Hiromu Takahashi And Chris Jericho Made Wrestle Kingdom Challenges At NJPW Power Struggle

Power Struggle is usually a show that sees dramatic things happen in New Japan Pro Wrestling, and the 2019 edition was no exception. On November 3 in Osaka, two popular wrestlers announced Wrestle Kingdom 14 returns to the NJPW ring, one a dream match between veterans and another a chance for a triumphant comeback after a career-altering injury.

The first surprise appearance of the night was by Chris Jericho, via video package. After his last NJPW match at Dominion, he got into a scrap with Hiroshi Tanahashi, leading people to think they would have a match at Wrestle Kingdom. (A Sports Illustrated article that reads very much like it was fed to SI by Jericho’s agent basically announced the match a few months later.) At Power Struggle, Jericho targeted Tanahashi again with a creepy video that played after a tag match the Ace won for his team.

Jericho said it would be Tanahashi's last match!!

Sign up Now & Stay tuned to https://t.co/Tj7UBJ4PjP#njwk14 @tanahashi1_100 vs. @IAmJericho #njpw #njpst #njpwworld pic.twitter.com/xYrtfmDAGI

— njpwworld (@njpwworld) November 3, 2019

Jericho declared in the video that on January 5 at the Tokyo Dome, it will be “The Painmaker vs. The Ace. It’s going to be a classic match. It’s also going to be your last match.” The Osaka audience responded enthusiastically to this challenge, which Tanahashi accepted right there in the ring, grabbing a mic and saying (as translated by Chris Charlton on English commentary), “Jericho! As it just so happens, I don’t have any plans for the Tokyo Dome.”

There was no sneak attack by the AEW World Champion, but there’s plenty of time for that, and his current title was not mentioned, something that seems much more unlikely to happen in the future. AEW and NJPW continue to have no public relationship and have never acknowledged each other onscreen outside of Kenny Omega’s Undertale-themed entrance video on last week’s Dynamite.