Tag: iwgp us title

Lance Archer beats Jon Moxley for IWGP U.S. title at AEW Fyter Fest

Posted on by Josh Nason

Jon Moxley’s 18-month reign as IWGP U.S. Champion has come to an end as Lance Archer regained the title in a Texas death match at Wednesday’s AEW Fyter Fest.

After being jabbed repeatedly with a fork in the head, Moxley was thrown through a table adorned with barbed wire and was unable to make it back in the ring at the count of ten, giving Archer his second reign as champion.

Archer won’t have to wait long to defend the title as he will face New Japan’s Hikuleo on next Wednesday’s AEW Fight for the Fallen. The son of Haku, Hikuleo will go into next week’s AEW debut on a two-match win streak.

Moxley defeated Archer for the title back at Wrestle Kingdom 14 in January 2020, also in a Texas death match. He defended the title five times with defenses against Juice Robinson, Minoru Suzuki, KENTA, Yuji Nagata, and Karl Anderson. The last three defenses were either on New Japan Strong or AEW Dynamite.

The win is Archer’s sixth straight in an AEW ring. The loss is Moxley’s first in an AEW ring since March’s Revolution pay-per-view when he failed to defeat World Champion Kenny Omega in an exploding barbed wire death match.

NJPW confirms KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojima for Wrestle Kingdom 15

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Satoshi Kojima will face KENTA for the IWGP US title right to challenge contract on January 4.

NJPW shot an angle on this morning’s Road to Tokyo Dome show where Kojima challenged KENTA to a match for the briefcase. The company has now confirmed on their website that Kojima will replace Juice Robinson on January 4.

Juice Robinson had been slated to face KENTA for the championship at Wrestle Kingdom. However, he suffered a fractured orbital bone during the December 22 Road to Tokyo Dome show. He did not participate in the following morning’s press conference, and later was announced as being off the remaining Road To Tokyo Dome and Wrestle Kingdom cards due to the injury.

During this morning’s press conference, NJPW revealed the full cards for Wrestle Kingdom 15, which takes place on January 4 and 5. The cards are as follows:

January 4:

  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Kota Ibushi for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan
  • KENTA vs. Satoshi Kojma for the IWGP US title contract briefcase
  • Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Guerillas of Destiny for the IWGP Tag Team titles
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo
  • King of Pro Wrestling Ranbo

January 5:

  • Winner of Naito-Ibushi vs. Jay White for the IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental titles
  • Taiji Ishimori vs. Hiromu-ELP winner for the IWGP Jr. title
  • SANADA vs. EVIL
  • Shingo Takagi vs. Jeff Cobb for the NEVER Openweight title
  • El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi for the IWGP Jr. Tag Team titles

Satoshi Kojima challenges KENTA for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15

Posted on by Ethan Renner

Satoshi Kojima challenged KENTA to face him at Wrestle Kingdom 15 for the IWGP United States Championship right to challenge certificate. Kojima issued the challenge at today’s Road to Tokyo Dome event.

KENTA had been set to defend his briefcase against Juice Robinson on night one of Wrestle Kingdom on January 4th. NJPW announced today that Robinson has suffered a fractured orbital bone and will be unable to compete. 

Kojima and KENTA were on opposite sides of a tag match at today’s event. KENTA and Jay White defeated Kojima and Toa Henare after White pinned Henare with a Blade Runner.

Kojima stated that after 30 years in the business, “I’m going for it,” and asked if KENTA would accept a challenge from a 50 year-old man. KENTA attempted to hit Kojima with his briefcase. Instead, Kojima ducked the shot and hit a cutter. Kojima then went for a lariat, but Jay White made the save, pulling KENTA out of the ring. 

Wrestle Kingdom 15 will be held over two nights on January 4th and January 5th, 2021. Both shows will air live on NJPW World at 3 a.m. Eastern time.

Here are the current lineups:

January 4 —

  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Tetsuya Naito (c) vs. Kota Ibushi 
  • Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Great-O-Khan
  • KENTA vs. ? for the IWGP United States Championship right to challenge certificate
  • IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: Taichi & Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Guerillas of Destiny 
  • Hiromu Takahashi vs. El Phantasmo
  • New Japan Rambo

January 5 —

  • IWGP Heavyweight Championship & IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Winner of Naito-Ibushi vs. Jay White 
  • IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: Taiji Ishimori (c) vs. Hiromu-ELP winner 
  • SANADA vs. EVIL
  • NEVER Openweight Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Jeff Cobb 
  • IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Championships: El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (c)vs. Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi 
  • 4-way match for the provisional KOPW 2021 title
  • Dark match featuring Stardom talent

IWGP US title match set for New Japan Cup finals

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A title match has been added to the final night of this year’s New Japan Cup.

NJPW has announced that Juice Robinson will defend his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship against Chase Owens at the New Japan Cup finals. The show is taking place in Niigata on Sunday (March 24).

Owens eliminated Robinson from the New Japan Cup in the first round. NJPW has been building to their US title match since then, with Owens laying out Robinson after tag matches.

YOSHI-HASHI defeated Owens in a second round tournament match.

Robinson is a two-time IWGP US Champion. After dropping the title to Cody Rhodes in September 2018, Robinson won it back at Wrestle Kingdom 13 in January.

The quarterfinals of the New Japan Cup will take place this Wednesday and Thursday. Kazuchika Okada vs. Will Ospreay and Tomohiro Ishii vs. YOSHI-HASHI are Wednesday’s tournament matches, while Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Zack Sabre Jr. and SANADA vs. Colt Cabana are set for Thursday.

The semifinals will then be held this Saturday. The winner of the tournament will challenge for Jay White’s IWGP Heavyweight Championship at G1 Supercard at Madison Square Garden on Saturday, April 6.

UPDATE: Kenny Omega scheduled for ROH Global Wars: Chicago

Posted on by Joseph Currier

UPDATE: While Omega will be wrestling at the event, ROH issued a correction on Tuesday morning saying that the title defense isn’t confirmed: “It was announced in error that Kenny Omega would be defending the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship. However, at this time, there is no confirmation on the US title being defended on October 15th.”

**********

Kenny Omega’s first announced defense of the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship is officially set.

Ring of Honor revealed today that they’ve added a stop in the Chicago area to their Global Wars tour, which is in collaboration with New Japan Pro Wrestling, on October 15th. Along with that, they noted that Omega would be defending his title on the show. His opponent will be revealed in the coming weeks.

The Global Wars: Chicago show will take place at the Odeum Expo Center in Villa Park, Illinois. It will be ROH’s debut at the venue.

Omega became the inaugural IWGP US Champion at NJPW’s shows in Long Beach, California earlier this month. He defeated Michael Elgin, Jay Lethal, and Tomohiro Ishii in tournament matches to win the title.

NJPW chairman Naoki Sugabayashi said before the weekend in Long Beach that they would want the title to be defended on future NJPW events in the US and in ROH.

The Global Wars tour also includes stops in Buffalo, New York on October 12th, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on the 13th, and Columbus, Ohio on the 14th. ROH hasn’t clarified whether Omega will only be working the Chicago show or not.