Tag: IWGP Jr. Title

Title match, new Young Lion debut set for NJPW Road to Castle Attack

Posted on by Bryan Rose

An IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team title match has been announced for the final night of NJPW’s Road to Castle Attack tour.

The Road to Castle Attack tour is taking place from Sunday, February 14 to Thursday, February 25. The final event of the tour will see El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori defend their IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles against Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI. At the New Beginning in Hiroshima night one earlier this week, ELP and Ishimori attacked Takahashi after he retained his IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against SHO in the main event. BUSHI came out to even the odds, and the title match was set up.

ELP will challenge Takahashi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship at night two of Castle Attack. Castle Attack is taking place on Saturday, February 27 and Sunday, February 28.

NJPW has also announced that a new Young Lion has been added to their roster. 24-year-old Yuto Nakashima will make his debut on the February 14 Road to Castle Attack show, facing Yuya Uemura. 

Nakashima trained for a year at the Fale dojo in New Zealand before moving to NJPW’s dojo in Japan. He has a background in MMA, jiu-jitsu, judo, and water polo.

NJPW announces Road to Power Struggle cards

Posted on by Bryan Rose

NJPW has announced cards for their November Road to Power Struggle shows.

The main event on November 1st will see Hiromu Takahashi and BUSHI challenge champions El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles. A six-man tag team match has also been announced. Chase Owens will return to Japan, teaming with Bullet Club partners Jay White and KENTA to face Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomoaki Honma.

November 2nd will be headlined by a IWGP Tag Team title match. Dangerous Tekkers (Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi) will defend against the CHAOS team of Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI. This follows a challenge he made at a show held on Friday morning, calling out Sabre & Taichi.

This year’s participants will be revealed during a November 2 Road to Power Struggle event at Korakuen Hall. The tournament will begin on November 15 and run through December 11 at Budokan Hall.

The tournament will run concurrently with this year’s World Tag League tournament. It wasn’t announced when the lineup for that tour will be revealed.

Here are the full cards for both shows, which will air live on NJPW World at Korakuen Hall:

November 1st:

  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado vs. Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles
  • Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomoaki Honma vs. Jay White, KENTA, and Chase Owens
  • Kazuchika Okada & Gabriel Kidd vs. Will Ospreay & Great-O-Khan
  • Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, and Toru Yano vs. Taichi, Zack Sabre Jr., and DOUKI
  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura

November 2nd:

  • Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi vs. Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI for the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team titles
  • Tetsuya Naito & SANADA vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Kota Ibushi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tomoaki Honma vs. Jay White, KENTA, and Chase Owens
  • Entrants for the Best of the Super Jr. 27 will be announced
  • Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Kazuchika Okada & Yuya Uemura vs. Will Ospreay and Great-O-Khan
  • Yota Tsuji vs. Gabriel Kidd

New champions crowned at NJPW Summer Struggle in Jingu

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Four new champions were crowned this morning at NJPW’s Summer Struggle in Jingu event.

Tetsuya Natio once again reclaimed himself as double champion, regaining the IWGP Heavyweight title for the third time and the IWGP Intercontinental title for the sixth time. After a match full of ref bumps, interference, and back and forth action, Naito pinned EVIL with the Destino.

After the match, Naito put over Jingu Stadium, saying it’s the first time they have been back in 21 years. He thanked the fans for coming in under sweltering heat. He mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic but also said there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s overcome all of these obstacles.

Naito ended his promo with the usual roll-call, though none of the other members of Los Ingobernables de Japon came out to celebrate. The show ended with Naito doing his signature pose as fireworks went off. No one came out to challenge Naito following the match.

The IWGP Jr. title also changed hands. After 238 days, Hiromu Takahashi lost the title to Taiji Ishimori, who is now a two time champion. Hiromu went for a second time bomb for the finish, but Ishimori countered, hit an inverted bloody cross then eventually got the submission win with the crossface.

Toru Yano is the first to win the KOPW trophy, becoming the first ever provisional champion, pinning Kazuchika Okada after a low blow and a roll-up. Yano will defend the trophy under stipulation matches until the end of the year, when a champion is crowned.

Minoru Suzuki captured the NEVER title for the second time, ending Shingo Takagi’s run with the title after 210 days. Suzuki won the title after pinning Takagi with the Gotch piledriver

The next tour will start on September 3, with New Japan Road.