It is the most wonderful time of the year. It is time again for Wrestle Kingdom as we preview NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19! The biggest show of the New Japan Pro Wrestling year is back on its traditional January 4th date.
And it will be followed by a huge Wrestle Dynasty show on January 5th! For Wrestle Kingdom, we have stars from New Japan, Stardom and AEW competing on Saturday night.
It will be great to see some of the best wrestlers in the world in front of a large, appreciative Tokyo Dome crowd yet again.
The Wrestle Kingdom 19 card is a truly stacked card that has been built well over 2024. The main card will have nine matches, eight titles on the line, and a special match that could lead to the retirement of one of the all-time greats!
It will be wonderful to see New Japan begin what should be a wonderful 2025. Here is the preview of Wrestle Kingdom 19:
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
KOPW 2025 New Japan Ranbo
The always enjoyable battle royal will open Wrestle Kingdom. We usually get some surprising returns and New Japan legends making appearances during this fun match. But this year’s match will be a little different than the past few years.
The KOPW championship contenders were usually determined in the Ranbo. But Great-O-Khan retired from the championship at the end of last year.
Instead, he wanted the winner of the Ranbo to get a future title shot for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The stakes are certainly higher in the Ranbo in 2025.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Tokyo Terror Ladder Match:
Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight and Kushida) (c) vs. Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita) vs. Catch 2/2 (TJP and Francesco Akira) vs. Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney)
It is the first-ever ladder match at the Tokyo Dome, and it is a huge one. The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship will be on the line in this dangerous match, which will involve eight determined wrestlers.
Kevin Knight and Kushida are the current champions, having won the titles at King of Pro Wrestling in October.
However, they lost to TJP and Francesco Akira in the Super Junior Tag League and want a rematch. Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita won the Super Tag League itself, giving them an opportunity for the titles as well.
But the team the Knight and Kushida originally defeated for the titles, Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney want their rematch as well.
The Bullet Club War Dogs forced themselves into the match at Wrestle Kingdom. With four tag teams all with legitimate claims to the title, it could be a brutal, opening match at Wrestle Kingdom.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
IWGP Women’s Championship:
Maya Iwatani (c) vs. AZM
Maya Iwatani has held the IWGP Women’s Championship for over twenty months now. In that time, she has defended the title eight times against the likes of Stephanie Vaquer, Momo Watanabe and Toni Storm over his impressive reign. And now she gets her first singles match at the Tokyo Dome.
Her opponent for this historic match is AZM. AZM was considered a child prodigy when she joined the Stardom in 2013.
Now at the age of 22, AZM is one of the best wrestlers in the world. She even defeated Iwatani in 2024 in the Stardom 5 Star Grand Prix. Can AZM pull off the huge upset yet again on the biggest stage possible?
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
NJPW World Television Championship:
Ren Narita (c) vs. Jeff Cobb vs. Ryohei Oiwa vs. El Phantasmo
Ren Narita has quite the target on his back heading into the Tokyo Dome. The defending NJPW World Television Champion is not above using dirty tactics to hold onto his title. The House of Torture member won the title, through underhanded means, at King of Pro Wrestling in October.
The man who he defeated to win the title, Jeff Cobb, wants his title back. Additionally at Power Struggle, TMDK’s Ryohei Oiwa demanded a title shot as well at Wrestle Kingdom. A triple threat match was set for January 4th.
But another surprise was added on December 22nd. El Phantasmo, who had been battling cancer, returned to confront Ren Narita.
El Phantasmo had refused to join House of Torture this summer and was attacked after his refusal. Now he is back and the NJPW World Television Championship match is a Four Way Match. Can Narita survive the insurmountable odds yet again?
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
Lumberjack Match:
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. EVIL
New Japan fans were getting pretty sick of the House of Torture’s constant interference in matches. NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi held a press conference and vowed to take care of it. This didn’t set well with House of Torture leader EVIL.
At Tanahashi’s 25th Anniversary match in October, he announced would retire at Wrestle Kingdom 20 on January 4, 2026. At least that is what he planned to do until EVIL attacked him after this announcement and vowed to retire him early.
After many violent attacks and some taunting, Tanahashi snapped and attacked EVIL at World Tag League finals with a chair. He challenged EVIL to a Lumberjack match at Wrestle Kingdom 19.
If EVIL wins, Tanahashi will retire from in-ring competition a year earlier than planned. Is this the end of the legendary career of “The Ace”?
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
Winner Takes All match for the NEVER Openweight Championship and AEW International Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) (Openweight) vs. Konosuke Takeshita (c) (International)
AEW’s Konosuke Takeshita had an impressive 2024. He won the AEW International Championship at WrestleDream in October and has defended it four times.
He even entered his first G1 Climax this summer earning ten points and making it to the quarterfinals of the tournament. What will he do for an encore in 2025?
At Fighting Spirit Unleashed, Takeshita issued a challenge for Shingo Takagi’s NEVER Openweight Championship.
Since he has held onto his AEW International Championship, it will be Winner Takes All in the Tokyo Dome. It will be some high stakes between two of the best wrestlers in the world.
And what is the reward for the winner on January 4th? The winner will have to defend both titles against a rested Tomohiro Ishii the very next night at Wrestle Dynasty. It is some reward indeed.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship:
Douki (c) vs. El Desperado
It was quite the breakthrough year for Douki in 2024. In February, Douki pulled off a huge upset over Junior Heavyweight legend Hiromu Takahashi.
He continued his impressive streak by making the semifinals of the Best of the Super Juniors. But he lost to El Desperado. It made Douki’s record against El Desperado 0-4.
At June’s New Japan Soul, Douki finally defeated El Desperado and won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship for the very first time. He proved it was no fluke and has defended the title four times since winning it in July.
Enter El Desperado. Returning from an injury, he challenged Douki to a rematch at Wrestle Kingdom. Can the former 4-time champion regain the championship on January 4th? Or will Douki’s amazing run continue into 2025? It could be a show stealer in the Tokyo Dome.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship:
David Finlay (c) vs. Yota Tsuji
It was a great year in 2024 for David Finlay. He originally won the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 18 over Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley.
Now in his second title reign, the leader of the War Dogs has defended the title four times against some of the best New Japan has to offer.
But Finlay has a thorn in his side, Yota Tsuji. Yota defeated Finlay twice in last year’s G1 Climax. This includes the semifinals, where Tsuj knocked Finlay out of the tournament.
This did not sit too well with Finlay, and he challenged Yota to a title match at Wrestle Kingdom.
David Finlay wants to defeat Tsuji once and for all at the biggest stage possible. Can the leader of the War Dogs eliminate his one weakness of 2024? Or will the talented Tsuji win his first singles title on the biggest stage possible? It will be fun to find out.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
Tetsuya Naito vs. Hiromu Takahashi
It is a match over fifteen years in the making. The two members of Los Ingobernables de Japon have been in their legendary group together since 2016.
And their friendship goes back to the early 2010s when Naito took Young Lion Takahashi under his wings.
It seems they would finally have a singles match against each other in 2020 when Naito was the IWGP Heavyweight Champion and Takahashi was the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
They would have finally faced off against each other at the NJPW Anniversary show. But the Pandemic derailed those plans.
At this year’s World Tag League, Naito and Takahashi won for the very first time. But that wasn’t enough for Naito.
He took the opportunity to challenge his long-time friend to a dream singles match at Wrestle Kingdom. Who will win this epic match in the Tokyo Dome?
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship:
Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Shota Umino
The breakthrough that Zack Sabre Jr. wanted finally happened in 2024. He finally won the G1 Climax tournament in his eighth attempt.
He did not want to wait for his title shot at Wrestle Kingdom, so he challenged Tetsuya Naito for the World Heavyweight Championship at King of Pro Wrestling. Sabre Jr., the twenty-year veteran, finally won the title this past October.
Zack Sabre Jr. looks to become the first non-Japanese wrestler to win the main event at Wrestle Kingdom. He will face a surprising opponent in the main event, the 27-year-old Shota Umino. Umino will be the youngest wrestler since Okada to ever main event in the Tokyo Dome.
Shota Umino defeated Zack Sabre Jr. in last year’s G1 Climax. It was his biggest victory to date. Can Umino shock the world again on January 4th? If he does, he will leave the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion.
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