Another title bout has been made official for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 17.
New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that Taiji Ishimori would defend his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against El Desperado, Hiromu Takahashi, and Master Wato in a four-way bout at the event on January 4, 2023. NJPW issued the following:
“The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship will be on the line when Taiji Ishimori defends against Master Wato, Hiromu Takahashi and El Desperado in a four way match. After Ishimori won the junior title at Dontaku on May 1, and defended against Hiromu in Korakuen after Best of the Super Jr., the Bone Soldier appeared to set himself out as the ‘big one’ in a junior heavyweight ‘big three’ consisting of himself, Desperado and Hiromu. Yet Ishimori has been far from a fighting champion. After refusing to grant KUSHIDA a title shot, Master Wato stepped up to fill the void in the wake of the Timesplitter’s illness, and stunned the champ with Recientemente II. Now Ishimori has no choice but to defend his title against not one but three contenders, but will do so with the longest gap between title matches in the belt’s 35 year history. Is Ishimori more concerned about his champion status than he’s let on up to this point?”