Toru Yano ends year as New Japan’s KOPW 2021 champion

Toru Yano ended the year as the KOPW 2021 champion outlasting Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a Year-End Party Rules match.

Photo Courtesy: NJPW

Toru Yano ended the year as the KOPW 2021 champion outlasting Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a Year-End Party Rules match.

The final event of 2021 included the last obstacle for Yano as he defeated Kanemaru with stipulations that saw the participant take shots of whiskey every two minutes.

After the final shots were taken, Yano poured the bottle of whiskey down Kanemaru’s throat and executed a powerbomb to score the pinfall.

It is the second year in a row where Yano has been the holder of the crown when the calendar turns over. The KOPW concept was introduced last year with stipulation-laden matches that are set after online voting by fans.

The main event of Friday’s show featured Kazuchika Okada & Robbie Eagles defeating Shingo Takagi & BUSHI when Okada pinned BUSHI after The Rainmaker. Takagi and Okada will meet for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on January 4th at the Tokyo Dome with the winner facing Will Ospreay the next night.

Here are the results from Friday in front of 696 fans (Courtesy: Purolove.com):
*Kazuchika Okada & Robbie Eagles over Shingo Takagi & BUSHI in 14:54
*Zack Sabre Jr., Taichi & El Desperado over Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Hiromu Takahashi in 13:07
*Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto, YOH & YOSHI0-HASHI over EVIL, Yujiro, SHO & Dick Togo in 12:04
*KOPW 2021 Year-End Party Rules: Toru Yano (holder) over Yoshinobu Kanemaru in 9:54
*KENTA, Bad Luck Fale & Chase Owens over Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma in 6:55
*Great O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare over Yuji Nagata, Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan in 7:58
*El Phantasmo over Tiger Mask and Ryusuke Taguchi in 9:19

About John Pollock 5797 Articles
Born on a Friday, John Pollock is a reporter, editor & podcaster at POST Wrestling. He runs and owns POST Wrestling alongside Wai Ting.