Tetsuya Naito Challenges Kota Ibushi To Match At Wrestle Kingdom 15

By Joshua Gagnon

NJPW held a press conference earlier today where IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion Tetsuya Naito offered up a challenge for night one of Wrestle Kingdom 15 on January 4. Naito felt that despite losing the rights to his title contract against Jay White at this weekend's Power Struggle, Kota Ibushi still deserved a title shot for winning the G1 Climax.

Below are part of Naito's comments, as translated on NJPW's English site:

"January 4, I want to face Kota Ibushi. Yes, Ibushi put his contract on the line and lost to Jay White. So he shouldn't have a right to a title match at the Tokyo Dome. Yet both of us were in the G1 Climax, and he won it, not me. He won it back to back, not me. That hurt, and I want to get revenge for that. I think Jay should respect that. I beat Ibushi January 4 and face him on January 5. There should be no problem with that. Sorry to Jay, but I want to face Ibushi more. So that's my official request."

An official announcement has yet to be made by NJPW, but it's likely we'll see Naito and Ibushi face-off in the ring on the first of two nights. Jay White then gets a crack at the champion on night two.

As noted, Will Ospreay and Kazuchika Okada was also announced for NJPW's biggest show of the year.

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