SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)...
-Three title matches have been announed for Wrestle Kingdom.
NJPW introduced a new NJPW World TV Championship at Declaration of Power on Oct. 10. The idea behind the title is to have fast paced matches featuring mostly younger talent on the roster. It was announced that a tournament will take place and the semi-finals will be held on Nov. 5 at Autumn Attack in Osaka and the final will take place at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on Jay 4. The tournament is currrently in progress.
Two other matches have also been announced for Wrestle Kingdom 17 as a result of events that took place at Declaration of Power on Oct. 10. Master Wato upset IWGP Jr. Hvt. Champion Taiji Ishimori in a Non-title match. After the match, an angle took place to set up Ishimori defending his title against Master Wato, El Desperado, and Hiromu Takahshi in a Four-way match.
IWGP World Hvt. Champion Jay White retained his title by beating Tama Tonga in the main event of Declaration of Power. He will face G1 Climax winner Kazuchika Okada in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom.
Here are the matches made official so far for Wrestle Kingdom 17 on Jan. 4.
-Jay White vs. Kauzchika Okada – IWGP World Hvt. Championship match
-Taiji Ishimori vs. El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi vs. Master Wato – IWGP Jr. Hvt. Championship match
-NJPW World TV Championship Tournament finals
-NJPW has announced that Wrestle Kingdom 17 will be dedicated to Antonio Inoki, who founded the company in 1972. The company had planned on revealing that Inoki had accepted the role of Honorary Lifetime Chairman of NJPW at Declartation of Power on Oct. 10 as part of its 50th anniversary celebration on Sept. 1, but Inoki passed away on Oct. 1 before the news could be revealed to the public.
NJPW held a ceremony before the start of Declaration of Power to honor Inoki.
Email Sean at pwtorchsean@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter @SR_Torch
For those who used to complain about WWE having too many championships, NJPW now has 12 different titles. Titles pretty much mean nothing when you have that many of them.