Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi will take place afterall.
Following the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion’s successful defense against Evil at Power Struggle, Naito did his press conference and discussed Kota Ibushi losing his G1 Climax contract (Transcript courtesy of njpw1972.com):
"January 4, I want to face Kota Ibushi. Yes, Ibushi put his contract on the line and lost to Jay White. So he shouldn't have a right to a title match at the Tokyo Dome. Yet both of us were in the G1 Climax, and he won it, not me. He won it back to back, not me. That hurt, and I want to get revenge for that. I think Jay should respect that. I beat Ibushi January 4 and face him on January 5. There should be no problem with that. Sorry to Jay, but I want to face Ibushi more. So that's my official request."
Ibushi and Naito had a lengthy rivalry back in early 2019, with the Los Ingobernables de Japon leader last beating the 38-year-old for the IWGP Intercontinental title at Dominion 2019. Naito will have his work cut out for him at Wrestle Kingdom 15 as he’ll fight Jay White on Night Two, if he successfully defends his belts against Ibushi on Night One.