Eight matchups are now official for NJPW’s biggest event of the year.
The updated lineup for Wrestle Kingdom 20 was announced on Tuesday, adding to a card which already had the retirement match of Hiroshi Tanahashi, Aaron Wolf’s in-ring debut, and many other high-profile matchups.
It was confirmed this week that DDT’s Chris Brookes will challenge El Phantasmo for his NJPW World Television Championship on January 4.
Brookes attacked Phantasmo at NJPW’s Korakuen Hall show on Monday, declaring his intention to take him on for his title in the Tokyo Dome. The now-confirmed matchup, held under a 15-minute time limit per typical NJPW TV title rules, will take place on the kick-off portion of the show.
Phantasmo has held his title for over 230 days, the second-longest reign since the title was introduced in early 2023 by Zack Sabre Jr. However, to keep his reign alive, he must score a singles win over Brookes, something he has failed to do in their past two one-on-one clashes.
NJPW has also confirmed that an eight-team ranbo will take place for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships.
The special ruleset match will see teams enter one-by-one in a Royal Rumble format. Whenever someone is pinned, submitted or thrown over the top rope with both feet touching the floor, their entire team gets eliminated from the match.
Defending champs Toru Yano, YOH and Master Wato will try to keep their reign alive against numerous high-profile talents, with the match also including Zack Sabre Jr., current tag champs Yuto-Ice and OSKAR, SANADA, Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura, and many others.
Here’s an updated look at what NJPW has planned for January 4:
- El Phantasmo vs. Chris Brookes (NJPW World Television Championship) (Kickoff)
- Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato vs. Shota Umino, Yuya Uemura & Kaisei Takechi vs. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Boltin Oleg vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson vs. Togi Makabe, Tiger Mask & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Yuto-Ice, OSKAR & Clark Connors vs. Tomohiro Ishii, Taichi & Satoshi Kojima vs. Ren Narita, SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championships) (Tornado Ranbo)
- Syuri vs. Saya Kamitani (IWGP Women’s Championship & NJPW STRONG Women’s Championship)
- Shingo Takagi, David Finlay, Gabe Kidd, Drilla Moloney & Hiromu Takahashi vs. Great-O-Khan, Callum Newman, HENARE, Andrade El Idolo & TBA
- El Desperado vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishimori vs. SHO (IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship)
- Aaron Wolf vs. EVIL (NEVER Openweight Championship)
- Konosuke Takeshita vs. Yota Tsuji (IWGP World Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship)
- Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
