Shingo Takagi is ready to meet Jon Moxley on Moxley's terms at Wrestle Kingdom 21. NJPW released Takagi's backstage comments this morning after he signed on for a Special Unbound Deathmatch against Moxley at the Tokyo Dome on January 4, and he admitted he still has a losing record against Moxley. Check out the official post down below:
Takagi spoke after his tag match at Power Struggle on November 3 in Hiroshima, where he teamed with Jeff Cobb to beat Moxley and Wheeler Yuta. Cobb pinned Yuta, and Takagi laid Yuta out with a Death Rider DDT after the match.
"Like I said in the ring... We gotta do it! At the Tokyo Dome on January 4th, Shingo Takagi vs. Moxley. That rule is fine, right?" Takagi said. "Moxley, this is what you want, isn't it? You wanna open a dangerous door, huh? Right? Fine. Let's do it. I'll play your game."
Takagi Is 0-2 Against Moxley
The match gives Takagi another chance at a man he has never beaten. "I'm 0-2 against you. I can't leave things like this," he said. "To go to the next step, I have to beat him. And I have to do it at his own game. I will."
One of those losses came at Battle in the Valley on January 13, 2024, when Moxley beat Takagi in a No DQ match. This time, the stipulation goes further. NJPW confirmed the match on November 4 and described the rules this way:
Takagi also brought up NJPW's new ownership. "TV Asahi became our parent company this year but I don't care about that. I don't care if I'm on TV or not," he said. "This is a fight between two men. I'm a professional wrestler." He added, "Let's have a dangerous and unbound deathmatch. Let's do it at Tokyo Dome on January 4th."
A Mixed Tag Match With Natsupoi Comes First
Before the Tokyo Dome, Takagi will face his Power Struggle partner. "And Jeff Cobb... I teamed with you tonight. But we're facing off at Bound for Unbound on November 20th," he said, naming the mixed tag match of Jeff Cobb and Chihiro Hashimoto against Takagi and Natsupoi at Korakuen Hall. "My cute wife, Natsupoi, is looking forward to the match. Sound good? ... That's interesting. What an unbound match that is!"
Takagi is also entered in World Tag League 2026, which starts November 23 at Yokohama Budokan and ends with the final on December 13 in Kumamoto. He teams with Drilla Moloney as War Dragons in B Block for the 2nd straight year after they picked up 4 wins last year. The winning team earns a shot at the IWGP Tag Team Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 21, and the tournament streams live in English on NJPW World.
The Wrestle Kingdom 21 Card So Far
NJPW made 7 matches official for January 4 at a press conference with president Hiroshi Tanahashi on November 4:
- Yota Tsuji (c) vs. Kenny Omega for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship
- Gabe Kidd (c) vs. Yuya Uemura for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
- Shingo Takagi vs. Jon Moxley in an Unbound Deathmatch
- Will Ospreay vs. Callum Newman
- MJF vs. Ryohei Oiwa
- YOH (c) vs. SHO for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, with SHO forced to leave House of Torture and reunite with YOH in RPG3K if he loses
- Kosei Fujita and Robbie Eagles vs. Robbie X and Taiji Ishimori vs. Mistico and a partner to be announced for the vacant IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships
Omega earned his title match by winning a 3-way with Tsuji and Boltin Oleg at Power Struggle. MJF's match with Oiwa will be his first in an NJPW ring. For a look back at the last Tokyo Dome show, see the Wrestle Kingdom 20 results.
Can Shingo Takagi finally beat Jon Moxley with no countouts and no disqualifications, or does an Unbound Deathmatch play right into Moxley's hands?
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.