Mayu Iwatani will defend her IWGP Women’s Championship for the first time in the Tokyo Dome at Wrestle Kingdom 19 against AZM.
Following her successful defense against Momo Watanabe at Historic X-Over II, Mayu Iwatani expressed her interest in competing at Wrestle Kingdom as champion. Shortly after, AZM entered the ring to issue the official challenge.
Mayu Iwatani apologized to AZM for keeping her waiting before making the match official. AZM first expressed interest in challenging for the belt after defeating her in this year’s 5 Star Grand Prix. Unfortunately for AZM, “Timeless” Toni Storm and Momo Watanabe got their title matches with Mayu first.
NJPW then confirmed the match for Wrestle Kingdom 19 later on after the show.
This marks only the second time in history that the IWGP Women’s Championship will be defended at Wrestle Kingdom. The first time was back in Wrestle Kingdom 17, where KAIRI defeated Tam Nakano to retain the title. Mercedes Moné then proceeded to make her Japanese wrestling debut after the match.
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