Danielson Okada II and three championship matches confirmed for the emotional thrill ride
After a sensational Power Struggle on November 4, major matches have been made official for Wrestle Kingdom 18, including a dream rematch, the continuation of an epic rivalry, and a heated feud over a new championship belt.
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The challenge has been issued and accepted, and Wrestle Kingdom 18 will indeed see Danielson vs Okada II. At Forbidden Door in Toronto back in June, an elbow drop from Okada broke the arm of the American Dragon, but Danielson still went on to be the first man since Shinsuke Nakamura almost eight years before to submit arguably the greatest IWGP Champion of all time. When fates aligned for Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli to take on the CHAOS aligned AEW International Champion Orange Cassidy and Okada on AEW Dynamite, Okada saw to it that the American Dragon felt what a Rainmaker was like- and the result was a pair of orbital bone fractures.
Danielson underwent surgery, and as he’s recovering, is dead set on revenge. Delivering a powerful video message at Power Struggle, Danielson promised revenge on Okada, and ‘to break you right arm, so you can never do the Rainmaker ever again.’ In response, Okada would state that he was the one seeking revenge, having never been able to defeat Danielson. Now in the Tokyo Dome, it’s eye for an eye, arm for an arm- and Fighting Spirit for Fighting Spirit.
An instant classic main event between Will Ospreay and Shota Umino at Power Struggle ended with the IWGP US and UK Champion Ospreay bowing his head in respect to his fallen challenger, but with words to say to Umino’s mentor Jon Moxley. With Ospreay still furious at how the US gold was treated during the pandemic, and with Moxley for a controversial call that ended their singles match in Chicago in 2022, the Aerial Assassin certainly had designs on finishing unfinished business. That was until David Finlay blasted both men from behind with a shillelagh. Following up, Finlay would smash both US and UK belts with a sledgehammer, destroying one title that connected Moxley to NJPW from his first day in the company, and arguably destroying the summation of Ospreay’s lifework.
The Rebel instantly injected himself into a title situation, but with no presentable title. Gedo would yell that the US and UK title belts were now meaningless and that ‘a new belt will be made for a new era’. Ospreay would respond that he would be more than comfortable with a new belt to be elevated on the global stage. This three way match is designated, at least for now, as being for the IWGP Us (UK) Championship, but what title belt will be on the line January 4?
Hiromu Takahashi will defend IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship gold against El Desperado. These rivals have traded wins to sit at 3-3-1 over the last five years, with their most dramatic meetings on the biggest stages being during the pandemic. In a new era, with Hiromu holding the gold heading into the Tokyo Dome, he had one request for the biggest defence to date- for a singles match and against his eternal foe. At Wrestle Kingdom 16, then champion Desperado successfully defended against the Time Bomb, but can he do it before a loud and partisan some 40,000 strong crowd?
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships will be on the line when Catch 2/2 take on the BULLET CLUB War Dogs. Wrestle Kingdom 17 saw Francesco Akira and TJP head into the Tokyo Dome as champions, successfully retaining against YOH and Lio Rush, but this year they are chasing, not just the tag gold, but Drilla Moloney and Clark Connors. When Moloney betrayed United Empire back in June to join forces with Connors and BULLET CLUB, things were personal between these two teams from jump. Two losses for Catch 2/2, for the titles, and during Super Jr. Tag League only fueled the fires of revenge for the two. An attack from the champions immediately after Catch 2/2 cinched the junior tag trophies have turned this into a molten hot blood feud with tag gold on the line.
