Wrestle Kingdom 15 Day 1 2021-01-04

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Event
Wrestle Kingdom 15 Day 1

Date
Mon 4th January 2021 (UTC)
Mon 4th January 2021 (Local)

Timestamp

Time

07:00:00 UTC (16:00:00 Local)

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League
NJPW

Season
2021

Round
1

Status

Location
Tokyo Dome

Video Highlights

Play on YouTube

Description

Wrestle Kingdom 15 in Tokyo Dome is an upcoming professional wrestling event produced by New Japan Pro-Wrestling . The event will take place over two nights, on January 4 and 5, 2021 at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan. It will be the 30th January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the 15th promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name.

Background:
The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show is NJPW's biggest annual event and has been called "the largest professional wrestling show in the world outside of the United States" and the "Japanese equivalent to the Super Bowl". The show has been promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name since 2007. NJPW announced Wrestle Kingdom 15 for January 4 and 5, 2021 on October 18, 2020, during the G1 Climax 30 finals. This will be the second time that Wrestle Kingdom will take place over two nights. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wrestle Kingdom 15 will have a limited attendance capacity of 20,000 for both nights. On December 20, NJPW's sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom announced that they will host a match on the January 5 event.On October 18, 2020, Kota Ibushi won the G1 Climax 30 by defeating Sanada in the finals, entitling him to match for both the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 15. Ibushi unsuccessfully defended his Right to Challenge contract at Power Struggle on November 7, losing the contract to Jay White. On November 8, Naito announced that he will be defending the titles against both Ibushi and White on the two nights, Ibushi on night 1 and White on night 2. On October 16, 2020, Will Ospreay defeated Kazuchika Okada in their A Block G1 Climax match, after interference from Bea Priestley and the returning young lion Tomoyuki Oka who was on excursion at Revolution Pro Wrestling, performing under the ring name Great O-Khan. After the match Ospreay turned heel when he attacked Okada, in the post-match interview Ospreay announced he left Chaos and formed a new stable, later called The Empire. At Power Struggle, Okada defeated Great O-Khan; after the match, Ospreay challenged Okada to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 15 which Okada accepted. On December 11, Hiromu Takahashi defeated El Desperado to win the Best of the Super Juniors tournament, after the match Takahashi said he wants to face the Super J-Cup winner before facing the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. On December 12, El Phantasmo won the Super J-Cup by defeating ACH and accepted Takahashi's challenge. NJPW announced that Takahashi and El Phantasmo will face each other on night 1 at Wrestle Kingdom 15 with the winner facing Taiji Ishimori on night 2 for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship.

Main Card:
Singles Match / IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championship / Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
Singles Match / Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
Singles Match / Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan
Singles Match / IWGP United States Championship Contendership / Kenta (#1 Contender) vs. Satoshi Kojima
Tag Team Match / IWGP Tag Team Championship / Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa
Singles Match / IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Contendership / Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo

Preliminary Card:
Battle Royal / KOPW 2021 Contendership / 22-Man Battle Royal