Tag: Iwgp United States Heavyweight Championship

NJPW creating new title to replace IWGP US/UK Championship

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Say goodbye to the IWGP United States/United Kingdom Heavyweight Championship. 

NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi revealed at a press conference Monday that the IWGP US/UK title will be replaced by a new championship that the promotion is creating. A Google translation of Sugabayashi’s comments reads: 

Regarding the IWGP US belt, we will establish a new championship. It is true that fans were confused as to whether it was IWGP US or UK, so we have created a new championship. We will announce the details later.

The announcement comes after an angle at Saturday’s Power Struggle event where David Finlay destroyed the title belts that represented the US/UK Championship, setting up a triple threat match at Wrestle Kingdom 18 between current title holder Will Ospreay, Finlay, and Jon Moxley. 

Ospreay won the United States Championship from Kenny Omega at Forbidden Door this past June, then rebranded the title the UK Championship. 

Sugabayashi’s comments came at a presser that officially announced four new matches for Wrestle Kingdom 18, as well as an earlier start time.

A total of five bouts are currently official for the show: 

NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18, Thursday, January 4, 2:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA defends against G1 winner Tetsuya Naito
  • Bryan Danielson vs. Kazuchika Okada
  • IWGP United States/United Kingdom Heavyweight Champion Will Ospreay defends against Jon Moxley & David Finlay in a three-way
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi defends against El Desperado
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney) defend against United Empire Catch 2/2 (TJP & Francesco Akira)

US title number one contender’s tournament finals set for NJPW Dominion

Posted on by Ethan Renner

The IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship number one contender’s tournament finals are set for NJPW Dominion on June 4.

Will Ospreay defeated Hiroshi Tanahashi at Sunday’s Resurgence pay-per-view to advance to the tournament finals at Dominion set for Sunday, June 4 in Osaka. Ospreay will now face Lance Archer at Dominion, with the winner set to challenge Kenny Omega for the IWGP US title at a later date, most likely AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in Toronto on Sunday, June 25. 

Ospreay pinned Tanahashi after hitting a Storm Breaker to advance to the finals. The bout was just the second career singles meeting between Ospreay and Tanahashi, with the other taking place in August 2019 during the G1 Climax tournament. Ospreay also won that bout. 

The updated Dominion lineup: 

NJPW Dominion, Sunday, June 4, 3 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: SANADA defends against Yota Tsuji
  • NEVER Openweight Championship: David Finlay defends against El Phantasmo
  • IWGP US title number one contender’s tournament finals: Will Ospreay vs. Lance Archer
  • Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs. House of Torture (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi) for the vacant IWGP Tag Team & NJPW Strong Openweight Tag Team Championships

Lance Archer advances in NJPW IWGP US title contender’s tournament

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Lance Archer has secured a spot in the finals of NJPW’s IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship number one contender’s tournament.

Archer defeated Fred Rosser in a street fight at Sunday’s NJPW Collision in Philadelphia event to advance to the tournament finals to be held on June 4 at Dominion. 

With an assist from Bullet Club’s Juice Robinson, Archer pinned Rosser after hitting a lariat to earn his spot in the tournament finals. Robinson was originally advertised as Archer’s opponent for the Collision match, but was given a storyline suspension for his actions in a match against Rosser at Saturday’s Capital Collision show, and Rosser was put in the spot instead. 

Due to the street fight stipulation, Robinson’s interference did not lead to an Archer disqualification. 

After his victory, Archer cut a promo on AEW’s Tony Khan, and IWGP US Champion Kenny Omega, threatening to defeat Omega for the title at Forbidden Door 2 on June 25. It has not officially been announced that Forbidden Door will feature Omega’s next title defense, but that seems to be the direction. 

Archer will now face the winner of a scheduled Will Ospreay vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi bout set for NJPW Resurgence on May 21. That bout is in question however, as Tanahashi suffered a broken rib at Saturday’s Capital Collision and was pulled from his scheduled main event match at Collision in Philadelphia. 

It was announced Sunday that Ospreay is now medically cleared to compete after missing a month of action with a shoulder injury.

Regardless, Archer will wrestle in the tournament finals at NJPW Dominion in Osaka-Jo Hall on Sunday, June 4.

Kenny Omega to defend IWGP US title against tournament winner

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Kenny Omega will defend the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against the winner of an upcoming number one contender’s tournament. 

NJPW announced Sunday that Omega will face the winner of a four-man tournament, with the number one contender being decided at Dominion on June 4. The tournament participants will be Hiroshi Tanahashi, Will Ospreay, Lance Archer, and Juice Robinson. 

Archer will take on Robinson at Collision in Philadelphia on Sunday, April 16, while Tanahashi vs. Ospreay is set for Resurgence in Long Beach, California on Sunday, May 21. 

The Archer vs. Robinson and Tanahashi vs. Ospreay winners will face off at Dominion in Osaka-Jo Hall on Sunday, June 4 to cement the top contender to Omega’s title.

No date has been announced for Omega’s eventual defense against the winner, but AEW x NJPW Forbidden Door in Toronto on Sunday, June 25 seems a logical destination for that match. 

Ospreay, Tanahashi, Archer, and Robinson are all former IWGP US Champions.

Omega defeated Ospreay at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4 in the Tokyo Dome to win the IWGP US title, kicking off his second reign with the Championship. 

Omega had his first tile defense of his current reign against Jeff Cobb on the March 29 episode of AEW Dynamite.