Tag: Kosei Fujita

New Japan releases full card for Best of Super Juniors finals

Posted on by Vincent Verhei

We have known for a while now what the finals of New Japan’s Best of the Super Juniors would be. Now we know the full card for that night’s show. 

New Japan released the card and hyped up the main event in a press release on their website. 

“For the second consecutive year, the final of Best of the Super Jr. has come down to YOH and Kosei Fujita,” the release states. “While rivals have crossed paths across multiple finals in the past, this is the first time in Best of the Super Jr. history that the same final has taken place in consecutive years, and the first time in an NJPW tournament such an event has taken place since EVIL and SANADA took on the Guerrillas of Destiny in 2017 and 2018 World Tag League finals.”

Fujita went 6-3 in the A Block of the tournament to finish with 12 points, with losses to Master Wato, Robbie X, and Jun Kasai. The 12 points left him tied with Wato and Francesco Akira at the top of the standings; with tiebreakers, Wato won the block, but Fujita still advanced to the knockout stage, where he defeated Robbie Eagles in the first round.

YOH also finished 6-3 with 12 points, with losses to KUSHIDA, Robbie Eagles, and Hyo. Eagles and YOH finished in a five-way tie atop the B Block, along with El Desperado, Taiji Ishimori, and SHO. Eagles finished atop the tiebreakers but lost to Fujita in the knockout stage. YOH also advanced and defeated Wato to reach the finals. 

The full card: 

  • Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Tiger Mask IV & Masatora Yasuda & Taisei Nakahara
  • Shota Umino & El Phantasmo & Jado vs. United Empire (Jake Lee & Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young)
  • Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi & Daisuke Sasaki & Nick Wayne & Valiente Jr. vs. Unbound Company (Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X & Titán & Gedo & Daiki Nagai)
  • El Desperado & Hyo vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
  • Yuya Uemura & Taichi & KUSHIDA vs. T.M.D.K. (Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson & Robbie Eagles)
  • Aaron Wolf & Toru Yano & Jun Kasai vs. HOUSE OF TORTURE (Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo)
  • Unbound Company (Yota Tsuj & OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) vs. United Empire (Callum Newman & Great-O-Khan & Zane Jay
  • Best of the Super Jr. 33 Final: Kosei Fujita vs. YOH

The show takes place Sunday, June 7, at Ota-City General Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan. It will stream in English and Japanese on NJPW World.  

Two title matches official for NJPW Anniversary event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW has booked a couple of title bouts for its upcoming Anniversary event.

On March 6, NJPW will celebrate its 54th birthday with an Anniversary show at Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo. It’s been confirmed that the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship and Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles will be on the line. DOUKI is defending his belt against Master Wato, while Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X are challenging Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita for their tag team gold.

This will be the second defense for both DOUKI and Eagles & Fujita during their respective reigns.

NJPW wrote:

  • The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship will be on the line when Master Wato challenges DOUKI. Mere days after HOUSE OF TORTURE rallied around DOUKI to assist him to a first defence of the junior heavyweight title against El Desperado in Korakuen, Wato ensured the H.O.T victory lap was cut short, striking with the Tstenkaku German to pin Japones Del Mal and assert himself as the next number one contender. As the next chapter of HOUSE OF TORTURE with Ren Narita at its helm continues, will the self proclaimed ‘junior heavyweight god’ DOUKI retain by hook and crook again, or on the site of his Best of the Super Jr. tournament victory in 2023, can Wato finally complete his journey to Grand Master status?
  • Also official for Anniversary is a battle over the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships, Robbie Eagles and Kosei Fujita defending against Robbie X and Taiji Ishimori. The last time NJPW was in Ota for New Year Dash, the Ichiban Sweet Boys Eagles and Fujita won the junior tag gold by defeating Robbie X in a four way bout. When Ishimori scored tag team victory for himself and Hiromu Takahashi at New Beginning in Osaka however, defeating United Empire’s Jakob Austin Young and Francesco Akira, the Unbound Co. name seemed to grow stonger in tag contention. Robbie would provide the assist to prevent a post match assault on Hiromu, and backstage, Ishimori would issue a challenge. These two teams tore the house down in a junior tag title clash in Korakuen last April as well as in the Super Junior Tag League in the autumn to bring them to a 1-1 record. This time, which team will not only bring down the house, but bring home the bacon? 

The Anniversary show will air live on NJPW World with English commentary available. Along with these title bouts, the card includes two opening-round matches in New Japan Cup 2026.

NJPW 54th Anniversary Show (Friday, March 6) —

  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defends against Master Wato
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita defend against Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X
  • New Japan Cup first-round match: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Jake Lee
  • New Japan Cup first-round match: OSKAR vs. Callum Newman

Title change takes place at NJPW New Year Dash

Posted on by Joseph Currier

A title change took place on Monday to help kick off a new era for NJPW.

Following the retirement of Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestle Kingdom 20, NJPW was immediately back in action with New Year Dash 2026 being held at Ota City Gymnasium in Tokyo. The card saw new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions crowned with the Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) prevailing in a four-way match.

Eagles & Fujita defeated DOUKI & SHO, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X, and El Desperado & Kuukai to win the belts. House of Torture tried to interfere to help DOUKI & SHO keep their titles, but Eagles & Fujita were able to dispatch of Yoshibonu Kanemaru and pin Robbie X to become champions.

This marks the second time that Eagles & Fujita have been IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions together. Their first reign lasted for nearly four months from January-April 2025.

Eagles & Fujita are members of the NJPW faction TMDK. Their stablemates Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa had the chance to bring more gold to TMDK at New Year Dash but fell short in their attempt to win the IWGP Tag Team titles. In the main event of NJPW’s first show of the post-Tanahashi era, the Knock Out Brothers (OSKAR & Yuto-Ice) defeated Sabre & Oiwa to remain the champions of the heavyweight tag team division.

New junior heavyweight match announced for NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 20

Posted on by Ian Carey

Five matches are now official for Wrestle Kingdom 20.

A four-way match featuring El Desperado, SHO, Kosei Fujita, and Taiji Ishiimori has been added to the lineup. The winner will earn a future shot at the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, currently held by DOUKI.

The match was announced during a press conference in Tokyo on Sunday, which also confirmed Kazuchika Okada as Hiroshi Tanahashi’s opponent for Tanahashi’s retirement match.

Ishimori pinned SHO in a tag match on Saturday’s show and called out DOUKI after, upset at how DOUKI and SHO had defeated him and Robbie X in the finals of the Super Junior Tag League. DOUKI was later confronted backstage by El Desperado, who was upset that DOUKI cheated to win the title from him last month. Best of the Super Juniors winner Kosei Fujita had also confronted DOUKI backstage last week in Gifu.

DOUKI set up the challengers four-way during his backstage comments on Saturday, making sure his tag team partner SHO was part of the match as well.

“I’m done dealing with this,” DOUKI said. “You guys can run your own contenders match.“

“Desperado, Ishimori, and there was another loud punk, Fujita. Go ahead and have your contenders match, but there’s one condition from the champion, include this guy in the match (putting his hand on SHO). Don’t you think he’s the one who truly deserves to be a challenger?”

The updated lineup for the show is below:

NJPW WrestleKingdom 20 (January 4)

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Konosuke Takeshita vs. IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Yota Tsuji in a winner takes all match
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi retirement match: Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada
  • EVIL vs. Aaron Wolf for NEVER Openweight title
  • NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Saya Kamitani vs. IWGP Women’s Champion Syuri in a winner takes all match
  • El Desperado vs. SHO vs. Kosei Fujita vs. Taiji Ishiimori in an IWGP Junior Heavyweight number one contender match

New title matches added to New Japan Soul tour

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW has confirmed a few new title matches for the final two stops on its New Japan Soul 2025 tour.

– Kosei Fujita — this year’s Best of the Super Juniors winner — is getting his title shot against El Desperado at Korakuen Hall on Sunday, July 6. That match is now official after Desperado successfully defended his title against Jun Kasai in a death match this week.

It was originally expected that Fujita would challenge Desperado earlier this month at Dominion. But with the Desperado vs. Kasai match already scheduled, Fujita decided to delay his title shot so that Desperado would be fully focused on their match when they face each other.

The IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles will also be on the line at the July 6 event with new champions House of Torture (SHO & DOUKI) defending in a rematch against former champs YOH & Master Wato.

– On July 4, the second-to-last show of the New Japan Soul tour will take place at Budokan Hall. A NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team title match has now been booked for that event with SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita defending against YOH, Wato & Toru Yano.

Both the July 4 and July 6 shows will air live on New Japan World. Here are the updated cards:

New Japan Soul 2025 —

Friday, July 4:

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion Gabe Kidd defends against Hiroshi Tanahashi
  • G1 Climax A Block play-in match: Ryohei Oiwa vs. Satoshi Kojima
  • G1 Climax B Block play-in match: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Chase Owens
  • NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Ren Narita defend against YOH, Master Wato & Toru Yano

Sunday, July 6:

  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion El Desperado defends against Kosei Fujita
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions SHO & DOUKI defend against YOH & Master Wato
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Tiger Mask

El Desperado to defend IWGP Jr. title against Jun Kasai at Death Pain Invitational

Posted on by Ian Carey

El Desperado will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Jun Kasai later this month.

Their match at NJPW’s Death Pain Invitational on June 24 at Korakuen Hall is being billed as the final bout between the two. While the match was scheduled last month, NJPW announced on Tuesday that Desperado’s title will be on the line.

Kosei Fujita and the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship

It was originally expected that the winner of Best of the Super Juniors 32 would challenge for the title at Dominion on June 15. However, following his tournament win, Kosei Fujita said backstage that he wants to wait to challenge Desperado until after the Death Pain Invitational. Fujita said he doesn’t want to face a Desperado who is still thinking about his match with Kasai.

El Desperado vs. Jun Kasai

Kasai has pinned Desperado twice this year, once in a triple threat in March and again in a tag match last month. Desperado had previously said that if he won BOSJ32, he would nominate Kasai as his next challenger.

Kasai appeared following Desperado’s tag match at the BOSJ finals and handed him a red envelope, formally inviting him to the Death Pain Invitational, even though the match had already been confirmed.

Desperado and Kasai have had three singles matches. Desperado won their 2022 bout, while their two meetings in 2019 ended in a no-contest and a double countout.

Strong Openweight title match set for NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed

Posted on by Joseph Currier

TMDK will attempt to add more goal to its ranks next month at NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2024.

After Monday’s King of Pro Wrestling event, TMDK member Kosei Fujita cut a backstage promo answering Gabe Kidd’s Strong Openweight Championship challenge for Fighting Spirit Unleashed. NJPW has not formally announced the match yet, but Kidd posted a tweet accepting Fujita’s challenge.

Kidd won the Strong Openweight Championship from Eddie Kingston this May and has made successful title defenses against Ultimo Guerrero, Lio Rush, and Anthony Henry.

TMDK’s Zack Sabre Jr. became the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion on Monday by defeating Tetsuya Naito in the main event of King of Pro Wrestling. Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste — who also hold the Strong Openweight Tag Team titles — retained their IWGP Tag Team title belts at the show with a victory over Bad Luck Fale & Caveman Ugg.

The Lowell Memorial Auditorium in Lowell, Massachusetts is hosting Fighting Spirit Unleashed on Friday, November 8. Here’s what’s set for the show so far:

  • NJPW Strong Openweight Champion Gabe Kidd defends against Kosei Fujita
  • Four-way number one contender’s match: Anna Jay vs. TBD vs. TBD vs. TBD (winner gets next shot at NJPW Strong Women’s Champion Mercedes Mone)

Daily Update: WWE notes, Kosei Fujita, Joey Janela

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Daily Update

Latest News

Latest Audio

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This Week’s Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Among the stories in this issue:

  • Update on SummerSlam and All In, lineups, possible additions, things expected to happen, business notes on both shows, ticket sales and where they will stack up in the all-time historical records. We also look at the stories behind the matches.
  • London Mayor Sadiq Khan meets with Nick Khan and Paul Levesque regarding bringing WrestleMania to the city.
  • Notes on the first week of the G1 Climax tournament, stories, standings, business and quality of the matches.
  • Notes on week two of G1
  • Part one of our story on the life and career of Canadian star Leo Burke, a Stampede Hall of Famer and how he shaped the career of Bret Hart, and trained some of the biggest names in wrestling
  • Vince McMahon’s lawyers try and shut down a motion by Janel Grant’s lawyers
  • TNA Slammiversary, its biggest crowd in years and how it was done, PPV numbers update, and full show coverage
  • Coverage of Dragon Gate & DDT’s biggest shows of the year
  • The most detailed look at the ratings of all the major pro wrestling shows, placings, competition and segment-by-segment
  • What the CMLL current era compares to in Mexican history
  • A look at the big matches coming over the next month including AEW stars and World Grand Prix participants
  • Stardom PPV shows this weekend
  • 50th anniversary celebration
  • One of the top legends of this era pushing his farewell tour
  • Bloodsport notes
  • Next few weeks of TNA television
  • Update on AEW TV negotiations
  • Lots of AEW injuries
  • Tony Khan talks about strippaing titles vs. waiting for champions to recover
  • Darby Allin talks current scene
  • Ticket sales for upcoming AEW & WWE shows
  • International TV ratings and streaming numbers
  • Cung Le lawsuit update
  • Top ten male and female fighters of the 21st century
  • Jake Paul vs. Mike Perry and update on celebrity fights and how they are doing

This Week’s Wresting Observer Newsletter Back Issue

Thursday Update

WWE

  • Yesterday, Paul “Triple H” Levesque acknowledged the 28th anniversary of Kurt Angle’s Olympic gold medal win: “28 years ago, he proved he was the absolute best on the planet and set the tone for the rest of his career. Not to mention… he did it with a broken freakin’ neck. Proud to call Olympic Gold Medalist @RealKurtAngle my friend.”
  • Chris Legentil – WWE’s executive vice president of talent relations and head of communications – was interviewed on Sports Media with Richard Deitsch. He responded to a question about how WWE approaches multi-year contracts vs. one-year deals:
    • I don’t know if we want to go too far into the length of contracts, but what I would say is – if you’re doing short, single-year contracts, you wind up in a position where you are always negotiating because you’re always some number of months away from the deal expiring. So, on balance, a longer deal is helpful for a variety of reasons, not least that you don’t spend all of your time negotiating the next one but rather focusing on the job itself.
  • Ahead of SummerSlam, Drew McIntyre trolled CM Punk by posting a video of himself working out to Punk’s old ROH theme music.
  • WWE uploaded a CM Punk SummerSlam week vlog.
  • Punk told the SI Media podcast that he still picks Paul Heyman’s brain about ideas “all the time” 
  • Bayley visited San Francisco 49ers training camp yesterday.
  • WWE Hall of Famer Queen Sharmell appeared on the latest episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet. She discussed having NXT wrestlers compete for Reality of Wrestling:
    • It’s great for the fans, obviously, because they get to see the superstars that they watch on television. They get to see them up close and personal. And it’s great for our students because they get to work somebody who’s there at the next level. So it’s a good rub for them.
  • The Miz joined Cody Rhodes on this week’s episode of “What Do You Wanna Talk About?”
  • Bron Breakker stopped by The Pat McAfee Show in advance of SummerSlam.
  • MMA fighter Demetrious Johnson interviewed The Undertaker on his Mighty podcast.
  • WWE wished Carmelo Hayes a happy 30th birthday.
  • WWE wrestlers discussed their favorite SummerSlam moments.

AEW/Other Wrestling

Two title matches booked for New Japan Soul 2024

Posted on by Joseph Currier

NJPW has made the first two match announcements for its post-Dominion summer tour.

After Dominion takes place this weekend, New Japan Soul 2024 will kick off the following week. The first event is being held in Sapporo on Sunday, June 16. A pair of title matches have been made official for the show. SANADA will challenge David Finlay for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship, while Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney are defending the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles.

An illness forced SANADA out of action in April, but he’s now been medically cleared to return. Finlay is looking to avenge his loss to SANADA from the New Japan Cup 2023 finals.

Tournament losses are also part of the story for Bullet Club War Dogs and TMDK’s Junior Heavyweight Tag Team title match. During this year’s Best of the Super Juniors, Fujita defeated Connors and Eagles defeated Moloney when they faced off in tournament matches. Eagles & Fujita also own a victory over Connors & Moloney from Super Junior Tag League 2023.

Fujita, Eagles & Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Connors, Moloney & Gedo in a six-man tag match at an NJPW event this Monday. At Dominion, there will be another six-man tag match with Fujita, Eagles & Sabre facing Connors, Moloney & LJ Cleary.

The New Japan Soul tour runs through Friday, July 5 and features seven events in total. The final night is being held at Budokan Hall.

New Japan Soul 2024 night one (Sunday, June 16, live on NJPW World) —

  • IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion David Finlay defends against SANADA
  • IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions Bullet Club War Dogs (Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney defend against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles)

Two new matches set for cross-promotional United Japan event

Posted on by Joseph Currier

Two new matches have been added to the card for May’s All Together event, the first show under the United Japan Pro-Wrestling banner.

It was announced in December 2023 that nine promotions had come together to form the United Japan Pro-Wrestling industry group. Their first collaborative show is being held at Budokan Hall on Monday, May 6.

A singles match between Pro Wrestling NOAH star Kenoh and NJPW’s Kosei Fujita has been added to the All Together event. A tag team match with SANADA (NJPW) & KAI (Dragon Gate) facing Zack Sabre Jr. (NJPW) & Chris Brookes (DDT) is also now set.

NJPW, AJPW, NOAH, DDT, Ganbare, Big Japan, Dragon Gate, Stardom, and Tokyo Joshi Pro are the nine promotions in the industry group. While still operating separately, they’ve come together to advance pro wrestling in Japan following the COVID-19 pandemic.

The mission statement for the group is:

To further the presence of pro-wrestling and its cultural merit in Japanese society at large, allow professional wrestling to contribute further to cultural and sporting sectors, and work toward continued health and prosperity of the industry. 

All Together is airing as a pay-per-view on ABEMA. A portion of the proceeds from the event are being donated to the victims of the Noto Peninsula earthquake that happened at the beginning of this year.

Here’s the updated All Together card:

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Naomichi Marufuji & Sanshiro Takagi vs. EVIL, Ren Narita & Yujiro Takahashi
  • Tomohiro Ishii & Daisuke Sekimoto vs. Jeff Cobb & Masa Kitamiya
  • Kaito Kiyomiya, Shota Umino & Yuki Ueno vs. Konosuke Takeshita, Yuya Uemura & Shun Skywalker
  • Kenoh vs. Kosei Fujita
  • SANADA & KAI vs. Zack Sabre Jr. & Chris Brookes

Matt Riddle to defend NJPW World TV title at MLW War Chamber

Posted on by Joseph Currier

At MLW War Chamber, Matt Riddle will put his NJPW World Television Championship up for grabs.

Riddle vs. Kosei Fujita for the NJPW World TV title is now set for MLW War Chamber in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday, March 29. The 21-year-old Fujita, an NJPW wrestler, is making his MLW debut in the match.

It was previously announced that Riddle would face Timothy Thatcher in a non-title match at War Chamber. That match will still be happening in St. Petersburg on March 29, but it will instead be part of the MLW television taping portion of the War Chamber event. Riddle vs. Fujita will be airing live on the War Chamber broadcast on TrillerTV+.

In storyline, Riddle decided to have two matches at War Chamber as part of his quest to earn an MLW World Heavyweight Championship shot. Satoshi Kojima currently holds that title.

Riddle won the NJPW World TV title from Hiroshi Tanahashi this February. His first title defense was in MLW against Bad Dude Tito.

Here’s the updated War Chamber card:

Triller TV+ live broadcast —

  • War Chamber match: Team MLW (Satoshi Kojima, Okumura, Matthew Justice & 1 Called Manders) vs. World Titan Federation (Tom Lawlor, Davey Boy Smith Jr., Richard Holliday & Josh Bishop)
  • NJPW World Television Champion Matt Riddle defends against Kosei Fujita
  • MLW Women’s Featherweight Champion Janai Kai defends against Unagi Sayaka
  • AJ Francis vs. Alex Kane
  • Mads Krugger goes to war against MLW

TV taping —

  • War Chamber match: The Calling (Sami Callihan, Rickey Shane Page, Cannonball & Talon) vs. Raven, AKIRA, Jimmy Lloyd & Jake Crist
  • Matt Riddle vs. Timothy Thatcher
  • Zayda vs. Sofi Castillo 

NJPW Young Lion Kosei Fujita out of action with shoulder injury

Posted on by Joseph Currier

An NJPW Young Lion will be out of action for the rest of the month due to injury.

NJPW has announced that Kosei Fujita will be unable to wrestle at events through the end of January due to suffering a shoulder injury in training. Fujita is expected to return to the ring in February.

Fujita was scheduled to team with fellow Young Lion Ryohei Oiwa in a tag team match against Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI at NJPW’s New Year’s Golden Series tour show at Korakuen Hall this Thursday. Oiwa will now face Takahashi in a singles match.

The 19-year-old Fujita made his in-ring debut against Oiwa last August. Both took part in an NJPW tryout in December 2020 and joined the NJPW dojo in April 2021.

Fujita went to a 10-minute time limit draw with Pro Wrestling NOAH’s Yasutaka Yano during the pre-show for Wrestle Kingdom 16 night three earlier this month. Fujita was also an entrant in the pre-show Ranbo at Wrestle Kingdom 16 night one.

When Fujita made his debut, NJPW noted that he wrestled throughout high school, winning the JOC Western and Central Japan freestyle tournament at 80 kilos. 

Two new Young Lions to debut at NJPW Summer Struggle

Posted on by Ethan Renner

A pair of NJPW Dojo Young Lions will make their debuts at Tuesday’s Summer Struggle event. 

Ryohei Oiwa and Kosei Fujita will make their Korakuen Hall debuts this week, facing each other in singles matches on each of the four Summer Struggle shows scheduled for this week on August 24, 25, 26 and 27.

Both Oiwa and Fujita were part of December 2020 NJPW tryouts. Both also joined the NJPW Dojo in April 2021. 

Oiwa, 22, is 5’10” and weighs in at 198 pounds, according to NJPW. He has an amateur wrestling background, wrestling throughout middle school and through his college career. He placed third in the 2018 JOC nationals in the 86 kg weight class. 

Fujita, 19, is also 5’10” and weighs 183 pounds. He also has an amateur background, claiming the JOC Western and Central Japan freestyle tournament in the 80 kg weight class in high school. 

Oiwa and Fujita will fill the void left when Yuya Uemura and Yota Tsuji graduated from the NJPW Dojo and were sent on international excursion earlier this month.