Update On When Fans Will Be Allowed To Cheer At NJPW Shows Again

It was in early July when New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced that fans would be able to cheer again, albeit at a reduced capacity, starting in September for a series of events at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. Now just two weeks before the first show is scheduled, New Japan has revealed which main event matches the fans will be cheering on.

As announced on NJPW's website, three matches will headline the Burning Spirit card on September 5. one is part of the build-up to the Declaration of Power event in October. That match will see G1 Climax 32 winner Kazuchika Okada team with Hiroshi Tanahashi to take on TMDK's JONAH and Shane Haste. JONAH and Okada are set to wrestle at Declaration of Power.

Also announced for the card is a tag match between members of Los Ingobernables de Japon and Bullet Club. Provisional KOPW 2022 provisional champion Shingo Takagi and Hiromu Takahashi will battle KENTA and El Phantasmo, in what will be ELP's official debut in the heavyweight division after declaring his intentions to move up a weight class at the G1 final. The last match announced for the event is a singles match that will see the legendary Minoru Suzuki take on TMDK's Bad Dude Tito.

The show on September 5 will be the first for NJPW to encourage crowd noise since February 2020. However, as noted, the addition of crowd noise will force NJPW to run at half capacity, reducing a potential crowd of 2,000 at Korakuen Hall to no more than 1,000.