Several days ago, it was made official that KENTA was going to defend the briefcase that gives him the right to challenge for the IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Championship against Juice Robinson. That match was scheduled for night two of Wrestle Kingdom 15 but Juice Robinson suffered a fractured orbital bone and was pulled from the card.
At the 12/23 Road to Tokyo Dome show, Satoshi Kojima stepped up, took out KENTA and issued the challenge for Wrestle Kingdom and it was made official for night one. For the first time since Wrestle Kingdom 8 in 2014, Kojima will not be in a tag match on NJPW’s biggest show of their calendar year.
Juice Robinson's replacement for KENTA January 4 is official:
Night 1 of Wrestle Kingdom will see KENTA vs Satoshi Kojima!https://t.co/4v0r9YPmKk#njpw #njwk15 pic.twitter.com/prFjJjAb8p
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) December 24, 2020
The Wrestle Kingdom 15 cards are updated and here are the lineups for night one and two:
January 4
* IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championships: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi
* Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
* IWGP Tag Team Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi (c) vs. Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
* Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. The Great O-Khan
* Winner Becomes #1 Contender to IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title: Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo
* New Japan Ranbo: Competitors TBA
* IWGP U.S. Heavyweight Title Challenge Rights: KENTA (c) vs. Satoshi Kojima
January 5
* IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championships: TBD (c) vs. Jay White
* IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. TBD
* NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Jeff Cobb
* EVIL vs. SANADA
* KOPW Four-Way Match: TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD
* IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship: El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi
* Dark Match (STARDOM): TBA vs. TBA
