New NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions were crowned on Monday night.
The trio of Jeff Cobb and the Knockout Brothers prevailed at NJPW’s King of Pro Wrestling card on Monday, dethroning United Empire’s Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, and HENARE in 17 minutes.
After HENARE accidentally took out Great-O-Khan late in the match with a headbutt, the Maori wrestler found himself in the ring with no assistance. The Knockout Brothers capitalized on this moment, connecting on their KOB double-team finisher for the pinfall win. Ospreay tried to break the pin, but was held back by OSKAR.
The KOPW result gives double-champ status to OSKAR and Yuto-Ice, who currently also hold the IWGP Tag Team Championships, which they regained in a win over Great-O-Khan and HENARE last week. Jeff Cobb has now started his first title reign since exiting the WWE roster earlier this year.
A major angle in Monday’s match was the struggle between current United Empire leader Callum Newman and ex-leader Ospreay. After a referee was taken out part-way through the match, Newman emerged at ringside and slid a chair into the ring. During a post-match brawl, Newman and Ospreay came to shoves.
This unstable dynamic between Newman and Ospreay would get put under an even bigger focus just minutes later.
In a post-match sequence, Ospreay got on the mic and said he wants to challenge the Knockout Brothers for their IWGP tag belts as part of NJPW’s November 3 Power Struggle card in Hiroshima.
Yuto-Ice said that the title wish would only be granted if they get to choose Ospreay’s tag partner for the match. Who did they choose? Of course, Newman was the name they went with.
