New Japan Pro Wrestling is officially on the road to next year's Wrestle Kingdom. NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 occurs on January 4, 2024, and has the potential to be a fascinating show. While the event seems to have a main event, there is speculation that the company could have the fans vote on what should be the headliner.

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 has eight matches, including the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship match. The company is expected to add more matches to show before finalizing the card over the next month. However, one of the biggest featured contests that fans are anticipating on the card is a non-title rematch between Kazuchika Okada and All Elite Wrestling talent Bryan Danielson.

In their first encounter at AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door on June 25, "The American Dragon" won a rare submission over Okada. Looking for revenge, Okada hopes to get a win in the Tokyo Dome for NJPW. As an anticipated rematch and Danielson's return to NJPW, it has sparked questions about it being worthy of the upcoming show's main event.

Currently, the main event of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18 will have IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA defending his title against Tetsuya Naito. The challenger earned the opportunity to compete against his former ally by winning the G1 Climax 33. While SANADA and Naito's matchup has championship stakes involved and has a story behind the feud, it's not the only big match on the card.

NJPW potentially allowing fan voting could sway the company from making a significant change for another match to the main event of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18. The last time this happened was NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 14 when fans voted for Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shinsuke Nakamura to compete for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship in the main event instead of Okada and Naito for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

In an interview with Tokyo Sports, Okada spoke about the potential of NJPW reviving fan voting and didn't like the idea.

Tokyo Sports' Yusuke Okamoto transcribed the following quotes.

"...I want New Japan to focus on IWGP battles, so I hope they don't waver. But, well...if I have to do it, I'll do it. I guess it's okay to just do what I have to do," said Okada.

It's unclear if NJPW is going to commit to doing fan voting for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18. However, the decision to allow it would cause debate amongst wrestling fans as to what deserves to be the main event of NJPW's biggest show of the year.