NJPW Retiring Gimmick-Based Championship Ahead Of Wrestle Kingdom 19

By Sam Palmer
Great-O-Khan making his entrance Etsuo Hara/Getty Images

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19 is rapidly approaching, but one championship will not make it to 2025, as it has been officially retired at one of the company's final events of 2024.

On night four of the company's "Road to Tokyo Dome" tour, Great-O-Khan not only defended his provisional King of Pro Wrestling Championship (or KOPW Championship for short), but in the process became the 2024 champion after drawing with Taichi in a two-out-of-three falls match. After the match, O-Khan took to the microphone to declare that the KOPW Championship would be officially retired heading into 2025, but with one very serious condition. That condition being that the annual NJPW Rambo at Wrestle Kingdom 19, which usually determines who will challenge for the KOPW Championship at New Year Dash!!!, will now determine the number one contender to the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.

The KOPW Championship was originally introduced in 2020 by Kazuchika Okada, who wanted to bring a championship to NJPW that existed on the outskirts of the company for being so different. The title would have a provisional championship to be defended throughout the year, and whoever ended the calendar year as the provisional champion would be crowned the official KOPW Champion. Great-O-Khan retiring the title means that he will recognised as the 2024 KOPW Champion, following in the footsteps of Toru Yano who won the title in 2020 and 2021, Shingo Takagi in 2022, and Taichi in 2023.

O-Khan will also have his hands full after Wrestle Kingdom, as he and a mystery partner will face The Young Bucks at Wrestle Dynasty on January 5 to determine the new IWGP Tag Team Champions. O-Khan was originally the champion alongside HENARE, but was forced to vacate the belt due to his partner sustaining an injury in the 2024 World Tag League tournament.

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