Juice Robinson Pulled From NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15
Only hours after the Wrestle Kingdom 15 card was finalised...
23 December, 2020 9:59 AM
New Japan Pro-Wrestling has been forced to change the Wrestle Kingdom 15 card only hours after the show was finalised.
The promotion announced during a special press conference earlier today that KENTA would defend the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Right To Challenge Contract against Juice Robinson on January 4. That match has already been cancelled, however, as Robinson has sustained a fractured orbital bone and will be unable to wrestle at the Tokyo Dome.
An announcement about KENTA's opponent at Wrestle Kingdom "will be made in due course."
The three other matches announced during the special press conference are still scheduled to take place. Added to January 4 was a New Japan Ranbo, a match similar to the Royal Rumble. 22 men will enter the match at timed intervals and eliminations occur by pinfall, submission and by being thrown over the top rope. The final four participants will advance to a four-way match on January 5 to crown the inaugural holder of the KOPW 2021 Trophy.
The final match added to January 5 was El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanermaru vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
Check out the card for Wrestle Kingdom 15 below:
January 4:
• Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi - IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Double Championship
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
• Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo - Winner will face Taiji Ishimori for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship on January 5
• Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan
• Dangerous Tekkers (c) vs. The Guerrillas Of Destiny - IWGP Tag Team Championship
• New Japan Ranbo - Final four participants will advance to a Four-Way Match for the KOPW 2021 Trophy on January 5
• Tetsuya Naito or Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Jay White - IWGP Heavyweight & IWGP Intercontinental Championship
• SANADA vs. EVIL
• Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi or El Phantasmo - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
• Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Jeff Cobb - NEVER Openweight Championship
• El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi - IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
• Four-Way Match for the KOPW 2021 Trophy
• Stardom Match
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