Wrestle Kingdom 11: How to watch, start time & event info

The biggest show of the year for New Japan Pro Wrestling is just under a handful of hours away and we have all the info you need to tune in below.

NJPWWorld subscribers can watch Wrestle Kingdom 11 on January 4th beginning at 3 a.m. ET on NJPWWorld.com. If you don’t already have a subscription, it only costs 999 yen a month (that converts to into just under 8 U.S Dollars and 50 cents as of this moment) and it’s more than worth it considering their deep catalog and consistent outpouring of live events. This particular event will be available with English commentary thanks to Kevin Kelly and Steve Corino. Tomorrow’s ‘New Year Dash’ event, which is comparable to the RAW after WrestleMania, can also be heard in English.

In the main event of Wrestle Kingdom 11, G1 Climax tournament winner Kenny Omega will look to collect the top prize in Japan when he takes on Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

Omega had quite the banner year in 2016. After losing his Junior Heavyweight title to Kushida at Wrestle Kingdom 10, ‘The Cleaner’ decided to leave the division in an effort to dethrone Shinsuke Nakamura for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship. The following night at New Year Dash, Omega would delete A.J. Styles from the Bullet Club and take over as the new leader of the group. Unfortunately for Omega and fans of great wrestling, Nakamura would follow Styles to WWE and his title would be vacated; that match would never happen. Fortunately, Omega would take on Hiroshi Tanahashi at The New Beginning in Nigata and would win the title only to lose it to Michael Elgin at Dominion in mid June in the first ever NJPW ladder match. For that moment on, Omega would become a man possessed.

Omega’s run in this year’s G1 Climax was one of the most exciting and extraordinary stories in all of pro wrestling during 2016. His final two matches against Testuya Naito, to earn a spot in the final, and Hirooki Goto, to claim the briefcase, could both easily be argued as the best matches of the year. These performances earned Omega, the first North American to win the G1 nonetheless, a title shot against the face of New Japan, Kazuchika Okada, on the biggest card of the year.

Kazuchika Okada’s biggest achievement came during his 3rd reign as champion when he defeated Tanahashi in the main event of last year’s Wrestle Kingdom show to solidify himself as the top man and the new “Ace,” of New Japan. On the same night that Omega dropped the Intercontinental Title to Elgin, Okada defeated Naito to reclaim his spot atop the division and begin the 65th IWGP Heavyweight Championship reign (his 4th reign) since the belt was introduced in 1987. He’ll look to make his second successful defense during this particular run against a competitor in Omega who is beyond determined to make history inside of the Tokyo Dome.

In the co-main event of the evening, Tanahashi will attempt to become only the 3rd 2-time Intercontinental Champion in the history of the promotion when he takes on Naito for the strap. This will mark the first time since Wrestle Kingdom IV that Tanahashi has not been tapped to closed out the show.

Also of note, Cody Rhodes will make his New Japan debut as the newest member of the Bullet Club when he takes on Juice Robinson in a singles match, the ROH title will be defended when new champion Kyle O’Reilly takes on Adam Cole in a rematch of Final Battle, Hiromu Takahashi will attempt to dethrone Kushida to collect his first piece of New Japan gold and of course, the Tiger Mask W anime series will come to life when he takes on Tiger the Dark. You can check out the finalized card in full below.

1. Pre-Show Match
New Japan Rumble

2. Singles Match
Tiger Mask W vs. Tiger The Dark

3.IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship
The Young Bucks (c) vs. Roppongi Vice

4. NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship (Gauntlet Match)
David Finaly, Ricochet & Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page & Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Chaos (Will Ospreay, Tomohiro Ishii & Yoshi-Hashi) vs. Los Ingobernables (Bushi, Evil & Sanada)

5. Singles Match
Cody (Rhodes) vs. Juice Robinson

6. ROH World Championship
Kyle O’Reilly (c) vs. Adam Cole

7. IWGP Tag Team Championship
Guerrillas of Destiny (c) vs. Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano

8. IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Kushida (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi

9. NEVER Openweight Championship
Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Hirooki Goto

10. IWGP Intercontinental Championship
Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

11. IWGP Heavyweight Championship
Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega