King of Pro-Wrestling (2017) was a professional wrestling event promoted by New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), which took place on October 9, 2017, in Tokyo at Ryōgoku Kokugikan. It was NJPW's biggest show between August's G1 Climax and January's Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome. The top two matches featured Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Evil and Tetsuya Naito defending his status as the number one contender to the IWGP Heavyweight Championship at Wrestle Kingdom 12 against Tomohiro Ishii. This was the sixth event under the King of Pro-Wrestling branding. Production Storylines King of Pro-Wrestling featured nine 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. King of Pro-Wrestling was main evented by Kazuchika Okada defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Evil. In July, Okada, having at that point held the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for over a year, entered the 2017 G1 Climax with the goal of winning the tournament as the reigning heavyweight champion, arrogantly asking for anyone to stop him. On August 5, Okada suffered his first singles match loss in almost a year, when Evil scored an upset win over him. Okada then went on to wrestle Minoru Suzuki to a draw, before losing another match to Kenny Omega, thus failing to advance to the finals of the tournament. With Evil also failing to reach the finals, he established himself as the next challenger for Okada's title by attacking him after a match on August 13. Eight days later, NJPW officially announced the match between Okada and Evil for King of Pro-Wrestling. The match would mark Evil's first-ever shot at the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. The match would mark the eighth title defense for Okada, whose reign had started on June 19, 2016. With a successful title defense, Okada stood to break Shinya Hashimoto's 489-day record for the longest reign as IWGP Heavyweight Champion on October 22. On August 13, Tetsuya Naito defeated Kenny Omega in the finals to win the 2017 G1 Climax. Following the win, Naito gained possession of the Tokyo Dome IWGP Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate, granting him an IWGP Heavyweight Championship match at NJPW's biggest event of the year, Wrestle Kingdom 12 in Tokyo Dome on January 4, 2018. Upon receiving the