Last night’s NJPW Battle In The Valley special from San Jose saw top superstar Kazuchika Okada defeat Buddy Matthews in singles-competition, a victory that would be short-lived due to what happened next.
The Rainmaker would be confronted by longtime rival Will Ospreay, who carried his IWGP World Heavyweight championship, a title he never lost but was forced to relinquish due to an injury earlier this year. The new champion, Shingo Takagi, will be defending the title against Okada on night one of NJPW’s biggest show of the year, WrestleKingdom 16.
Ospreay would later issue a challenge to the winner of Takagi and Okada for night two of WrestleKingdom, stating that the question of who is the promotion’s top champion will finally be answered. NJPW has yet to officially confirm the bout, but an announcement is expected in the coming days.
Read a full recap of Ospreay and Okada’s confrontation here.