Power Struggle (2016) was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). The event took place on November 5, 2016, in Osaka, Osaka, at the Osaka Prefectural Gymnasium (Edion Arena Osaka). It was the sixth event under the Power Struggle name and featured ten matches, main evented by Tetsuya Naito defending the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Jay Lethal.
Storylines
Power Struggle featured ten professional wrestling matches that involved different wrestlers from pre-existing scripted feuds and storylines. Wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in the scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches.
Power Struggle was headlined by a four match series involving members of the villainous Los Ingobernables de Japón (L.I.J.) stable taking on representatives of NJPW. In the main event, L.I.J. leader Tetsuya Naito was originally scheduled to make his first defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship against Michael Elgin. This would have been a rematch from the September 25 Destruction in Kobe event, where Naito defeated Elgin to become the new IWGP Intercontinental Champion. Following the win, Naito began disrespecting the title belt, stating he did not want it, throwing it in the air and stepping on it, drawing the ire of Elgin. On October 10 at King of Pro-Wrestling, Elgin pinned Naito in an eight-man tag team match and afterwards stated he was getting the IWGP Intercontinental Championship back. The match was officially announced the following day. However, that same day, it was also reported that Elgin had suffered a broken left eye socket taking a dropkick from Naito in the King of Pro-Wrestling match. On October 12, Elgin confirmed he would need surgery on the eye. The following day, NJPW officially pulled Elgin from the Power Struggle main event and replaced him with Ring of Honor (ROH) wrestler Jay Lethal. Lethal had joined L.I.J. during a show co-produced by NJPW and ROH on February 20, 2016, however, the alliance ended on August 20, when he had a falling out with Naito. Afterwards, Lethal aligned himself with Elgin and the rest of the NJPW wrestlers not affiliated with any particular stable. On September 30 at ROH's All Star Extravaganza VIII event, Lethal defeated Naito in a non-title match, setting himself up for a future shot at the Intercontinental Championship, which was now granted due to Elgin's injury.
Another title match would see Katsuyori Shibata make his fourth defense of the NEVER Openweight Championship against L.I.J. member Evil. After successfully defending the title against Kyle O'Reilly at King of Pro-Wrestling, Shibata was confronted by Pro Wrestling Noah representative Go Shiozaki, seemingly setting him up as the next title challenger. However, after Shiozaki had left the ring, Shibata was attacked by Evil, who laid him out and then posed with the NEVER Openweight Championship belt. The following day, NJPW announced that Evil would get the title shot at Power Struggle, while Shiozaki would get Shibata in a non-title match at Noah's October 23 event, which Shibata went on to win. Shibata and Evil previously met during August's G1 Climax, where Evil was victorious, ending Shibata's hopes of advancing to the final of the tournament.
The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship would also be defended at Power Struggle with defending champion, L.I.J. member Bushi, taking on challenger Kushida in his first title defense. This is a rematch from the September 17 Destruction in Tokyo event, where Bushi defeated Kushida to capture the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Afterwards, Bushi publicly complained about NJPW's policy of automatic rematches, indicating he did not want to face Kushida in a rematch. However, after laying out Kushida following an eight-man tag team match at King of Pro-Wrestling, Bushi nominated Kushida as his next challenger as Kushida was being stretchered out of the arena. NJPW stated that Kushida would miss all events on the Power Struggle tour, excluding the Power Struggle event itself, with a neck injury.
The fourth match in the L.I.J. versus NJPW series would see Hiroshi Tanahashi taking on L.I.J. member Sanada. The two previously faced off during the 2016 G1 Climax, where Sanada scored an upset win over Tanahashi, submitting him with the Skull End finishing hold on the opening day. On October 8, Tanahashi pinned Sanada in an eight-man tag team match and afterwards stated he wanted another singles match with him.