Originally published at Two championship matches added to Wrestle Kingdom 18
Two additional championship matches have been confirmed for NJPW’s Wrestle Kingdom 18 at the Tokyo Dome.
The promotion has added a NEVER Openweight Championship match with Shingo Takagi set to defend against former champion Tama Tonga.
Takagi and Tonga met in the G1 Climax this past summer and wrestled to a 20-minute draw. In a rematch at Fighting Spirit Unleashed last month, Takagi beat Tonga to win the NEVER Openweight Championship and ended Tonga’s third reign with the belt.
In a NJPW Television Championship match, Zack Sabre Jr. defends his title against Hiroshi Tanahashi.
January 4 will mark a full year that ZSJ has been Television Champion since the title was created at last year’s Wrestle Kingdom.
ZSJ and Tanhashi have had a long rivalry going back to their first singles match in the G1 Climax in 2017.
Tanahashi is 6-5 throughout their singles matches with their last match occurring at this past year’s G1 Climax with ZSJ winning.
Updated lineup for Wrestle Kingdom 18:
*IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA © vs. Tetsuya Naito
*Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
*IWGP U.S/U.K. Championship: Will Ospreay © vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay
*IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championships: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney © vs. TJP & Francesco Akira
*IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Hiromu Takahashi © vs. El Desperado
*NJPW World TV Championship: Zack Sabre Jr. © vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
*NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi © vs. Tama Tonga