Big Name Absent from Wrestle Kingdom 13 Poster
New Japan has released the official poster for their biggest card of the year. Wrestle Kingdom 13 will be taking place on January 4th from the world famous Tokyo Dome.
The poster features Kenny Omega, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Kota Ibushi, Kazuchika Okada, KUSHIDA, Jay White and Tetsuya Naito. One of the biggest omissions from the poster is the IWGP Intercontinental Champion Chris Jericho.
Chris Jericho recently returned to New Japan Pro Wrestling at the Power Struggle event in Osaka, Japan. The IWGP Intercontinental Champion defended successfully against EVIL after locking him in a Walls of Jericho that transitioned into a Liontamer.
When Jericho would not release the submission Tetsuya Naito appeared and forced Jericho to retreat to the back. Naito then issued a direct challenge to Y2J for the Intercontinental Championship. It is not yet known whether this bout will be taking place at Wrestle Kingdom or Madison Square Garden in April.
Jericho appeared in a backstage interview following the win and declared that he would not face Tetsuya Naito. Chris Jericho stated that as he already beat Naito at Dominion earlier this year that there would be no rematch. Jericho even went as far to say that it definitely wouldn’t happen at “Wrestle Kingdom, Madison Square Garden or anywhere.”
There’s a good chance that NJPW consciously left Jericho off of the poster. Whilst Y2J is a big international star the emphasis appears to be on ‘homegrown’ talents. Kenny Omega and Jay White certainly found their feet in the company and the surrounding talents are native Japanese stars.
