Title Match Added To Wrestle Kingdom 13, Updated Card
The NEVER Openweight Championship match is now set for Wrestle Kingdom 13 with Kota Ibushi defending against Will Ospreay. Earlier today at NJPW World Tag League, Ibushi defeated Hirooki Goto for the championship, while Ospreay beat Taichi to become next in line.
The challenge was issued by Ospreay, Ibushi came out, and shook hands with the challenger to make the match official. Ospreay had sustained injured ribs, which he has now recovered from in time for January's show.
Below is the current lineup for Wrestle Kingdom 13:
* Kenny Omega (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi (IWGP Heavyweight Championship)
* Chris Jericho (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito (IWGP Intercontinental Championship)
* KUSHIDA (c) vs. Taiji Ishimori (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship)
* Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado (c) vs. Roppongi 3K (IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championship)
* Kazuchika Okada vs. Jay White
* Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Will Osprey (NEVER Openweight Championship)
* Tomohiro Ishii (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. (RevPro British Heavyweight Championship)
There is also the possibility of the IWGP Tag Team Championship Match being added to the card, as champions Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa should be defending their titles against EVIL and SANADA, who just won the NJPW World Tag League by defeating the champions. Interestingly enough, The Young Bucks came out at the end of today's show and said they may not have won the tournament, but they're still the best in the world. Matt and Nick Jackson also noted they never received their rematch after losing the titles to Tonga and Loa at NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed, leaving the door open for a possible triple threat match.
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 13 will air on January 4, 2019 from the Tokyo Dome on NJPW World and Fite starting at 3am ET / 12 am PT.