Karl Anderson will officially compete at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling confirmed the card for the show at a press conference on December 15. Anderson will defend the NEVER Openweight Championship at the show on January 4. In doing so, he will become the first contracted WWE star to compete at Wrestle Kingdom. Anderson defeated Hikuleo to retain the title at the NJPW World Tag League and Super Junior Tag League Final event on December 14, and he was confronted by Tonga after the match.
Plus, Keiji Muto will compete in his last NJPW match; he will team up with Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shota Umino to face Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI. An Antonio Inoki Memorial Match has also been added to the card; Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima, and Togi Makabe will face Tatsumi Fujinami, Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask.
The updated card is as follows:
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Jay White vs Kazuchika Okada
IWGP United States Championship: Will Ospreay vs Kenny Omega
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori vs Hiromu Takahashi vs El Desperado vs Master Wato
Keiji Muto’s Last NJPW Match: Keiji Muto, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Shota Umino vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI)
NEVER Openweight Championship: Karl Anderson vs Tama Tonga
NJPW World TV Championship: Ren Narita vs Zack Sabre Jr.
IWGP Tag Team Championships: FTR (Dax Harwood & Cash Wheeler) vs Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI)
IWGP Women’s Championship: KAIRI vs Tam Nakano
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira & TJP) vs CHAOS (Lio Rush & YOH)
Antonio Inoki Memorial Match: Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Togi Makabe vs. Tatsumi Fujinami, Minoru Suzuki & Tiger Mask
KOPW 2023 Qualifier: New Japan Rambo
Exhibition Match: Boltin Oleg vs. Ryohei Oiwa