If you've been paying attention to commentary on Raw, SmackDown Live and NXT over the past year, you've inevitably heard Mauro Ranallo, Michael Cole or Tom Phillips hype guys like AJ Styles and Shinsuke Nakamura as former IWGP heavyweight champions, or occasionally mention New Japan Pro Wrestling.

NJPW (and it's governing body, the International Wrestling Grand Prix) was founded in 1972 by wrestling legend and WWE Hall of Famer Antonio Inoki, and a modern resurgence has made the company the de facto No. 2 wrestling brand in the world. In addition to Styles and Nakamura, Brock Lesnar was also an IWGP heavyweight champion; Finn Bálor, Luke Gallows, Karl Anderson and Andrade "Cien" Almas also spent significant time wrestling for the company.

Their biggest show of the year, Wrestle Kingdom, has served as a showcase for many of those aforementioned stars to prove their in-ring prowess, and it has helped them gain international appeal, making them undeniable targets in the eyes of the WWE. It takes place every year on Jan. 4 inside the hallowed halls of the Tokyo Dome, with previous Wrestle Kingdom shows drawing in excess of 40,000 fans.

Wrestle Kingdom 11 is set for Wednesday, and here are all the matches that you can look forward to seeing if you tune in.

Wrestle Kingdom 11 card

New Japan Rumble

Tiger Mask W vs. Tiger the Dark

Cody (Rhodes) vs. Juice Robinson

IWGP junior heavyweight tag team championships: The Young Bucks (Matt & Nick Jackson) (c) vs. Roppongi Vice (Beretta & Rocky Romero)

N EVER openweight 6-Man tag team championships: (Gauntlet match) -- David Finlay, Ricochet & Satoshi Kojima (c) vs. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Hangman Page and Yujiro Takahashi) vs. Chaos (Jado, Will Ospreay & Yoshi-Hashi) vs. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Bushi, Evil & Sanada)

Ring of Honor world championship: Kyle O'Reilly (c) vs. Adam Cole

IWGP heavyweight tag team championships: Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Roa) (c) vs. Chaos (Tomohiro Ishii & Toru Yano) vs. G.B.H. (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma)

IWGP junior heavyweight championship: Kushida (c) vs. Hiromu Takahashi

NEVER openweight championship: Katsuyori Shibata (c) vs. Hirooki Goto

IWGP Intercontinental championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi

IWGP heavyweight championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Kenny Omega

(c) - Indicates defending champion(s)

Because the broadcast airs live in Tokyo, the timing for North American fans (and East Coast viewers in particular) is far from ideal. Pre-show coverage on NJPW World (the league's video-streaming service) begins at approximately 2 a.m. ET, with the main card scheduled to start an hour later. The good news is, even if you don't have a few post-New Year's days off, the show will be archived for on-demand viewing at a more reasonable hour.