AEW Stars Expected To Compete At NJPW Wrestle Kingdom
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom will be a spiritual Forbidden Door, according to the Wrestling Observer.
Previous Wrestle Kingdom events have followed the ‘outside invader’ angle that has been popular in NJPW for decades. Under this angle, multiple matches on the WK card feature wrestlers from other companies taking on NJPW’s best.
And now it looks like AEW will follow those other companies and lend its wrestlers to New Japan for a night.
Speaking on Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer was asked if AEW wrestlers will appear on Wrestle Kingdom.
“I know that as of a couple of months ago, that that was the plan. It’s on a Wednesday night, the same night as AEW are in Seattle. So it’s tough, I don’t who it would be but I do know that there were guys planned for the show, as of a couple months ago.”
NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17 will take place on January 4th, 2023, which is a Wednesday. Even if WK goes head-to-head with AEW Dynamite, there’s still potential for AEW stars to appear on WK without AEW risking not having its biggest stars on its weekly TV show.
As of this writing, only four matches have been announced for Wrestle Kingdom 17:
- Jay White vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
- A singles match for the IWGP Women’s Championship
- A singles match to determine the inaugural NJPW World Television Championship
- Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Desperado vs. Master Wato in a four-way match for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
More matches should be announced soon.