DOUKI extended his reign as IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion as New Japan Pro Wrestling concluded its second night at Korakuen Hall.
The Road to New Beginning tour continued in front of 1,231 on Tuesday with two championships at stake.
RESULTS:
- Young Lion Cup – Semi-Final: Shoma Kato over Masatora Yasuda in 6:55 (Recommended)
- Young Lion Cup – Semi-Final: Katsuya Murashima over Daiki Nagai in 9:19 (Recommended)
- Non-title match: The Knockout Brothers over Shota Umino & Tatsuya Matsumoto in 1:26
- Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, Master Wato & YOH over EVIL, Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo in 9:05
- Jake Lee, Callum Newman, Great O-Khan, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young over Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo in 11:47
- IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Titles: Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita over SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru in 16:59 (Recommended)
- IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship: DOUKI © over El Desperado in 16:30
El Desperado earned the title after winning a four-way No. 1 contender’s match at Wrestle Kingdom 20 as he attempted to win the belt for the sixth time.
It was another main event full of House of Torture involvement, although the seconds were cut off by Hontai members, including Aaron Wolf and Master Wato. The closing moments included Desperado surviving multiple strikes by the black mirror, but he fell after a low blow by the champion and Suplex de la Luna.
It was the pair’s first 1-on-1 match since Wrestle Kingdom 19 one year ago when the match was called off due to an injury to DOUKI, which led to Desperado winning the championship in an anticlimactic way.
The other championship match featured Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita beating SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru in the best match on the card. Over seventeen minutes, the four overcame obstacles such as Kanemaru’s whiskey and SHO yanking the referee to save his partner from a pinfall. After the champions landed their double-team maneuver, Fujita hit Thrill Ride and pinned Kanemaru to make a successful first defense after winning the belts at New Year Dash.
New Japan’s Road to New Beginning tour resumes on February 1 and leads into the New Beginning Osaka card on February 11.
