First of two festive nights in Korakuen
December 21 sees the first of two nights in Korakuen Hall, as we count down to both the end of the year and Wrestle Kingdom 18 starting the new one. Tonight sees two title matches, and the return of a mystery equine grappler…
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Main event: NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championships- Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii vs United Empire (Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & HENARE)
2023 records
Kazuchika Okada 58/35/2 (61.1%WR), 12/4 (75%WR) singles. IWGP World Heavyweight Champion (January 4- April 8), NEVER Openweight 6 Man Champion May 3-present
Hiroshi Tanahashi 62/33/1 (64.6% WR), 8/8 (50% WR) singles. NEVER Openweight 6 Man Champion May 3-present
Tomohiro Ishii 68/52/1 (56.2% WR), 4/9 (30.8% WR) singles. NEVER Openweight 6 Man Champion May 3-present
HENARE 70/39 (64.2%WR), 10/9 (52.6%WR) singles
Great-O-Khan 75/42/1 (63.6% WR), 9/9/1 (47.4% WR) singles. RevPro Undisputed British Champion (January 1- July 9 )
Jeff Cobb 51/28/2 (63% WR), 8/6/2 (50% WR) singles.
The last championship match of 2023 will see the NEVER Six Man titles at stake, Ishii, Tanahashi and Okada defending the titles for a seventh time against the United Empire side of HENARE, Jeff Cobb and Great-O-Khan. While many suspected that this trio would never last long, even after they won the titles at Dontaku in May, the team of hall of famers has racked up six defences in a seven month span, and is just shy of the record nine set by Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI and Ishii himself.
It’s Ishii that’s the focal point of this defence. The Stone Pitbull was pinned by HENARE to send he and Toru Yano crashing out of World Tag league, and in the moments after his defeat was tossed rudely from the ring by the Face of Fury. While HENARE and Great-O-Khan commented that they could target the ROH 6 Man titles held by the Mogul Embassy at any point, the Maori Warrior realised that he had pinned both Ishii and Tanahashi in the last two years. Cobb meanwhile is one of few blotches on Okada’s record in recent history, and that’s led to confident challengers heading into Korakuen. With a lot on the plate mentally for Tanahashi and Okada with big matches to come at Wrestle Kingdom, might United Empire be too much of a force even for the impressive champions to overcome?
7th Match: KOPW2023 Championship- Taichi vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Singles record:1-0 Kanemaru
2023 records
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