Wrestle Kingdom 18 Preview: Confirmed Matches, Start Time and How to Watch

Wrestle Kingdom 18 will mark the beginning of the WWE WrestleMania season and as is tradition, New Japan Pro Wrestling always ensures they begin each year with a bang thanks to some incredible in-ring action for every year’s Wrestle Kingdom event.

Wrestle Kingdom 18 presented by New Japan Pro Wrestling on January 4 at the Tokyo Dome, promises a lineup of major matches featuring global wrestling stars and multiple title bouts. Wrestle Kingdom 18 will air at 1:30 a.m. ET and fans can stream the event on NJPWWorld.com.

At Wrestle Kingdom 18, SANADA defends the IWGP World Heavyweight Title against former teammate Tetsuya Naito. SANADA left Los Ingobernables de Japon, defeating Kazuchika Okada for the title in April last year. Naito, the G1 Climax winner, earned a shot at the title.

In a notable bout, AEW’s Bryan Danielson faces Kazuchika Okada, marking his Tokyo Dome debut. Their history includes Danielson’s win at last year’s AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door event.

Moxley, Will Ospreay, and David Finlay will be squaring off against each other in order to determine the first-ever IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. They even unveiled the new title today in preparation for the event.

Wrestle Kingdom 18 (1/4/24) Lineup:

• IWGP World Heavyweight Championship Match: SANADA (champion) vs. Tetsuya Naito
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson
• Inaugural IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship Match: Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match: Hiromu Takahashi (champion) vs. El Desperado
• NJPW World Television Championship Match: Zack Sabre Jr. (champion) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi
• NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Shingo Takagi (champion) vs. Tama Tonga
• IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match: Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney (champion) vs. TJP & Francesco Akira
• Winner Takes All Tag Team Title Match: IWGP Tag Team Champions Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions Hikuleo & El Phantasmo
• Yuya Uemura vs. Yota Tsuji
• Kaito Kiyomiya & Shota Umino vs. Ren Narita & EVIL
• New Japan Rambo (final four advance to New Year’s Dash for KOPW 2024 belt): Competitors TBA

As a reminder, Ringside News will be providing live play-by-play coverage for Wrestle Kingdom 18. The event has a ton of hype behind it, so we’ll have to see whether Wrestle Kingdom 18 will surpass all expectations.

What matches or moments are you most looking forward to at Wrestle Kingdom 18? Be sure to leave us a comment below.