Shota Umino has earned his first-ever IWGP title.
Umino prevailed in a three-way match on Sunday night, pinning AEW star Andrade El Idolo and overcoming Drilla Moloney to earn the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. The 16-minute victory took place as part of Sunday’s NJPW Dominion 6.14 card from the Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan.
The fast-paced three-way came to an end after Umino reversed a DM attempt from Andrade, scoring a DDT then his Second Chapter finisher for the pinfall victory. Moloney crawled into the ring in an attempt to break up the pin, but wasn’t able to reach Umino in time.
A defeated Moloney shook Umino’s hand before leaving the ring.
Umino’s title celebration was short-lived, as former Global Heavyweight champ Gabe Kidd hit the ring and attacked him. AEW star Kidd, who was announced for this year’s G1 Climax earlier in the night, told Umino that he was never one of the Death Riders.
Showered with boos, Kidd spat on the NJPW Lion Mark in the ring and tossed the Global Heavyweight title before leaving the ring. A defeated Moloney, who has his history with Kidd, watched on as the attack took place.
AEW’s Andrade earned the Global Heavyweight title last month, beating Yota Tsuji in the main event of Wrestling Dontaku Night 1. The result marked the beginning of his first NJPW reign since 2013, when he held the now-defunct Intercontinental title as La Sombra.
Andrade now dropped the Global Heavyweight title without successfully defending it once, making it the shortest reign in the belt’s short history.
Both Moloney and Umino were vying for their first-ever singles titles in NJPW. Moloney had previously carried the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships alongside Clark Connors, but hadn’t held a belt on his own prior to this weekend. Umino entered Sunday without a title of any kind to his name yet.
