016, where O'Reilly defeated Cole to become the new champion.[30][41]

Matches

# Matches[30][42] Stipulations
1P Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Jushin Thunder Liger vs. Manabu Nakanishi vs. Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Tiger Mask vs. Yuji Nagata vs. surprise entrants New Japan Rumble
2 Tiger Mask W vs. Tiger the Dark Singles match
3 The Young Bucks (Matt Jackson and Nick Jackson) (c) vs. Roppongi Vice (Beretta and Rocky Romero) Tag team match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
4 David Finlay, Ricochet and Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi) vs. CHAOS (Jado, Will Ospreay and Yoshi-Hashi) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japón (BUSHI, EVIL and SANADA) Gauntlet match for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
5 Cody vs. Juice Robinson Singles match
6 Kyle O'Reilly (c) vs. Adam Cole Singles match for the ROH World Championship
7 Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Roa) (c) vs. G.B.H. (Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma) vs. CHAOS (Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii) Tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship
8 KUSHIDA (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
9 Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Hirooki Goto Singles match for the NEVER Openweight Championship
10 Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi Singles match for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship
11 Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega Singles match for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • Videoicon – refers to the video of that match
  • P – indicates the match will take place on the pre-show

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wrestle Kingdom 11 Theme Song - "Get Ready" by Cypress Ueno and Roberto Yoshino . New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-11-14). Retrieved on 2016-11-14.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named WrestleKingdom11
  3. ↑ GFW News: New Japan Pro Wrestling "Wrestle Kingdom 9" press conference details . Pro Wrestling Dot Net (2014-12-23). Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  4. ↑ Grabianowski, Ed. How Pro Wrestling Works . HowStuffWorks, Inc.. Discovery Communications. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 ja: 【WK11】東京ドーム第1弾カード決定！ケニーは「俺が新しい“伝説”を創る」と宣言！オカダは「ドームのメインはそんなに甘くない」と一刀両断!!【10.11会見】 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-10-11). Archived from the original on 2016-11-07. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Meltzer, Dave 2016-06-18. NJPW Dominion live results: Tetsuya Naito vs Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP HW Championship . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  7. ↑ ja:【新日Ｇ１】初出場初優勝！ケニー・オメガが史上初の外国人覇者に (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-08-15). Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Rose, Bryan 2016-10-09. NJPW King of Pro Wrestling live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Naomichi Marufuji . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  9. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-09-22. NJPW Destruction in Hiroshima results: Kenny Omega defends his title shot . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 ja: 【1.4東京ドーム第2弾カード決定！】 内藤vs棚橋のIC戦、KushidavsヒロムのIWGP Jr.戦、ヤングバックスvsロッポンギのIWGP Jr.タッグ戦が正式決定！ (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-11-07). Archived from the original on 2016-11-07. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  11. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-01-12. New Japan strips Shinsuke Nakamura of the Intercontinental Title . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  12. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-01-30. NJPW Road to New Beginning report: Nakamura bids farewell to New Japan . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  13. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-02-13. NJPW New Beginnings: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs Kenny Omega for the IWGP IC Title . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  14. ↑ ja:【レスリングどんたく】ケニー・オメガ　棚橋とラダーマッチで激突へ (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-05-04). Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  15. ↑ Caldwell, James 2016-06-03. Big change to New Japan’s “Dominion” PPV – Tanahashi out due to injury, ROH star replacing in first-ever NJPW ladder match . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  16. ↑ ja:新日・内藤 エルガンの指名受諾！ＩＣ王座に照準 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-08-19). Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  17. ↑ ja:【新日プロ】Sanada　棚橋追放予告「ドームはファンサービス要員で来い」 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-08-19). Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  18. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-09-25. NJPW Destruction in Kobe results: Elgin defends his title against Naito . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  19. ↑ Currier, Joseph 2016-10-13. Michael Elgin out of NJPW Power Struggle main event due to injury . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  20. ↑ ja:【新日本】ＩＣ王者・内藤　１・４東京ドームで棚橋と激突へ「トランキーロ！　あっせんなよ」 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-11-06). Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  21. ↑ ja:【新日本】内藤が因縁の“ファン投票問題”で注目発言 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-11-07). Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  22. ↑ ja: 【WK16】IC王者・内藤、なんと“ファン投票”を真っ向否定！ 挑戦者・棚橋は回答を“保留”したが…!!【1.4東京ドーム会見】 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-11-07). Archived from the original on 2016-11-07. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  23. ↑ ja:【新日本】内藤の正論攻勢に棚橋“惨敗” (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-11-08). Retrieved on 2016-11-08.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Rose, Bryan 2016-11-04. NJPW Power Struggle live results: Tetsuya Naito vs. Jay Lethal . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  25. ↑ ja:高橋 広夢 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Archived from the original on 2015-12-24. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  26. ↑ Meltzer, Dave (May 2, 2016). "May 2, 2016 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: Death of Chyna, new UFC 200 main event, plus tons of news". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 42. ISSN 1083-9593. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 NJPW World Tag League finals live results: The winners are crowned . Wrestling Observer Newsletter (2016-12-09). Retrieved on 2016-12-10.
  28. ↑ ja:【新日本】Kushidaに挑戦のヒロムがLIJ軍入り (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-12-12). Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  29. ↑ ja: 【今週末より！『Jr.Tag』トーナメント開幕！】10月21日（金）後楽園で、石森＆ACHvsヤングバックス！リコシェ組vsオスプレイ組！田口＆フエゴ組！【PS16 】 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-10-11). Archived from the original on 2016-10-11. Retrieved on 2016-11-07.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 30.3 30.4 30.5 30.6 ja:【1.4東京ドーム・全カード決定！】柴田vs後藤！タマ＆タンガvs真壁＆本間！オライリーvsコール！Codyはジュースと激突！タイガーマスクWは第1試合に出陣！【WK11】 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling (2016-12-12). Archived from the original on 2016-12-12. Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 ja:【新日】真壁＆本間がタッグリーグ連覇　１・４ドームでＩＷＧＰタッグ王座挑戦へ (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-12-11). Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  32. ↑ Meltzer, Dave 2016-04-09. NJPW Invasion Attack live results: Kazuchika Okada vs. Tetsuya Naito for the IWGP Championship . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  33. ↑ Rose, Bryan 2016-05-03. NJPW Wrestling Dontaku results: Super Juniors lineups; IWGP champ Naito vs. Ishii . Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  34. ↑ ja:戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents Road to Tokyo Dome (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-12-17.
  35. ↑ ja:柴田１・４洋央紀倒しタイトル戦線殴りこむ (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2013-12-16). Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  36. ↑ Macklin, Matthew 2014-12-30. Previewing this weekend's New Japan WrestleKingdom PPV . Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  37. ↑ Caldwell, James 2015-01-04. Caldwell's NJPW Tokyo Dome show results 1/4: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Wrestle Kingdom PPV – Tanahashi vs. Okada, Bullet Club, Nakamura, Jim Ross, more . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 ja:【新日本】同級生対決が新展開！柴田と洋央紀の遺恨再燃 (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-12-06). Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  39. ↑ ja:【新日】後藤洋央紀　１・４ドームでＮＥＶＥＲ王者・柴田に挑戦へ (in Japanese). Tokyo Sports (2016-12-11). Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  40. ↑ ja:戦国炎舞 -Kizna- Presents World Tag League 2016 (in Japanese). New Japan Pro Wrestling. Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  41. ↑ Keller, Wade 2016-12-02. Keller's ROH Final Battle 2016 PPV report 12/2: Cole vs. O’Reilly, Cody Rhodes vs. Lethal, Cabana vs. Dalton, Briscoes vs. Young Bucks . Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved on 2016-12-12.
  42. ↑ Johnson, Mike 2016-12-12. Complete lineup for New Japan Wrestle Kingdom 2017, ROH Final Battle main event rematch announced . Pro Wrestling Insider. Retrieved on 2016-12-12.

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