Yota Tsuji prevailed in an all-out war against Gabe Kidd to regain the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship on Monday night.
Getting back the title he dropped earlier this year at Dominion, Tsuji tapped out Kidd in the co-main event of this week’s NJPW King of Pro Wrestling card at Ryogoku Sumo Hall in Tokyo, Japan.
The lengthy co-main event saw Kidd and Tsuji throw everything at each other before the finishing sequence. Tsuji connected with his Gene Blaster spear three times in the match, failing to earn a pinfall after hitting the move at points.
He hit the spear for the second time at 23 minutes, causing Kidd to surprisingly kick out at one. Tsuji started to close in on a win at this point, hitting the spear once again. Then, in a callback to their Young Lion days together, Tsuji closed the show with the quintessential trainee finisher, the Boston Crab, forcing a tap-out finish in 24 minutes.
Kidd overcame Tsuji back at Dominion 6.15 in June to claim the title, marking his first singles win over him since they both returned from excursion and wrapped up their trainee duties with NJPW. Kidd went on to defend the title twice, beating veterans Hiroshi Tanahashi and Shingo Takagi in the months that followed.
Tsuji now once again has the title he held for 162 days earlier this year. His prior run with the title saw him dethrone David Finlay at Wrestle Kingdom, then defend the belt four times, including victories over EVIL and Yuya Uemura.
Rivals Tsuji and Kidd showed respect after the matchup, shaking hands in the middle of the ring. Then, in a move which has made many ponder the future of the “unaffiliated” ex-Los Ingobernables de Japon group, the faction hit the ring and shook hands with current members of Bullet Club, including leader David Finlay.
