NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 kicks off 2024 with a bang and a stacked card.
The show boasts a huge line up featuring top stars from all over the world. The main event will see former Los Ingobernobles de Japon stablemates SANADA defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito.
Kazuchika Okada and Bryan Danielson face off in an eagerly awaited rematch. The two world class talents met for the very first time at Forbidden Door 2. The joint promotional PPV saw the American Dragon beat Okada via submission.
Will Ospreay, Jon Moxley and David Finlay meet in a three-way match to crown the new IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship and the new NJPW President, Hiroshi Tanahashi challenges Zack Sabre Jr for the World Television Championship.
The full card is as follows
- New Japan Ranbo – Winner will challenge for the Provisional KOPW 2024 Championship at New Year Dash!!
- Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney) (c) vs. Catch 2/2 (TJP and Francesco Akira) – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
- Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – World Television Championship
- Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
- Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya vs. House of Torture (Evil and Ren Narita)
- Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Tama Tonga – NEVER Openweight Championship
- Bishamon (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) (IWGP) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Hikuleo and El Phantasmo) (Strong Openweight) –Winners Takes All tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship and Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship
- Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. El Desperado – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
- Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay – Three-way match for the inaugural IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
- Sanada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito – IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
Let’s take a look at the matches and predict who will win at the Tokyo Dome.
Bullet Club War Dogs (c) vs. Catch 2/2 – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
The duo of TJP and Akira won the 2023 Super Junior Tag League tournament to get this title shot. The two teams have met previously and saw the Bullet Club War Dogs defeat Catch 2/2 for the titles. Since capturing the championships Conners and Moloney have successfully defended them 3 times against the likes of CHOAS and the Intergalactic Jet Setters.
Prediction: While TJP and Akira are a solid unit, Conners and Moloney are both angry and hungry enough to defeat them. Bullet Club War Dogs retain.
Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi – NJPW World Television Championship
The new President of NJPW, the legendary Hiroshi Tanahashi takes on Zack Sabre Jr. for the World TV Championship. The cocky Brit threw out the challenge to the Ace, who gladly accepted.
Prediction: Tanahashi and ZSJ are old enemies and clashed many times with both wrestlers exchanging wins over one another. But ZSJ holds the advantage as the inaugural TV champ and has successfully defended it 16 times. Zack Sabre Jr. retains.
Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
Two of the promotion’s most promising up-and-coming stars go head to head at the biggest show of the year.
Tsuji and Uemura have been rivals since their days as Young Lions and this is their first match since returning from excursion.
Prediction: Upon his return to NJPW Tsuji joined LIJ but has recently experienced several losses to Uemura’s Just 5 Guys faction meaning he is out to get revenge. Yota Tsuji wins.
Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya vs. House of Torture (Evil and Ren Narita)
Kaito Kiyomiya comes over from Pro Wrestling NOAH to team with Shota Umino as they look to get revenge on Ren Narita after he turned on Umino and joined Evil in House of Torture.
Predictions: This inter-promotional rivalry will see Kiyomiya and Umino take out the House of Torture. Shota Umino and Kaito Kiyomiya win.
Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Tama Tonga – NEVER Openweight Championship
Two of NJPW’s heaviest hitters will go blow-for-blow for the Never Openweight Championship. Both wrestlers are 3 time champions and are determined to prove who is the better and tougher in what promises to be an intense battle.
Prediction: This match will be chock full of stiff strikes, big moves and will see the Dragon victorious. Shingo Takagi retains.
Bishamon (IWGP) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Strong Openweight) –Winners Takes All tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship and Strong Openweight Tag Team Championship
This winner-take-all match sees Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi take on the Guerrillas of Destiny, Hikuleo and El Phantasmo. IWGP Tag Team Champions Bishamon became the 3-time winners of the World Tag League and therefore didn’t have an opponent for Wrestle Kingdom 18. The duo hand-picked the STRONG Tag Team Champions for a match with both titles on the line.
Prediction: Despite being a relatively new team Hikuleo and El Phantasmo have proven themselves to be a strong duo. Guerrillas of Destiny win.
Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. El Desperado – IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
The face of New Japan’s Junior Heavyweight division meets an old foe with his prized title on the line. The Ticking Time Bomb and his masked opponent have a lengthy history that has seen El Desperado beat Takahashi for the title back in 2021.
Prediction: At Wrestle Kingdom 18 Takahashi celebrates 365 days as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion and he will continue to do so with a win. Hiromu Takahashi retains.
Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay – IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
After David Finlay destroyed the IWGP US/UK title a new one was presented in its place and the inaugural champion will be crowned in a Triple Threat match.
Prediction: With Ospreay and Moxley both AEW talents and New Japan fully behind Finlay as the new Gaijin star it seems clear they will crown him as the new IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. David Finlay wins.
Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
Kazuchika Okada takes on Bryan Danielson in a highly-anticipated rematch. The two legendary wrestlers first clashed at Forbidden Door 2023 in a dream match that resulted in Okada being submitted by the American Dragon. Despite the high praise for the match it was unfortunately marred by Danielson breaking his arm mid way through the outing.
After another incident between them that left Danielson with a broken orbital bone, he challenged Okada to rematch in Japan.
Prediction: In their last two meetings, Danielson suffered some serious injuries, which the Rainmaker is planning to take advantage of. Despite his ailments, Danielson has shown throughout 2023 that he is more than capable of overcoming them and performing at his best in the ring. However, the Tokyo Dome has been Okada’s most successful arena, and he is poised to claim another victory to even the score between them at 1-1, setting the stage for a decisive third match. Kazuchika Okada wins.
Sanada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito – IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
SANADA defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against his former Los Ingobernobles de Japon stablemate Tetsuya Naito. Since leaving the faction SANADA went on to win the New Japan Cup and then beat Okada for the title while Naito triumphed in the G1 Climax to challenge his former protege.
Prediction: Despite holding the title for 9 months, the fans don’t seem to have accepted SANADA as champion. Naito is one of the promotion’s most popular talents, and one that many fans feel has never had a proper run as the top guy. Tetsuya Natio wins to become the IWGP World Heavyweight Champion for the first time.
You can watch Wrestle Kingdom 18 Iive and with English commentary via NJPW World on January 4 2024.
🇺🇸 Jan. 3rd 10:30pm PT / 11:30pm MT
🇺🇸 Jan. 4th 12:30am CT / 1:30am ET
🇬🇧 6:30am GMT
🇩🇪 7:30am MET
🇯🇵 3:30pm JST
🇦🇺 5:30pm AEDT
🇳🇿 7:30pm NZDT