NJPW reveals full card for King of Pro Wrestling.
King of Pro Wrestling was already a stacked card but it's getting even bigger. Already announced for the event is an IWGP Heavyweight Title bout between champion Kazuchika Okada and challenger SANADA, Jon Moxley defending the IWGP US Title against Juice Robinson, and El Phantasmo challenging Will Ospreay for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title.
Joining those three bouts will be Kota Ibushi putting his G1 Contract on the line against EVIL.
Another man with a G1 debt that needs repaying is SANADA’s Los Ingobernables De Japon teammate, EVIL. It was in Ota-ku in the early stages of the G1 that EVIL effectively took advantage of Kota Ibushi’s injured ankle, on the way to a surprisingly dominant victory. Ibushi would later credit his problematic ankle with the inspiration for a new strike based style that saw him to eventual G1 victory, but said that back in Ota, he hadn’t settled on his approach, costing him the match and two points.
After winning the G1, Ibushi was only too happy to grant rematches against the two men who beat him during the tournament. After a hard fought battle with KENTA in front of his home Kagoshima crowd saw Ibushi with hand raised, it was EVIL who emerged from the shadows to challenge the Golden Star next. Can EVIL act on his promise to shroud the Tokyo Dome main event in darkness? Or will the Golden Star pierce those dark skies?
Plus the war between Jushin Thunder Liger and Minoru Suzuki will be settled as the two legends collide in Ryogoku Sumo Hall.
In the fifth match of the evening, Jyushin Thunder Liger faces Minoru Suzuki in a long awaited singles match. This whole issue started almost six months ago, as Liger was celebrating his 30 year history under the world’s most famous mask. Suzuki would remind Liger of his dominant win in Pancrase back in 2002, as Liger was Suzuki’s last opponent in his fabled mixed martial arts career. Suzuki viciously attacked Liger, who demanded he face Suzuki in a one on one match under pro wrestling rules, rather than the all out fight Suzuki demanded.
During the Road to Destruction, Suzuki reignited his issues with Liger. Unprovoked, the self proclaimed King of Professional Wrestling attacked Liger while he was commentating ringside, and delivered a Gotch Style Piledriver onto a chair. Liger grew further incensed with Suzuki’s approach, declaring that Suzuki ‘had no place in a New Japan ring’. In Kagoshima, Suzuki would attack Liger after his match and forcibly remove his mask, declaring it represented the long since departed soul of the great Liger; it only sought to open Pandora’s Box.
On September 22 in Kobe, a six man tag team match was quickly cut short when Liger voluntarily unmasked himself to reveal the terrifying visage of Kishin Liger. Kishin Liger has been seen but rarely over the years; a total of three times in the past, starting when Liger had a blood feud with the Great Muta in 1996, and last seen in 2012 when he was unmasked by Taichi in a tag team battle. This time it seemed the ‘fierce god’ was even fiercer, as he charged at Suzuki with a pointed spike aimed right for his head; Suzuki avoided the steel which pierced a thick wooden table instead.
Suzuki has implied that he wanted to fight the feared Kishin, but perhaps even he does not understand what he has wrought. What will be the result of this carnage in Ryogoku?
Here's a look at the full lineup for King of Pro Wrestling.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. SANADAG1 Contract
Kota Ibushi (contract holder) vs. EVILIWGP United States Championship - No Disqualification
Jon Moxley (c) vs. Juice RobinsonIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Will Ospreay (c) vs. El PhantasmoJushin Thunder Liger vs. Minoru Suzuki
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jay White, KENTA & Yujiro Takahashi
Tetsuya Naito, Shingo Takagi & BUSHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr, Lance Archer & Taichi
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomoaki Honma vs. Togi Makabe & Toru Yano
Ryusuke Taguchi, SHO & YOH vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI, & El Desperado
