YOH can finally call himself IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion.
The long-time NJPW talent captured the top junior heavyweight title on Sunday night, dethroning DOUKI in the co-main event of Dominion 6.14 from Osaka-jo Hall in Osaka, Japan.
A Superkick followed up by a Direct Drive from YOH scored him the pinfall win in just under 18 minutes.
DOUKI leaned on a significant amount of assistance from House of Torture teammate SHO, who appeared at ringside just a minute into the bout. SHO sneakily got involved in the match numerous times, bringing a metal sheet into the bout at one point.
The recently retired NJPW President Hiroshi Tanahashi got involved in the match, taking away a weapon of DOUKI from the ringside area in the closing minutes. An aggravated SHO snatched the bat from Tanahashi, sending his boss over a barricade at ringside in the process. Master Wato also hit the ring at one point to try and prevent further cheating tactics from House of Torture.
A post-match segment saw Wato, SHO, Kosei Fujita and Francesco Akira all show interest in being next in line for the title. This caused YOH to propose a four-way #1 contenders match between those involved.
YOH earned a shot at DOUKI through winning this year’s Best of the Super Juniors tournament, securing six wins in block action before beating Master Wato and Kosei Fujita in the knockout rounds to capture the title.
While YOH has a long history of success as a tag wrestler in NJPW, including five junior heavyweight tag reigns as part of Roppongi 3K, he had yet to capture a singles title in his career before Sunday night.
DOUKI’s uneventful title reign, which saw him miss notable events on the NJPW calendar like the Best of the Super Juniors tour and the brand’s annual Wrestle Kingdom card inside the Tokyo Dome, included five title bouts over 250 days. Past appearances saw him take down El Desperado, Master Wato, Tiger Mask, and YOH.
