Wrestle Kingdom 16

Wrestle Kingdom 16 is an upcoming three-day professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event co-produced by the New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wrestling Noah (Noah) promotions. The event will take place on January 4 and 5, 2022, at the Tokyo Dome, in Tokyo and January 8, at Yokohama Arena in Yokohama, Japan. It will be the 31st January 4 Tokyo Dome Show and the 16th promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name; it will also be the first time the event will be held over three days and the first one to take place in Yokohama. It will mark the first January 4 Tokyo Dome Show since 2007's Wrestle Kingdom I to be co-produced with another wrestling promotion.

Wrestle Kingdom 16
Promotional poster for day three of the event featuring Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shingo Takagi, Kaito Kiyomiya, Keiji Mutoh, and Katsuhiko Nakajima
PromotionNew Japan Pro-Wrestling
Pro Wrestling Noah
DateJanuary 4–5 and 8, 2022
City
Venue
Tagline(s)Beyond the Legacy![1]
New Japan vs Noah
Event chronology
← Previous
Road to Tokyo Dome		 Next →
—
Wrestle Kingdom chronology
← Previous
15		 Next →
—

Days 1 and 2 of the event will air on the NJPW World streaming service and via FITE TV and other PPV providers; day three will be aired as a PPV event on AbemaTV before being archived on NJPW World and Wrestle Universe.[2]

Production

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".[3][4] The show has been promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name since 2007.[5]

Wrestle Kingdom 16 was officially announced on September 4, 2021. It will be the first January 4 Tokyo Dome Show to be held over three days.[6] The third day of the event will be held at the Yokohama Arena, marking the first time one of NJPW's January 4 shows was held outside of Tokyo.[6] On November 20, it was announced that the third day of the event would be co-produced by the Noah promotion.[7]

Like the pervious two years, NJPW's sister promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom will have a match on January 5. The last two Stardom matches at Wrestle Kingdom were dark matches due to two promotions being on different broadcasting networks with TV Asahi and Samurai TV; but at Wrestle Grand Slam in MetLife Dome, Stardom was featured on the pre-show on both days which were broadcast live on NJPW World.[8] On December 12, a member of each Stardom faction draw straws to determinate who would be in the match at day 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 16, which Mayu Iwatani and Starlight Kid were chosen to face Tam Nakano and Saya Kamitani in a tag team match. NJPW has not announced about the placement of the match on the card.[9]

Storylines

Wrestle Kingdom 16 will feature professional wrestling matches that will involve different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.[10]

After defending the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Shingo Takagi at Wrestling Dontaku, Will Ospreay was forced to relinquish the title after suffering a serious neck injury. At Dominion 6.6 in Osaka-jo Hall, Takagi defeated Kazuchika Okada to win the vacant title. Okada would later win the G1 Glimax for a third time, earning himself another opportunity against Takagi and the title at Wrestle Kingdom. Okada requested to be given the retired IWGP Heavyweight Championship belt to represent the certificate instead of a briefcase which the winners of the G1 usually received, which was granted and Okada successfully defended the certificate against Tama Tonga at Power Struggle while Takagi retained the championship in the main event against Zack Sabre Jr. Meanwhile, Ospreay made a recovery and appeared at Resurgence with a replica of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship belt where he called himself the "real" champion and also call Takagi an interim champion. At Battle in the Valley, Opsreay called out both Takagi and Okada and challenged for the title at Wrestle Kingdom, and it was announced that he would face the winner of their match, set to take place on night 1, on night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom for the title.

Matches
Night 1
No. Matches*[11] Stipulations
1 Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Kazuchika Okada Singles match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship[12]
2 Katsuyori Shibata vs. TBA Singles match[13]
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • *Card subject to change
Night 2
No. Matches*[14][15] Stipulations
1 Shingo Takagi or Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Will Ospreay Singles match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship[16]
2 Mayu Iwatani and Starlight Kid vs. Tam Nakano and Saya Kamitani Tag team match
This will be a Stardom exhibition match.[17]
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • *Card subject to change
Unconfirmed night
No. Matches* Stipulations
1 El Desperado (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi Singles match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
2 Dangerous Tekkers (Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr.) (c) (with Miho Abe) vs. Chaos (Hirooki Goto and Yoshi-Hashi) Tag team match for the IWGP Tag Team Championship
3 Kenta (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi No disqualification match for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship
  • (c) – refers to the champion(s) heading into the match
  • *Card subject to change

References
  1. @NJPWSUGABAYASHI (December 14, 2021). "1/4.5ドーム大会のポスターです！" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. Renner, Ethan (November 19, 2021). "NJPW VS. NOAH SET FOR WRESTLE KINGDOM 16 NIGHT THREE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved November 20, 2021. The card will air live on Abema pay-per-view and have an English language option for the broadcast. The cost will be 3960 Yen. The show will be made available on NJPW World and NOAH's Wrestle Universe streaming service one week after the air date. A portion of proceeds from the event and PPV will be donated to Japanese Red Cross.
  3. "GFW News: New Japan Pro Wrestling "Wrestle Kingdom 9" press conference details". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. December 23, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  4. Keller, Wade (December 13, 2016). "New Japan's WrestleKingdom 11 to air on AXS TV starting Jan. 13 in four weekly special episodes with Ross & Barnett on commentary". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  5. Hoops, Brian (January 4, 2017). "Daily Pro Wrestling History (01/04): NJPW Tokyo Dome cards". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved August 25, 2017.
  6. "Wrestle Kingdom 16 set to start 2022 in the Tokyo Dome AND Yokohama Arena!". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. September 4, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  7. "【来年1月8日(土) 17 時～横浜アリーナ大会は、「ABEMA PPV ONLINE LIVE」で生配信！】『 WRESTLE KINGDOM 「新日本プロレス vs プロレスリング ・ノア」』配信概要はコチラ【WK16 】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling (in Japanese). November 20, 2021. Retrieved November 20, 2021.
  8. Renner, Ethan (December 9, 2021). "Stardom Match To Take Place At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  9. Renner, Ethan (December 12, 2021). "Stardom Reveals Participants For NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 16 Match". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  10. Grabianowski, Ed. "How Pro Wrestling Works". HowStuffWorks, Inc. Discovery Communications. Retrieved October 9, 2017.
  11. "2022.01.04 Wrestle Kingdom 16 in Tokyo Dome | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". NJPW (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  12. "Shingo Takagi vs Kazuchika Okada Official for January 4! 【WK16】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. November 8, 2021. Retrieved November 8, 2021.
  13. Renner, Ethan (December 15, 2021). "NJPW's Katsuyori Shibata Announces Wrestle Kingdom 16 In-ring Return". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved December 15, 2021.
  14. "2022.01.05 Wrestle Kingdom 16 in Tokyo Dome | New Japan Pro-Wrestling". NJPW. Retrieved 2021-11-15.
  15. "【対戦カード発表】12・29両国決戦★林下詩美vs朱里、中野たむvs上谷沙弥ほか決定！！". World Wonder Ring Stardom. December 12, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  16. "Will Ospreay to Challenge IWGP World Heavyweight Champion January 5 【WK16】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. November 15, 2021. Retrieved November 15, 2021.
  17. "STARDOM to be a part of Wrestle Kingdom 16 night 2! 【WK16】". New Japan Pro-Wrestling. December 10, 2021. Retrieved December 10, 2021.
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