With New Year’s Day behind us, it’s time to shift focus to one of the biggest pro wrestling events of the year — and fortunately, it happens this week. New Japan Pro-Wrestling will once again hold its biggest show of the year at the Tokyo Dome, presenting Wrestle Kingdom 18.
This will be the 33rd event to be held on Jan. 4 at the Tokyo Dome, but what’s particularly intriguing about this one is the change at the top. Hiroshi Tanahashi, the Ace of NJPW, is now the president of the company, installed in an effort to attempt to return New Japan to its pre-pandemic peak of popularity (that’s some fun alliteration).
The effects of that change may not be evident right away, but Wrestle Kingdom is once again loaded with big matches featuring the top stars in the company, as well as a few AEW guests. The main event will see Sanada defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Tetsuya Naito in a showdown that could be seen as both a referendum on Sanada’s title reign and Naito’s time remaining as a main event star.
Even without a championship involved, the penultimate match might be even more highly anticipated. Bryan Danielson and Kazuchika Okada, two of the best wrestlers on the planet, will have another battle to try and settle once and for all which one of them is higher on the totem pole.
If you’d like to catch Wrestling Kingdom 18 live, there’s one easy place to do it thanks to the NJPW World streaming service. Here’s everything you need to know to watch this week, no matter where you are.
How to watch NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18
- When: Wednesday, January 4, 2024
- Where: Tokyo Dome, Tokyo
- Start time: 1:30 a.m. ET/10:30 p.m. PT (Jan. 3)/3:30 p.m. JST
- How to watch: Worldwide on NJPWWorld.com
- Cost: ¥1298 (for a month’s subscription) in Japan, $9.99 USD outside Japan
[lawrence-related id=40626]