Wrestle Kingdom 19 (January 4) preview
Main event: IWGP World Heavyweight Championship- Zack Sabre Jr. vs Shota Umino
Singles record: 2–2
For the first time in an NJPW card at the Tokyo Dome in 20 years, and the first time on January 4 since 1995, the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 19 sees two first time ever Tokyo Dome headliners face off in what is truly a show of the changing of the guard and the times.
For Zack Sabre Jr, 2024 heralded the arrival of an era that was long overdue. 20 years in professional wrestling, the bulk of it in Japan, Sabre has had the enduring respect of his peers, officials and the fans behind him. Yet it wasn’t until this past summer, and the open acknowledgement of an in built pressure, to finally seize the top spot for himself or perhaps let it slide forever, that ZSJ was able to truly achieve top flight success. Having promised G1 victory and the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, and delivered on both, Zack now looks to do what no non-Japanese has done in 19 of Wrestle Kingdoms and end the night victorious in the main event.
Indeed Sabre’s spot has been well earned, and his pressure to reach the highest of highs has come from within. For Shota Umino, outside pressures feel as strong as those internal, and as the youngest headliner of a Tokyo Dome card since Kazuchika Okada in 2013, he has fought a battle of perception all through this year.
Umino has long been questioned about his identity, so proud of wearing his influences of Tanahashi, Naito and Moxley on his sleeve. He has been questioned about his results, affected in the G1 by injury, albeit with a succession of clean and decisive victories over his world title opponent tonight. And he has been questioned about his status as the highest flight main eventer, a question voiced by some fans who booed his Tokyo Dome challenge.
For Shota Umino, the fight is against all of those outside pressures, just as for Sabre there is a fight against history itself. Yet most of all for both men, this fight is about the richest prize in professional wrestling in the biggest match of the year, and the chance to lead NJPW through 2025.
8th Match: Tetsuya Naito vs Hiromu Takahashi
A match some 15 years in the making sees Tetsuya Naito and Hiromu Takahashi one on one for the first time. Way back in the early 2010s, Tetsuya Naito saw somethign in a young Hiromu Takahashi and offered to teach the then struggling Young Lion the ropes. That started a connection between the two men and a detrmination on Hiromu’s part to repay Naito’s kindness through career success and, someday, a singles match.
When Hiromu and Naito were heavyweight and junior heavyweight champions respectively in 2020, it seemed as if that time would come at March’s Anniversaery card. World events got in the way and the global pandemic cancelled the bout, and for years since the stars just couldn’t align until World Tag League 2024.
In victory in the tournament, Tetsuya Naito invoked the need to take a courageous step, and extended Hiromu his dream match. Takahashi accepted, and now a bout with a decade and a half of history sees LIJ teammates, and mentor and protege, one on one for the first time.
7th Match: IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship- David Finlay vs Yota Tsuji
Singles record: 2–1 Tsuji
One year after his victory in the Tokyo Dome in a three way battle with Will Ospreay and Jon Moxley saw the IWGP Global heavyweight Championship born, David Finlay defends his gold for the fifth time in his second reign against Yota Tsuji.
Finlay has cut a dominant path through 2024 that has seen the Rebel King defeat significant standard bearers of the generation above him- men like Taichi, YOSHI-HASHI and Hirooki Goto have each brought their own versions of Tokon spirit to Finlay and each have fallen under his brand of brutality. Yet Tsuji has been a thorn in Finlay’s side with not one but two victories over the Global Champion in G1 competition this summer alone.
It wasn’t Tsuji calling out the champion to set this match up but rather Finlay calling on his challenger in the Tokyo Dome. Finlay is fighting to set an example to the rest of the War Dogs, acknowledging that ‘the guns that point out, also point in.’ Seeking to eliminate all signs of weakness in himself, he takes on the biggest weakness of his 2024 record, but can he do what it takes to put away the 2024 New Japan Cup winner?
6th Match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship- DOUKI vs El Desperado
Singles record: 4–1 Desperado
It’s a testament to DOUKI’s breakthrough 2024 that Japones Del Mal has never been in a main card match in the Tokyo Dome until Wrestle Kingdom 19, and now he wrestles January 4 2025 as the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
DOUKI’s star was in the ascendancy ever since he defeated the previously insurmountable Hiromu Takahashi in singles action back in February, but even through a career best Best of the Super Jr performance, the shadow of El Desperado seemed too tall and too dark to break from. Even as Desperado requested to put the title on the line against DOUKI in June, it felt like DOUKI’s one time hermano, and the man he can credit his NJPW arrival to, was doing a favour to shine a light on his former Suzuki-Gun teammate.
Then DOUKI beat Desperado for the first time in his career at New Japan Soul. It was correctly deemed an upset, but DOUKI’s time with the belt since has made it perfectly clear that DOUKI is no underdog champion. Taiji Ishimori, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and SHO, all men he had never beaten in his career before, stepped up and each fell in defences that cemented DOUKI as a top player and rightful title holder. Defeating his past, DOUKI took on the returning Master Wato at Power Struggle in a match that marked DOUKI’s vision of the future in the junior division; Wato too was defeated.
Desperado, back from injury, stepped up to challenge DOUKI for the Tokyo Dome, but both champion and challenger know that this is a very different situation from their encounter back in June. No longer is DOUKI a plucky underdog on a roll, but rather a champion with the weight of a division on his shoulders and the chance tonight to not just decisively put himself above Desperado, but on the biggest stage to really kick off a new chapter in the junior ranks.
5th Match: NEVER Openweight Championship- Shingo Takagi vs Konosuke Takeshita
Should Konosuke Takeshita remain AEW International Champion by January 4, this will be title for title.
While Konosuke Takeshita had been a highly accalimed wrestling talent for fans of DDT and AEW for years, it was his performance in G1 Climax 34 this past summer that saw the world find out, or be reminded that he truly deserves the ‘Alpha’ designation. A stunning performance in wrestling’s greatest tournament had many hunger for another appearance for Takeshita in the cerulean blue, and men like Shingo Takagi were hungry to provide his opposition.
At Fighting Spirit Unleashed in November, Takeshita returned, and a challenge was issued between Takeshita and Takagi. The NEVER Openweight Champion and the Alpha certainly will present a battle worthy of NEVER’s ‘BMF’ distinction, and stakes are set to be even higher should the AEW International Championship also be up for grabs. With Tomohiro Ishii waiting in the wings to face the winner the next night at Wrestle Dynasty, who will prove victorious at Wrestle Kingdom?
4th Match: Lumberjack Match-Hiroshi Tanahashi vs EVIL
Singles record: 4–3 Tanahashi
There could be no plainer distinction of good versus evil than in this battle of NJPW’s Ace and President, and the man who literally wrestles under the name of EVIL. The King of Darkness, EVIL has made the ludicrous claim that he is the true president and arbiter of justice in NJPW, leading to he and Tanahashi butting heads even more forcefully than usual, all the way through 2024.
When fan dissatisfaction with constant interference during HOUSE OF TORTURE matches reached a fever pitch, Tanahashi called a press conference declaring that he would take care of the issue at its root, only further agitating the leader of the most hated faction in wrestling. Tanahashi would beat back H.O.T time and again, but still EVIL would seek the last word, and when Tanahashi announced on his 25th Anniversary that he would be retiring from active competition on January 4 2026, EVIL jumped. Confronting Tanahashi in front of the media, EVIL said that he would retire Tanahashi one year early, here at WK19.
After taunting and violent attacks were too much for Tanahashi to bear, the Ace snapped on EVIL ast the World Tag League finals, disqualifying himself with a barrage of chair shots. Tanahashi took to the mic and said that if EVIL wants him gone that badly, he would put his career on th eline early- but on the condition we have a Lumberjack Match to settle it. Will Tanahashi’s ‘final road’ end before it gets started, or can Tanahashi deal with EVIL once and for all?
3rd Match: NJPW World TV Championship- Ren Narita vs Jeff Cobb vs Ryohei Oiwa
Two years ago one half of the final to determine the first NJPW World TV Champion, Ren Narita defends that gold in a three way battle at Wrestle Kingdom. At Power Struggle, Narita was confronted by Ryohei Oiwa of TMDK. The Grip, a proud fighter for the youngest generation of main roster NJPW wrestlers, expressed anger at Narita’s HOUSE OF TORTURE styled dirty tactics, and demanded to challenge. Jeff Cobb would get into the mix however; the former champion, having lost the TV gold in a three way himself thanks to those very same dirty tactics by Narita, wants his revenge, his win and his belt back tonight. It’s sure to get chaotic in a three way botu with 15 minutes on the clock.
2nd Match: IWGP Women’s Championship- Mayu Iwatani vs AZM
Singles record: 3–1 Iwatani
For the first time in two years, the IWGP Women’s Championship is defended at Wrestle Kingdom when Mayu Iwatani faces the challenge of AZM.
The Icon of NJPW’s sister promotion STARDOM, Iwatani is the third woman to hold the IWGP gold since its inception in 2022, and has held the gold for 20 months. Upset that the Women’s Championship was not on the line at Wrestle Kingdom 18, Mayu was determined to make 2024 the ‘year of Iwatani’, and it’s safe to say that the Icon did just that. A dominant run saw Mayu’s most recent defence at Historic X-Over with a stunning performance against Momo Watanabe; after the bout she made it very clear that this Tokyo Dome spot was more than deserved.
AZM agreed and stepped forward to challenge. Joining STARDOM as a child prodigy in 2013, the now 22 year old queen of high speed wrestling has had her own breakthroughs in 2024, including more experience overseas, and on her fourth attempt, defeating Iwatani one on one for the first time during STARDOM’s 5 Star tournament. Her claim to the IWGP gold is a strong one; can she show herself to be the world’s best female wrestler on January 4?
1st Match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships- Intergalactic Jet Setters (Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA) vs Ichiban Sweet Boys (Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles) vs BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors) vs Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira)
Spectacle and drama is sure to be abound when the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships are on the line in a four way match. It was a stunning battle in Osaka in November that saw Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita win Super Jr. Tag League, earning a shot against champions KUSHIDA and Kevin Knight. The champions also wanted a rematch with Francesco Akira and TJP however, having lost to Catch 2/2 during the tournament. When Clark Connors and Drilla Moloney also brutally forced themselves into the match, a four way was made, and this is one match not to take your eyes off of.
