Background The January 4 Tokyo Dome Show is NJPW's biggest
annual event and has been called "the largest professional wrestling show in the world outside of the United States" and the "Japanese equivalent to the
Super Bowl". The show has been promoted under the Wrestle Kingdom name since
2007. NJPW announced Wrestle Kingdom 15 for January 4 and 5, 2021 on October 18, 2020, during the
G1 Climax 30 finals. This marked the second time that Wrestle Kingdom took place over two nights. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, Wrestle Kingdom 15 originally had a limited attendance capacity of 20,000 for both nights. On December 29, NJPW stopped ticket sales due to tighter restrictions on large-scale events in Tokyo. On December 20, NJPW's sister promotion
World Wonder Ring Stardom announced that they would host a match on the January 5 event.
Storylines On October 18, 2020,
Kota Ibushi won the
G1 Climax 30 by defeating
Sanada in the finals, entitling him to a match for both the
IWGP Heavyweight Championship and
IWGP Intercontinental Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 15. Ibushi unsuccessfully defended his Right to Challenge contract at
Power Struggle on November 7, losing the contract to
Jay White. On November 8, Naito announced that he would defend the titles against both Ibushi and White on the two nights, Ibushi on night 1 and White on night 2. On October 16, 2020,
Will Ospreay defeated
Kazuchika Okada in their A Block G1 Climax match, after interference from
Bea Priestley and the returning young lion
Tomoyuki Oka who was on an excursion at
Revolution Pro Wrestling, performing under the ring name Great-O-Khan. After the match Ospreay turned heel when he attacked Okada; in the post-match interview Ospreay announced he left
Chaos and formed a new stable, later called
The Empire. At Power Struggle, Okada defeated Great-O-Khan; after the match, Ospreay challenged Okada to a match at Wrestle Kingdom 15 which Okada accepted. On December 11,
Hiromu Takahashi defeated
El Desperado to win the
Best of the Super Juniors tournament; after the match, Takahashi said he wanted to face the
Super J-Cup winner before facing the
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. On December 12,
El Phantasmo won the Super J-Cup by defeating
A. C. H. and accepted Takahashi's challenge. NJPW announced that Takahashi and El Phantasmo would face each other on night 1 at Wrestle Kingdom 15 with the winner facing
Taiji Ishimori on night 2 for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. On August 21, 2020,
Kenta defeated
David Finlay to win the
New Japan Cup USA tournament, which entitled him to a match for the
IWGP United States Championship. During Road to Tokyo Dome on December 22,
Juice Robinson challenged Kenta to a match for Kenta's Right to Challenge contract at Wrestle Kingdom. However, Robinson would suffer an injury to his orbital bone, and NJPW subsequently named
Satoshi Kojima as Robinson's replacement. ==Results==