Wrestle Kingdom 18 will include a match between two of NJPW's top up-and-coming stars.
Yuya Uemura vs. Yota Tsuji was set up for Wrestle Kingdom 18 at Friday's Road to Tokyo Dome event. With a pinfall victory over Tsuji in a six-man tag bout, Uemura earned a singles match between the two.
Uemura, Taichi & SANADA defeated Tsuji, Tetsuya Naito & Shingo Takagi in the main event of Friday's show. It was the final NJPW event before Wrestle Kingdom.
Tsuji had said that he would only face Uemura in a singles match if Uemura scored a direct pinfall over him. Uemura won the match with a crucifix pin.
NJPW wrote:
The match came back to Uemura and Tsuji, Heat Storm being willed on by his teammates as he escaped a Tsuji combination to hit an uranage. The match breaking down and LIJ getting involved, Tsuji mocked Uemura with a Young Lion esque Boston Crab; after Taichi made the save, Tsuji persisted with a Curb Stomp and set for the Gene Blaster but was surprised with an armdrag and crucifix pin.
Post match, Uemura made reference to a promise Tsuji had made the night prior- that for a singles match between the two to happen Uemura needed a direct pinfall. Uemura issued his challenge and Tsuji accepted for Wrestle Kingdom.
Wrestle Kingdom is NJPW's biggest event of the year. It takes place from the Tokyo Dome annually on January 4.
Here's the updated card for Wrestle Kingdom 18:
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