Heavily Praised Star Loses Championship Amid Contract Uncertainty

Published: Jan 4, 2025 by Sanchez Taylor | Last Updated: Jan 4, 2025 by Sanchez Taylor

Sanchez has over six years of pro-wrestling news writing experience, covering the biggest news stories in WWE, NXT, AEW, TNA Wrestling and more. He has personally interviewed a number of top stars, producing exclusive content with the likes of AEW's Swerve Strickland and WWE's Nick Aldis.

AEW

A heavily praised star dropped his championship at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 19, just days following reports that his contract would be up soon.

Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful reported on December 29 that Kevin Knight’s NJPW contract was set to expire in ‘the next few days’, despite Knight being scheduled to defend his IWGP Jr Tag Team Championship at the January 4 Wrestle Kingdom 19 event.

While no news has emerged on Knight’s contract status since then, Knight is now no longer a champion with NJPW.

Knight and Kushida defended their gold in a four-way ladder match on January 4, defending their gold against Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney, TJP & Francesco Akira, and Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita.

Eagles and Fujita were ultimately victorious, ending Knight and Kushida’s reign with the IWGP Jr Tag Team Championship.

It is currently unclear whether Knight re-signed with NJPW ahead of this title defence, or if this was his last match with the promotion.

Fightful’s original report indicated that NJPW was interested in retaining Knight, with contract negotiations expected to begin soon at the time of writing.

Knight recently received praise from a number of top names following Fightful’s contract expiry report, with WWE’s Natalya stating that he’s ‘really f**king good’, and Hall of Famer Mark Henry believing he’s ‘ready for the big time’.

We will continue to provide updates on Kevin Knight’s status as they become available.