Tag: Kopw 2023

Whiskey Bottle Ladder Match set for NJPW Road to Tokyo Dome event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The stipulation has been set for NJPW’s final KOPW Championship match of 2023.

Taichi will defend the KOPW title against Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a Whiskey Bottle Ladder Match at NJPW’s Road to Tokyo Dome show this Thursday (December 21). The show is being held at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo and will air live on NJPW World.

The Whiskey Bottle Ladder Match stipulation was proposed by Taichi and won a fan vote over Kanemaru’s proposed stipulation (low blows and removing corner pads would be legal but only for Kanemaru). Taichi’s stipulation won with 70 percent of the vote.

In the Whiskey Bottle Ladder Match, a whiskey bottle will be suspended from the ceiling and can be used as a weapon by the wrestler who retrieves it.

The winner of Taichi vs. Kanemaru will become the official KOPW Champion for 2023. A new provisional champion for 2024 will be crowned in the new year.

Taichi won the KOPW title from SHO last month, regaining the championship after having lost it to SHO at Destruction in Kobe in September. Kanemaru betrayed Taichi at Destruction in Kobe, leaving Just Five Guys and joining House of Torture.

Thursday’s Road to Tokyo Dome event is also set to include a NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title match with Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Tomohiro Ishii defending against Jeff Cobb, Great-O-Khan & Henare.

KOPW title changes hands at New Japan Road event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

On the road to Wrestle Kingdom, one of NJPW’s titles changed hands on Friday.

Taichi won the provisional KOPW 2023 Championship by defeating SHO at Friday’s New Japan Road event in Yamagata. SHO had held the KOPW title since winning it from Taichi at Destruction in Kobe this September.

For their rematch, SHO stacked the rules in his favor. Yoshinobu Kanemaru, a member of House of Torture with SHO, was the special guest referee. Taichi was also banned from using his signature moves in the match, and there was a stipulation where the loser would never be able to wrestle in Yamagata again.

But Taichi was able to overcome those rules, getting the victory when Red Shoes Unno counted the pin after a referee bump. Taichi also got help from his Just Five Guys stablemates to fend off House of Torture.

In a post-match promo, Taichi said he isn’t done defending the KOPW title for 2023. Taichi said he has business to settle with Kanemaru.

Kanemaru betrayed Just Five Guys and joined House of Torture at Destruction in Kobe, which caused Taichi to lose the KOPW title to SHO.

After their last title match of 2023, the KOPW title holder will be declared the official champion for this year. A new champion will be crowned at the start of 2024.

Takagi Style Triad match set for NJPW Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW has confirmed the rule set for Shingo Takagi’s next KOPW Championship defense.

Takagi will defend the provisional KOPW 2023 title against Taichi in a Takagi Style Triad match at Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni this Saturday (April 29). There are five possible ways to score falls in the match. The first wrestler to win by three of those ways will be the victor:

In the Takagi Style Triad Match, champion and challenger have their choice of five ways to win- pinfall, submission, stoppage, knockout and countout. The winner of the match must claim three of the five to claim KOPW gold.

While the rules for KOPW title matches are traditionally decided by fan vote, Taichi didn’t propose a rule set for this match. Taichi said that, because he’s lost to Takagi three times, he didn’t deserve to choose the rules. He instead allowed Takagi to pick the stipulation for the match.

Takagi won the KOPW 2022 Championship from Taichi last April and held the title until the end of the year. Takagi won the 2023 version of the championship at New Year Dash this January.

Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni is taking place in Kagoshima and will air live on NJPW World. Here’s the full card for the show:

  • Provisional KOPW 2023 Champion Shingo Takagi defends against Taichi in a Takagi Style Triad match
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher) defend against TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls)
  • Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. SANADA, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
  • Tama Tonga, Hikuleo, Master Wato & Jado vs. David Finlay, KENTA, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo
  • Kazuchika Okada, Tomohiro Ishii, Togi Makabe & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Yuto Nakashima
  • Zack Sabre Jr. & Kosei Fujita vs. Jeff Cobb & Great-O-Khan
  • Tomoaki Honma, KUSHIDA & Kevin Knight vs. Aaron Henare, TJP & Francesco Akira
  • Shota Umino & Oskar Leube vs. EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Toru Yano & Boltin Oleg

NJPW reveals cards for Road to Sakura Genesis

Posted on by Bryan Rose

Full cards have been announced for the upcoming Road to Sakura Genesis tour.

The two major matches will be a Ultimate Triad match featuring Shingo Takagi against Aaron Henare for the KOPW Championship on April 2 and a NEVER Six-Man title match with champions Ren Narita, Minoru Suzuki, and El Desperado defending against EVIL, SHO, and Yujiro Takahashi on April 3. The Ultimate Triad match will have no count outs and no disqualifications, and a winner will be determined by pinfall, submission, or a ten-count knockout.

Another highlight on the cards, both of which will take place at Korakuen Hall, will feature the official debut of Boltin Oleg. The Kazakhstan wrestler made his debut in an exhibition match at Wrestle Kingdom 17, but his first official match will be on April 2 when he teams with Shota Umino and Ryusuke Taguchi against Zack Sabre Jr., Robbie Eagles, and Kosei Fujita.

Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kazuchika Okada will team together on April 3, taking on SANADA and Taichi.

Here are the full cards for the second and third nights of the Road to Sakura Genesis tour:

April 2 card:

  • Ultimate Triad match for KOPW Championship: Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Aaron Henare
  • Kazuchika Okada, Master Wato, YOH, Tiger Mask, Tomohiro Ishii vs. SANADA, Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI, Taka Michinoku
  • Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Boltin Oleg vs. Kosei Fujita, Robbie Eagles, and Zack Sabre Jr.
  • Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto vs. Aussie Open and The Great-O-Khan
  • Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita, and Ryohei Oiwa vs. EVIL, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, and Dick Togo
  • Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi, and BUSHI vs. El Phantasmo, Taiji Ishimori, and Gedo
  • Tomoaki Honma and Togi Makabe vs. Oskar Leube and Yuto Nakashima

April 3 card:

  • NEVER Six-Man Tag Team titles: Ren Narita, Minoru Suzuki, and El Desperado (c) vs. EVIL, SHO, and Yujiro Takahashi
  • Kazuchika Okada and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. SANADA and Taichi
  • Hiromu Takahashi, Shingo Takagi, and Tetsuya Natio vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Robbie Eagles, and Kosei Fujita
  • Tomoaki Honma, YOSHI-HASHI, and Hirooki Goto vs. Jeff Cobb and Aussie Open
  • Ryusuke Taguchi, Toru Yano, and Shota Umino vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo, and Gedo
  • Master Wato, YOH, and Tiger Mask vs. TAKA Michinoku, DOUKI, and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Tomohiro Ishii and Oskar Leube vs. Aaron Henare and Great-O-Khan

Shingo to face Great-O-Khan in MMA rules match at NJPW New Beginning

Posted on by Joseph Currier

The rule set has been determined for Shingo Takagi and The Great-O-Khan’s KOPW title match at The New Beginning in Nagoya.

Takagi will defend the provisional KOPW title against O-Khan in an MMA rules match at the Sunday, January 22 event. The stipulation was proposed by O-Khan and beat Takagi’s proposed stipulation (cumulative 30-count pinfall match) in a fan vote. The voting was 60.7 percent for O-Khan’s stipulation to 39.3 percent for Takagi’s.

In the MMA rules match, each wrestler may wear a martial arts gi and the bout can only be won by knockout, TKO, or submission. There will also be wrestlers serving as lumberjacks outside of the ring for the match.

O-Khan said about the stipulation:

We shall both wear martial arts gi, which can be used for submissions. The only way to win is via KO, TKO or tapout. And in case you are so scared that you attempt to escape the ring, let’s use lumberjacks as well, shall we? Bring anybody you wish. [My] United Empire teammates will of course be present. So let us have a proper fight, one on one with a clear winner like men.

Because O-Khan’s stipulation won the fan vote, Takagi’s number one contendership status for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship will also be on the line in the match. Takagi is scheduled to challenge Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP World title at The New Beginning in Osaka on Saturday, February 11.

Takagi ended 2022 as NJPW’s official KOPW champion. He became the provisional champion for 2023 by defeating Toru Yano, SHO, and O-Khan in a four-way match at New Year Dash earlier this month.

Takagi vs. O-Khan will be the main event of The New Beginning in Nagoya. The show is airing live on NJPW World.

NJPW The New Beginning in Nagoya (Sunday, January 22) —

  • MMA rules match: Provisional KOPW 2023 Champion Shingo Takagi defends against The Great-O-Khan
  • Kazuchika Okada, Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi & YOH vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI
  • Will Ospreay, Aaron Henare, TJP & Francesco Akira vs. Taichi, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & TAKA Michinoku
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Master Wato & Jado vs. KENTA, El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori
  • Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Mikey Nicholls, Shane Haste & Kosei Fujita
  • Minoru Suzuki, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Tomoaki Honma vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
  • Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. Yuto Nakashima & Oskar Leube