EDION Arena sees stacked card
November 4 will see Power Struggle come to EDION Arena in Osaka. The traditional November Osaka card comes exactly two months before Wrestle Kingdom, and major road will be paved on the road to Tokyo Dome tonight.
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Main event: IWGP US (UK) Championships: Shota Umino vs Will Ospreay
Singles record: 3-0 Ospreay
The main event of the evening will see Will ospreay put the IWGP US and UK belts on the line against Shota Umino. After Ospreay defended the IWGP UK title against Zack Sabre Jr. in London October 14, he was confronted by Umino, who requested that both belts be brought to the EDION Arena. Umino has a deep personal connection to Osaka, having met Jon Moxley in the town while Mox was IWGP US Champion. That connection to Moxley and Osaka has made the US title deeply important to Umino, but his time in the UK, where the Roughneck started his competitive relationship with Ospreay has made the UK title of equal significance.
Umino finds himself confronting aspects of his past on November 4 in order to truly carve out his future as the ignition of a ‘paradigm shift’ in professional wrestling. 0-3 to Ospreay, will Osaka be the scene of a ‘Shooter Shock’? Or will the best in the world retain his dual crowns?
9th Match: Hiromu Takahashi vs Taiji Ishimori
Singles record: 5-3 Hiromu
One of the rivalries to define NJPW’s junior heavyweight division for the last half decade continues when Taiji Ishimori faces Hiromu Takahashi. Their last meeting in Best of the Super Juniors was ended at the referee’s discretion as Ishimori suffered a cervical spine injury. For months, Ishimori has been driven by revenge and desire to lift the IWGP Junior Championship once more. Hiromu Takahashi has a distinct connection to Power Struggle and EDION Arena over the course of his career- will that result in a seventh defence, or a new champion before Wrestle Kingdom?
8th Match: Super Junior Tag League Final: Catch 2/2 (Francesco Akira & TJP) vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Tag record: 1-0 Catch 2/2
After Catch 2/2 defeated the Intergalactic Jet Setters, and HOUSE OF TORTURE stole a victory from El DespeWato Thursday in Osaka, it’s SHO and Kanemaru versus Akira and TJP in the Super Junior Tag League final. Catch 2/2 know that they can beat HOUSE OF TORTURE, having done so in Ishikawa Wednesday, with the assistance of United Empire driving away H.O.T’s interference. But with a post match attack that night leaving both men reeling, are the odds to great for Catch 2/2 tonight?
7th Match: NEVER Openweight 6 man tag Team Champions- Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr., Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls)
The NEVER Openweight Championships are on the line when Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii and Hiroshi Tanahashi face Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls and Shane Haste. During the Road to Destruction tour, a pair of pins for Sabre on Ishii drew the ire of the Stone Pitbull, and led to this challenge being issued. As effective as the NEVER Openweight Champions have been, this may be the most complete team that they have faced. With bonds stemming from time together in the NOAH Dojo, will that be the key to new NEVER Champions?
6th Match: Great-O-Khan vs Jon Moxley
As a condition for Will Ospreay to accept Shota Umino’s challenge in our main event, Great-O-Khan will face Jon Moxley. After a turbulent 2023, O-Khan’s plan is to use Moxley as a stepping stone to AEW World Championship gold at Wrestle Kingdom 18. Moxley is no stepping stone to anyone; will this be reinforced Saturday night, or might O-Khan get the biggest result of his year?
5th Match: Tanga Loa vs David Finlay
Tanga Loa goes head to head with David Finlay in Osaka. Back at Destruction in Ryogoku, Finlay thought he would breeze to victory over Tama Tonga, but it was a DSD that sealed Finlay’s fate and ended his NEVER Openweight Championship reign. Then, days later, Tanga Loa underscored that point with a pinfall over Finlay in London. Finlay is in bad need of a a chance to get back on the horse- with the Rebel unable to bring either gold or bodies to BULLET CLUB, might Loa be sacrificed on Finlay’s quest back to title contention?
4th Match: Just Five Guys (Yuya Uemura & SANADA) vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Yota Tsuji & Tetsuya Naito)
A key preview of Wrestle Kingdom 18 pits SANADA and Yuya Uemura opposite Tetsuya Naito and Yota Tsuji. Tsuji and Uemura, tied together from day one of their professional careers, are destined for many a Wrestle Kingdom main event opposite one another, and will continue their generational rivalry while Naito and SANADA’s Wrestle Kingdom future is much closer at hand.
3rd Match: Kevin Knight, KUSHIDA & Tama Tonga vs Los Ingobernables De Japon (Titan, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi)
Six man action will see a highlight of earlier in the Super Junior Tag League between Intergalactic Jet Setters and Los Ingobernables De Japon’s Titan and BUSHI run back. Meanwhile brand new NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi will face off against former champion Tama Tonga. The Dragon has a defence in Texas against Trent Beretta coming up November 10, but will Tama be able to inject himself back in the NEVER hunt as well?
2nd Match: Junior Special Four Way: Musashi Komatsu (YOH & MUSASHI) vs Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) vs El DespeWato (El Desperado & Master Wato) vs BULLET CLUB War Dogs (Drilla Moloney & Clark Connors)
While the top two Super Junior Tag league point scorers face off later in the night, four more of the best collide in a special exhibition four way. More is at stake for BULLET CLUB War Dogs, who were beaten by both the Ichiban Sweet Boys and El DespeWato during the league; can Connors and Moloney show their dominance and stop a parade of contenders from stepping up?
1st Match: Young Blood (Oskar Leube & Yuto Nakashima) vs United Empire (Callum Newman & Jeff Cobb)
Oskar Leube and Yuto Nakashima bring a taste of Young Blood in our opening bout as this promising pair of Young Lions face the harsh test of Prince of Pace Callum Newman and the Imperial unit Jeff Cobb.
Kickoff: Frontier Zone: Boltin Oleg, Ryusuke Taguchi & The DKC vs DRAGON GATE (Strong Machine J, Mochizuki Jr. & Yoshiki Kato)
Before the main card in Osaka, the Funky Fire team of Taguchi and The DKC will join Boltin Oleg to take on the DRAGON GATE trio of Strong machine J, Mochizuki Jr. and Yoshiki Kato. How will Funky Fire and Boltin fare against three of DRAGON GATE’s most promising young talents?
