NJPW Wrestle Grand Slam In Tokyo Dome To Go Ahead Despite State Of Emergency

Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome will proceed as planned despite the state of emergency in Japan, New Japan Pro-Wrestling announced today. 

Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga announced a new state of emergency in Tokyo on Thursday that will run from July 12 until August 22 amidst rising COVID-19 cases.

"New cases in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area have been rising since June. Stronger measures have become necessary in those areas, but could be lifted early if we see evidence of the positive impact of the vaccine rollout," Suga said.

Despite the announcement, NJPW will go ahead with Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome, but ticket sales will be halted at midnight JST on Sunday, July 11. 

This is the second time NJPW has restricted ticket sales for a Tokyo Dome show because of the COVID-19 pandemic. New Japan was forced to adopt similar measures on December 29, 2020, ahead of Wrestle Kingdom 15 due to rising COVID-19 cases at the time. 

Two matches have already been announced for Wrestle Grand Slam in Tokyo Dome. Shingo Takagi will defend the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship against Kota Ibushi in the main event. The KOPW 2021 Trophy will also be on the line during the pre-show in a New Japan Ranbo. A match teased for the show is Dangerous Tekkers vs. Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Title, but the contest has not been made official yet. 

H/T to Japan Times