Tag: kopw title

Yuya Uemura wins NJPW KOPW 2024 title

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Rising NJPW star Yuya Uemura has won the first championship of his career.

At Saturday’s Road to Wrestling Dontaku show in Hiroshima, the 29-year-old Uemura defeated Great-O-Khan to claim the provisional KOPW 2024 Championship. It was a Rural Revitalization match with three different stipulations. Uemura won the two-out-of-three falls match 2-1.

It ended with Uemura winning a tables match. They had split the first two sillier stipulations, with Uemura winning a Mazda tire carrying contest and Great-O-Khan winning a Hiroshima lemon eating contest.

Rural Revitalization was a match proposed by Great-O-Khan as he attempted to defend the KOPW title around Japan and at smaller shows while champion. O-Khan had held the title since January.

Following an excursion to the United States, Uemura returned to NJPW last October. He’s a member of Just Five Guys with SANADA, Taichi, DOUKI, and TAKA Michinoku.

The provisional KOPW Championship is defended throughout the year in matches where each wrestler proposes a stipulation. A fan vote is then held to determine which stipulation is chosen.

The wrestler who holds the KOPW title at the end of 2024 will be declared the official champion for this year. A new champion will then be crowned at the start of 2025.

KOPW title match set for NJPW Road to Sakura Genesis

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A title match is set to take place on NJPW’s Road to Sakura Genesis tour.

NJPW has announced that Great-O-Khan will defend his KOPW 2024 Championship against Tanga Loa in Hamamatsu on Sunday, March 31. It’s a Road to Sakura Genesis event that will not be airing live on NJPW World.

The stipulation options for the match have not been revealed yet. In KOPW title matches, the competitors each propose a rule set for the match. A fan vote then determines which stipulation the match is held under.

NJPW wrote:

Since winning the championship during the Road to New Beginning, O-Khan has stated loud and proud that he would be taking the title to be defended around the country and not simply at the big tour ending dates. True to his word, this KOPW title match is set for March 31’s Road To live event, and the only way to watch the match as it happens will be in person at the venue. What rules will the competitors choose, and how will the bout play out? 

Great-O-Khan has been provisional KOPW Champion since winning the title from Taiji Ishimori this January. Taichi had ended 2023 as the official KOPW Champion for that year.

Loa defeated Great-O-Khan when they faced off in the first round of the New Japan Cup. Loa later challenged Great-O-Khan to this KOPW title bout.

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.

NJPW replacing KOPW trophy with new title belt

Posted on by Ian Carey

The KOPW trophy in NJPW is being replaced with a title belt. 

New Japan unveiled the new belt at Friday’s Road to Tokyo Dome event. The winner of the 2023 New Japan Ranbo at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on January 4 will be the first to hold the KOPW title belt rather than a KOPW trophy. The unique rules the title is defended under will stay the same.  

“First established in 2020 by Kazuchika Okada, the KOPW title has seen its holders defend their status through the year before the new calendar sees a new champion contested for. From Toru Yano in 2020 and 2021, to Shingo Takagi in 2022, its holders have seen fans vote on stipulations never before seen in NJPW, and often never anywhere else either!”

“Yet the trophy that represents the KOPW holder status has not always been treated with prestige an respect! From spray paintings to utter demolition and DIY recreation, it’s fair to say that the KOPW holder was in need of something longer lasting. From 2023, the holder will have the KOPW Championship belt!” 

Shingo Takagi defeated Taichi in a Last Man Standing Lumberjack match on December 19 to be crowned the official 2022 champion. He becomes just the second wrestler to close out a calendar year with the title after Toru Yano did so in 2020 and 2021. Minoru Suzuki, Chase Owens, and Taichi have all held the provisional KOPW trophy but never closed out a year as champion. 

Full cards revealed for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 15

Posted on by Bryan Rose

The full cards for both nights of Wrestle Kingdom 15 have been announced.

NJPW has added a King of Pro Wrestling Ranbo that will take place on January 4. There will be 22 entrants. The final four participants will move on to January 5, where they will compete in a 4-way match. The winner of that match will be the KOPW champion to kick off 2021.The 2020 champion will be determined this morning when Bad Luck Fale and Toru Yano will face against one another in a bodyslam or last corner pad match at the final Road to Tokyo Dome event of the tour.

Additionally, based on challenges made during this week’s Road to Tokyo Dome tour, KENTA will defend his IWGP US title briefcase against Juice Robinson. That match has been made for January 4.

The full cards for Wrestle Kingdom 15 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. Juice Robinson 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
  • 4-way match for the KOPW title
  • Dark match featuring Stardom talent

NJPW’s New Year Dash!! event will take place on January 6 at Tokyo Dome City Hall

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.