New Japan Pro Wrestling presents King of Pro Wrestling on Monday at Ryogoku Kokugikan in Tokyo, Japan. Due to the time difference, the event will happen late Sunday night and early Monday morning for North American viewers. King of Pro Wrestling is traditionally one of the company’s biggest events of the year.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Interestingly, King of Pro Wrestling is always held on the second Monday of each October in Japan, which is a national public holiday (Health and Sports Day). The show originated in October 2012. The event typically features the final defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship until WrestleKingdom (the company’s biggest show of the year) in January.
This year, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kenny Omega will put the title on the line at King of Pro Wrestling against both Kota Ibushi and Cody in a triple threat match. Given the history Omega has with Ibushi as part of the Golden Lovers tag team and Cody in the Bullet Club, there is a great amount of interest in this match.
The full card for King of Pro Wrestling 2018 is below.
IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match
Kenny Omega (c) vs. Kota Ibushi vs. CodyIWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship Match
Marty Scurll vs. KUSHIDA (the title is currently vacant)Winner Will Receive Title Match at WrestleKingdom
Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay WhiteIWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match
El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c) vs. Jushin “Thunder” Liger and Tiger MaskEVIL vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, and Roppongi 3K vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, BUSHI and a mystery partner
Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, and Will Ospreay vs. Minoru Suzuki, Taichi, and Takashi Iizuka
The Young Bucks, Hangman Page, and Chase Owens vs. Guerrillas of Destiny, Bad Luck Fale, and Taiji Ishimori
Togi Makabe and Tomoak Honma vs. Juice Robinson and Toa Henare
How To Watch: King of Pro Wrestling will air on NJPW World, which is NJPW’s online streaming service. The event will air both live and on demand after its conclusion. The service costs 999 Japanese Yen per month, which translates to about $8.40 American. It is well worth that price. Users can watch via laptop or iPad, which can also be cast to a television using HDMI, Apple TV, or Chromecast. If you have an Amazon Firestick, you’re in luck as NJPW World has an official app on that device.
When To Watch: If you want to watch the show live, be prepared to stay up late. It will begin at 4:00 a.m. Eastern time. For those of us that don’t have that kind of physical ability, enjoy on demand anytime following the event’s conclusion.
