NJPW announced this morning that their anniversary show will be held at Budokan Hall in 2021.
The company’s annual anniversary show is usually held in early March at Ota City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, the site of New Japan’s first ever card that took place on March 6, 1972. This year will mark the 49th anniversary of NJPW’s first card, and next year they will celebrate their 50th anniversary.
In recent years, the main event is usually headlined by the IWGP Heavyweight champion facing the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight champion. In 2019, then Heavyweight champion Jay White defeated Jr. champion Will Ospreay, and in 2018, Heavyweight champion Kazuchika Okada defeated Jr. champion Ospreay.
The 48th Anniversary show was scheduled to take place this year on March 3, with Heavyweight champion Tetsuya Natio facing fellow Los Ingobernables de Japon stablemate Hiromu Takahashi. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was canceled and the match never took place.