During NJPW’s Road to Tokyo Dome show last Sunday, the company officially announced the retirement of the KOPW Championship and the creation of the annual Ranbo for this January’s Wrestle Kingdom 19 show to determine who will challenge for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
This comes after Great-O-Khan announced on last Sunday’s Road to Tokyo Dome show that he was retiring the KOPW Title and that he wanted the annual Ranbo to be for an IWGP Heavyweight Championship Match.
You can check out the full announcement below:
KOPW title to be retired; Wrestle Kingdom Ranbo announced!
Big stakes for Wrestle Kingdom kickoff
A controversial end to December 22’s main event saw the KOPW 2024 Championship surrounded by controversy. A draw was the result of the main event, after Taichi and Great-O-Khan went down to a double KO. O-Khan was decalred the KOPW Champion with the title retained on a draw, but took to the microphone with an important declaration.
O-Khan said that he was retiring the KOPW title, and had one last act as the champion. The Dominator stated that in place of the KOPW Ranbo that has started recent Wrestle Kingdom events, this year the Ranbo should grant the winner a match for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. Now, an impending challenger after Wrestle Kingdom and Wrestle Dynasty will be determined in the first bout of the new year!
