Coming off the dramatic conclusion to the G1 Climax 30 tournament, the card for Power Struggle 2020 was announced at a press conference today by NJPW. This card will be headlined by two big-time matches that will finalize the competitors in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 15 at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th and 5th.
Tetsuya Naito will defend the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championships against his former Los Ingobernables de Japon member, EVIL of the Bullet Club, in the main event of Power Struggle. EVIL betrayed Naito earlier this year, following winning the New Japan Cup 2020. The two former friends traded the titles back and forth over the summer and then EVIL defeated Naito in the G1 Climax 30 to set up this match.
The semi main event for Power Struggle will be Kota Ibushi defending his IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Championship Right to Challenge Contract against Switchblade Jay White. Ibushi won the contract by defeating SANADA in the G1 Climax 30 Finals. At the post-match press conference, White challenged Ibushi for this match.
At Power Struggle, we will also see KENTA defend his IWGP US Championship Right to Contract against Hiroshi Tanahashi, Shingo Takagi challenge the NEVER Openweight Champion Minoru Suzuki, Kazuchika Okada meet Great-O-Khan and Toru Yano defend his Provisional KOPW 2020 Title against Zack Sabre Jr.
Power Struggle card
• Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. EVIL - IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship
• Kota Ibushi (c) vs. Jay White - IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship Right To Challenge Contract
• KENTA (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi - IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship Right To Challenge Contract
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Great-O-Khan
• Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Shingo Takagi - NEVER Openweight Championship
• Toru Yano (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr. - Provisional KOPW2002 Trophy
World Tag League 2020 & Best of Super Juniors 27 tournaments to follow Power Struggle
Following Power Struggle 2020, there will be two more tournaments with Wrestle Kingdom implications left to go through. There will be the World Tag League 2020 and Best of Super Juniors 27 tournaments starting on November 15. Both tournaments will go through December 11th, with the winners getting title shots at the Tokyo Dome on January 4th and 5th.
We will have ongoing coverage for Power Struggle 2020 as well as both of these tournaments on our way to Wrestle Kingdom next year.