NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 Main Event Locked In
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA has carved a path through the members of his former stable Los Ingobernables de Japon. His first title defense was against Hiromu Takahashi, he conquered Yota Tsuji, and on Monday he bested his former tag partner EVIL. With that victory, the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 18 is now set.
NJPW has confirmed that SANADA's next IWGP World Heavyweight Championship defense will be against G1 Climax 33 Winner and his former compatriot, LIJ leader Tetsuya Naito, with the two facing off on January 4 in the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 18 in the Tokyo Dome.
It's on!
January 4 2024
IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
Tetsuya Naito vs SANADA#njdest report:https://t.co/4LaR95YoYcBuy tickets worldwide!https://t.co/eRt6rYrRMe#njdest #njwk18 pic.twitter.com/a3dfO9JNV5
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) October 9, 2023
SANADA is now a member of the Just 5 Guys stable, which also includes DOUKI, Taichi, TAKA Michinoku, and the recently added Yuya Uemura, who joined the faction on Monday, replacing the traitorous Yoshinobu Kanemaru, who betrayed the group to join Bullet Club's House of Torture.
SANADA and Naito had been faction mates going back to 2016, when SANADA became the fourth member of the group. SANADA turned his back on LIJ on January 5 of this year at NJPW's New Year's Dash event in Tokyo, joining up with TAKA, Kanemaru, DOUKI, and Taichi, who had previously been a part of Suzuki-gun before the group disbanded in 2022 at the behest of leader Minoru Suzuki.
Just 5 Guys lit the fire under SANADA that he'd apparently been lacking, as he won the New Japan Cup and then went on to defeat Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in April at Sakura Genesis in Ryogoku.