A new contender was crowned at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19.
Hirooki Goto won the New Japan Ranbo battle royal at the show. In doing so, he earned a future shot at the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. The match came down to Goto and Great-O-Khan, and Goto emerged victorious.
Josh Barnett, Alex Zayne, KENTA, Yuji Nagata, Oleg Boltin, YOSHI-HASHI, Togi Makabe, Toru Yano, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yujiro Takahashi, Tomoaki Honma, Satoshi Kojima, Tomohiro Ishii, SANADA, and Taichi also competed in the match.
The New Japan Ranbo was previously for the KOPW Title, but Great-O-Khan retired the championship in December and proposed that the winner would earn a world title shot.
Zack Sabre Jr. is currently the reigning IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. He beat Shota Umino to retain the title in the main event of NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19. There is currently no word on when he will defend the title.
Goto is a two-time IWGP Intercontinental Champion and five-time IWGP Tag Team Champion, among other accolades. He has won the G1 Climax, and he is a three-time New Japan Cup winner.
