New champions were crowned at today’s NJPW Road to Power Struggle event.
Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask defeated El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru to win the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championship on the third of three consecutive nights at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo.
Eagles used the Ron Miller Special to submit Kanemaru and earn the title win for his team in the show’s main event.
For Tiger Mask, the win marks the first time he has held gold in NJPW since 2012, when he captured the Junior Tag titles with Jushin Liger. This is also the first time that Eagles has held tag team gold in NJPW. Eagles currently holds the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship, making him a double champion.
Eagles will defend the Junior Heavyweight title against Desperado at Power Struggle on Saturday, November 6.
Desperado and Kanemaru’s fourth reign with the Junior Tag titles ends after 52 days. Three of their four reigns have come since September 2020, as they have spent much of the last year trading the titles with Bullet Club’s Taiji Ishimori and El Phantasmo.
An IWGP Junior Tag title match will headline the NJPW Road to Power Struggle tour.
El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion Robbie Eagles and Tiger Mask on Tuesday, October 26.
Aside from the title match, the most notable news items from the card announcements are the return of Aaron Henare after months away, plus the absence of Taichi.
Henare last appeared for NJPW in May at Wrestling Dontaku. Taichi wrestled the final matches of the G1 Climax tournament with his ribs taped, though it remains unclear whether the injury was a work or a shoot.
The tour begins on Sunday, October 24 with a Korakuen Hall show on NJPW World. The next two nights will also be shown on NJPW World, while the remainder of the Road to Power Struggle will be strictly house shows.
NJPW Power Struggle takes place on Saturday, November 6. That show will be headlined by Zack Sabre Jr. challenging Shingo Takagi for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship.
Here are the full lineups for the tour:
NJPW Road to Power Struggle, Sunday, October 24, 5:30 a.m. Eastern time on NJPW World —
Elimination match: Shingo Takagi, SANADA, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr., El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & DOUKI
Kazuchika Okada, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma vs. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Jado
Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuji Nagata vs. KENTA & Gedo
Toru Yano & Satoshi Kojima vs. Great-O-Khan & Aaron Henare
Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI & Kosei Fujita vs. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo
