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What’s the Story?
Wrestle Kingdom 12 will take place on Thursday, Jan. 4. 2018 and will air on AXS TV two days later on Saturday, Jan. 6, according to a report published on Wrestling Inc.
In case you didn’t know...
Wrestle Kingdom is New Japan Pro Wrestling's biggest show and will feature several marquee matches including Tetsuya Naito challenging Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and Chris Jericho returning to NJPW for the first time in over 20 years to challenge Kenny Omega for the IWGP United States Championship.
The heart of the matter
The Jan. 6 broadcast will be a three-hour special airing at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific featuring the three headlining matches of Wrestle Kingdom 12 including Omega vs. Jericho, Okada vs. Naito and Jay White challenging Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.
Other matches from Wrestle Kingdom 12 will air over the course of five episodes a week later starting Friday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. Eastern/5 p.m. Pacific.
AXS TV airing matches from Wrestle Kingdom 12 so fast marks the fastest turnaround for NJPW content in their history. Wrestle Kingdom 11 took place on Jan. 4, 2017, but the show would air in four parts a week later on Jan. 13.
AXS TV also announced that they will be airing an eight-hour NJPW marathon prior to the start of the Jan. 6 broadcast of Wrestle Kingdom 12 at 12 p.m. Eastern /9 a.m. Pacific.
The marathon will not only feature some of the best matches of 2017 but matches that laid the foundation for Wrestle Kingdom 12 including Omega winning the IWGP United States Championship, the finals of the G1 Climax with Omega and Naito and more.
What’s next?
AXS TV is available in the United States via AT&T U-Verse, Comcast/Xfinity, DIRECT TV, DISH Network, Sling TV and other cable providers.
The NJPW streaming service, NJPW World, is another way to view to Wrestle Kingdom 12 and other content.
Author’s take
The anticipation for Wrestle Kingdom got that much bigger from this announcement and there’s still a month left before the show.
