Stuck right between the G1 Climax Finals on October 18th and the upcoming Best of the Super Juniors/World Tag League double tournament, NJPW will be presenting the 10th annual Power Struggle event on November 7th, 2020. With Wrestle Kingdom 14 looming in the not so distant future, New Japan is pulling out all the stops, with a major NEVER Openweight Championship rematch, the second ever KOPW 2020 matchup, and a double-title main event all set to take place. On top of that, two matches on the card have contractual title shots on the line, making this an extremely pivotal show heading into the winter months.
KOPW 2020 No Corner Pads Match
Toru Yano (c) vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
In a rematch from the B Block of the recent G1 Climax, Zack Sabre Jr. will challenge Toru Yano for the mystical King Of Pro Wrestling 2020 honors. Given Yano’s history using the corner pads as a weapon and Zack’s tendency to foil Yano’s schemes at all costs, it was decided to entirely do away with the corner pads and leave the turnbuckle bare in this match. While Yano is always the favorite when competing in unorthodox match types like this, ZSJ holds that G1 victory over Yano and is entering this match with one of Yano’s favorite tricks already null and void. Could the Technical Wizard outsmart his opponent, or will the Sublime Master Thief hold onto his KOPW trophy in his first defense?
NEVER Openweight Championship Match
Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Shingo Takagi
After a less than stellar G1 run for Minoru Suzuki, the King of Professional Wrestling will look to win what has become a three match series between him and Shingo Takagi. After going to war twice in the past two months, with one win a piece, the rivals are slated to give it one last battle over the NEVER Openweight Title at Power Struggle. While this is only Suzuki’s first defense of his coveted treasure, the NEVER belt has a reputation for being difficult to retain for an extended period of time. Plus, with Takagi having a seemingly endless source of momentum as of late, it will be hard for the King to keep his gold against his fierce rival in Osaka.
Kazuchika Okada vs The Great O-Khan
Following the betrayal of Will Ospreay at the G1 Climax finals, Kazuchicka Okada is attempting to get payback on the man who aided his former stablemate. Fresh off a British excursion that lasted about two years, The Great O-Khan, formerly known as Tomoyuki Oka, has become a thorn in the Rainmaker’s side since aligning with Will Ospreay and Bea Priestley to form The Empire less than a month ago. Okada, who has been considerably weaker since losing the IWGP Heavyweight Championship last winter, would typically be able to defeat someone at O-Khan’s level quite easily, but is looking like the underdog going into this battle. Will O-Khan make a major statement in his singles return, or will the Rainmaker clip the wings of Will Ospreay’s right hand man?
IWGP US Heavyweight Championship Contractual Rights Match
KENTA vs Hiroshi Tanahashi
The next match see’s the winner of the New Japan Cup of America and #1 contender to Jon Moxley’s US Championship, KENTA, battle the Ace of the Universe, Hiroshi Tanahashi. While Tanahashi has been relatively unspectacular since losing the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Titles to Dangerous Tekkers a few months ago, the Ace is looking to get back on the right foot while his Golden Ace partner moves on to bigger and better things. KENTA, on the other had, spent the majority of his competitive year in America competing on New Japan Strong and winning the aforementioned #1 contendership to Jon Moxley’s US Gold. While it is unknown when Jon Moxley will get the chance to grant this title match, both men have more than enough credibility to stake their claim as the face of New Japan in America with a victory in this match.
IWGP Double Championship Contractual Rights Match
Kota Ibushi vs Jay White
In the semi-main event of Power Struggle, Kota Ibushi will battle Jay White for the third time this year. This time, however, Jay White will look to make history as the first man to defeat the incumbent G1 Climax winner for his rights at IWGP Gold. While White has defeated Ibushi in both of their most recent meetings, Ibushi is obviously coming off of the most momentum a wrestler could possibly obtain with his second annual G1 Climax victory occuring last month. Switchblade is also dealing with some internal issues in Bullet Club at the moment, stacking the deck against the possibility of an Ibushi loss at Power Struggle. However, a low chance is more than no chance, and Jay White could prove the wrestling world wrong yet again with a big victory here.
IWGP Heavyweight & Intercontinental Championships Match
Tetsuya Naito(c) vs EVIL
Finally, the Main Event will see yet another clash between the two former stablemates when Tetsuya Naito battles EVIL with the IWGP Double Championship once again up for grabs. After trading wins back and forth since Dominion back in July, this looks to be the final meeting of the two – at least for the foreseeable future. While the presence of Dick Togo is an undeniable threat to El Ingobernable’s championship reign, his win at the Summer Struggle in Jingu proved that he is capable of overcoming that threat if given the opening. EVIL, on the other hand, is likely wanting to prove that his first run with the belts was not a fluke, and carrying them both into the main event of Wrestle Kingdom would do just that.
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can watch Power Struggle as well as tons of other NJPW content on New Japan World.
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