Although not much is known about what the lineups are going to be for the upcoming Wrestle Kingdom shows in January 2020, a match between Chris Jericho and Hiroshi Tanahashi could be in the works.
According to a report from Sports Illustrated’s Justin Barrasso, both Jericho and Tanahashi are scheduled to wrestle each other at Wrestle Kingdom 14, taking place at the Tokyo Dome on January 4 and 5, 2020.
Although Jericho, the current AEW World Champion, is signed to AEW full-time, but the report stated that there is language in his contract that would allow him to compete in New Japan Pro Wrestling. Jon Moxley, the current IWGP United States Championship, has similar language in his AEW contract and is expected to also compete at Wrestle Kingdom 14.
Jericho has made a handful of appearances on NJPW since his return in 2017 when he challenged Kenny Omega to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 12 in 2018. Jericho would go on to lose that match for the IWGP United States Championship, but would later win the IWGP Intercontinental title later in the year by defeating Tetsuya Naito. Naito went on to win back the title this past January at Wrestle Kingdom 13.
After losing his Intercontinental title, Jericho unsuccessfully challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight title at the Dominion show back in June. After losing the match to Okada, Jericho attacked Okada, leading Tanahashi to run and make the save. Since then, Jericho has not appeared on NJPW television.
