Results
- Shota Umino, El Desperado, Mistico, Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano def. Dick Togo, DOUKI, Ren Narita, SANADA & SHO (8:23)
- Master Wato, Ryusuke Taguchi & YOH def. Gedo, Robbie X & Taiji Ishimori (3:36)
- OSKAR, Yuto-Ice & Daiki Nagai def. Great-O-Khan, HENARE & Zane Jay (9:35)
- Ryohei Oiwa & Zack Sabre Jr. def. Aaron Wolf & Taichi (10:09)
- Callum Newman def. Jeff Cobb (13:57)
- Shun Skywalker def. Konosuke Takeshita (NJPW World Television Championship) (10:14)
- Shingo Takagi def. Claudio Castagnoli (15:43)
- Gabe Kidd def. Drilla Moloney (IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship) (19:36)
- Yota Tsuji def. Hirooki Goto (IWGP Heavyweight Championship) (24:01)
Yota Tsuji took apart former world champ Hirooki Goto to retain his status as IWGP Heavyweight Champion on Sunday night.
Tsuji engaged in a competitive 24-minute main event on Sunday night, headlining this year’s NJPW Destruction in Kobe event. In the end, he was able to turn back the veteran name, setting him up for an even bigger showdown in Tokyo next month.
The battle between Tsuji and Goto became a fast-paced, back-and-forth series of reversals in the final minutes.
Tsuji connected with a pair of Gene Blasters late in the match, earning him a near fall. A couple of minutes later, a Guerrero Special out of the corner rendered another two-count.
A third Gene Blaster was countered by Goto, who instead caught the champ coming forward with a spinning heel kick. This reversal provided the opening for Goto to connect with a Shoten for his own near fall.
A follow-up move from Goto was countered by Tsuji into a Fire Blaster. He connected with the finisher a second time to seal the deal after 24 minutes.
Tsuji was defending the IWGP Heavyweight Championship for the first time since regaining the belt in June. Avenging an April loss to Callum Newman, Tsuji beat the Briton as part of this year’s Dominion 6.14 card to kick off his second run with the title.
Goto was gunning to begin his second-ever run with the IWGP Heavyweight Championship. He held the belt during the first half of 2025, dethroning Zack Sabre Jr. and defending the belt over half a dozen times before dropping it to the TMDK leader months later.
Prior to this weekend, Tsuji and Goto had never faced off in a championship showdown. Their three prior meetings, which Goto had prevailed in the majority of, came from tournament matchups through past G1 Climaxes and New Japan Cups.
With a win over Goto behind him, Tsuji will now go on to defend his title against 2026 G1 Climax winner Ryohei Oiwa as part of NJPW’s King of Pro Wrestling card on October 12. Oiwa sat at ringside for Sunday’s main event, scouting out the man he’ll face in the main event of a Ryogoku Kokugikan card in a matter of weeks.
Earlier in the night: Gabe Kidd turns back Drilla Moloney, Shun Skywalker captures first NJPW title
Gabe Kidd retained the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship in an emotional 19-minute co-main event matchup against former teammate turned rival Drilla Moloney. Moloney connected with his Drilla Killa finisher late in the match, but a ref bump which happened in the process prevented a follow-up pin from being counted. Kidd, who used his title as a weapon while the ref was down, was able to claw his way back into the match and win with a Fisherman Buster.
Kidd said in a post-match speech that he won’t appear in NJPW until next year’s Tokyo Dome show, although plans might’ve changed after he was called out by Shota Umino moments later. After getting mocked for pulling out of this year’s G1 due to a concussion, Umino laid out Kidd to end the segment.
In a physical first-ever one-on-one encounter, Shingo Takagi took down AEW’s Claudio Castagnoli in 15 minutes. The hard-hitting match, one of the stronger bouts of the night, ended after Takagi connected with Last of the Dragon.
Former Dragon Gate talent Shun Skywalker captured his first NJPW title on Sunday, putting an end to Konosuke Takeshita’s lengthy reign as NJPW World Television Champion. After a distraction from House of Torture teammate Ren Narita, Skywalker threw white powder in the eyes of Takeshita then connected with his Skyfall finisher twice for the win.
In his first major matchup since returning to NJPW earlier this year, Jeff Cobb “made way” for Callum Newman in a 14-minute singles showdown. While Cobb had a strong showing against Newman throughout the match, including a spot at ringside where he tossed a Young Lion at the United Empire leader, cheap tactics caused him to suffer a loss. With the referee distracted, Newman hit Cobb with a low blow before connecting with Make Way for the pinfall win.
A surprisingly quick finish emerged in the second match of the night, as a top-rope uppercut from Master Wato put Gedo down for the pin after just three-and-a-half minutes of action.
