At the press conference following his third G1 Climax win, Kazuchika Okada requested he be awarded something other than the usual briefcase containing a contract for a Wrestle Kingdom IWGP World Heavyweight title shot. He wanted the old IWGP Heavyweight championship belt.
That didn’t go down well with either the guy who’d already challenged him for the case (it’s standard for the G1 winner to “defend” his prize at least once before using it for a Tokyo Dome main event), or the reigning IWGP World Heavyweight king. But at least for New Japan’s next major show, neither Tama Tonga or Shingo Takagi have to worry about Okada’s unusual request, because he’s getting a briefcase. And The Rainmaker will defend it against the Bullet Club mainstay at Power Struggle on Nov. 6. That match was set-up when Tonga beat Okada during the tournament.
Takagi won’t have the night off, as he’s defending his belt against Zack Sabre, Jr. This one also has its roots in the G1, where the Brit defeated the champ in their block match.
In addition to those headlining belts, NJPW also announced four other title matches for Power Struggle. Here’s the full card for Sat., Nov. 6:
- Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. for the IWGP World Heavyweight championship
- Kazuchika Okada vs. Tama Tonga for Okada’s Wrestle Kingdom 16 IWGP World Heavyweight title shot
- Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) vs. KENTA for the IWGP United States title
- El Desperado vs. Robbie Eagles (c) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight championship
- Toru Yano (c) vs. Great-O-Khan for KOPW 2021
- EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO vs. Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI (c) for the NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag titles
- SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Yuji Nagata, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato
- Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask vs. Tanga Loa, Gedo & Jado
- Ryohei Oiwa & Kosei Fujita vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
Sound like a good reason to punch up NJPWWorld at 4am ET, or at a more reasonable hour of your convenience?