NJPW announces next PPV, major junior heavyweight tag team tournament
On Tuesday, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced the lineup for its next major show, Power Struggle, which takes place on 11/7 at the Edion Arena in Osaka, formerly the Bodymaker Colosseum.
The show will be headlined by Shinsuke Nakamura vs. Karl Anderson for the Intercontinental title, which had already been announced in commentary during Monday’s King of Pro Wrestling show.
Power Struggle will also feature the finals of a junior heavyweight tag team tournament that runs throughout the next tour and begins on 10/23 with a show in Tokorozawa. The tournament will be a single elimination eight-team tournament with Tiger Mask & Jushin Liger, Mascara Dorada & Ryusuke Taguchi, Rocky Romero & Baretta, Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish, The Young Bucks, Alex Shelley & Kushida, Kenny Omega & Chase Owens and Matt Sydal & Ricochet.
The junior heavyweight tag team tournament first round will be on 10/24 at Korakuen Hall with Liger & Tiger Mask vs. Fish & O’Reilly, Romero & Baretta vs. Omega & Owens, Dorada & Taguchi vs. Young Bucks and Shelley & Kushida vs. Sydal & Ricochet.
The winners advance to an 11/1 show at Korakuen Hall, where the semifinals take place.
The lineup for the PPV thus far:
- Hirooki Goto vs. Evil (Takaaki Watanabe)
- A.J. Styles & Bad Luck Fale vs. Toru Yano & Yoshi-Hashi
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Tomoaki Honma for the Never Open weight title
- Junior heavyweight tag team tournament finals
- Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi vs. Kazushi Sakuraba & Kazuchika Okada
- Nakamura vs. Anderson for IC title
Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.