IWGP World Heavyweight Title To Be Defended At NJPW Battle In The Valley

The IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will be defended at New Japan Pro-Wrestling's Battle in the Valley event in San Jose, California on February 18. NJPW announced that the winner of the upcoming match between champion Kazuchika Okada and Shingo Takagi at The New Beginning event in Osaka, Japan on February 11 will go on to defend the championship one week later in the United States.

Takagi is the longest reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion to date, having held the belt for 211 days. Takagi beat Okada at NJPW's Dominion event in 2021 to win the title that had been vacated by Will Ospreay due to an injury. Eventually, Takagi lost the championship to Okada at Wrestle Kingdom 16.

Okada won the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship for the second time earlier this month at Wrestle Kingdom 17, where he dethroned "Switchblade" Jay White. White himself had won the belt from Okada at last June's Dominion event.

Following White's loss at Wrestle Kingdom, it's been reported that he may be exiting NJPW soon to come to America full-time. The exact timing for White's contract ending is unknown, but is said to be "relatively soon." Whether he would land in WWE or AEW remains to be seen, but it appears both companies have an interest in signing the former champion.

White is currently slated for a "Loser Leaves Japan” match against former Bullet Club stablemate, Hikuleo, at The New Beginning in Osaka. Potential results of that match are made even murkier by recent reporting that Hikuleo has drawn the interest of WWE.