New Japan Pro Wrestling
After NJPW ended the Destruction tour with the show on September 29th, the fall of the promotion continued with the annual King Of Pro Wrestling show on October 14th in the Sumo Hall in front of 6,211 fans, which is up by over 1,000 people compared to last year’s KOPW show that saw EVIL & SANADA clash for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship. While the number is good, considering they used the G1 Climax title match for this show, it could have been more. That being said, it didn’t bomb, and that is the most important part of the show, which went out with a new World Heavyweight Champion.
The opening match of the night saw Hiromu Takahashi beating Mistico with his new submission move that he debuted in Kobe. The match was alright, and the idea behind it was good, but the finishing stretch felt underwhelming. Hiromu had a simple game plan as he tried to slow Mistico down and take away his offensive momentum to set up his submission. It was their weakest match so far as the ‘Time Bomb’ and the legendary luchador had two great matches together with Mexico, with the first ending with a draw, and the second seeing Mistico picking up the win. Now, Takahashi finally has a huge victory over Mistico and continues his momentum on the road to Wrestle Kingdom.
In a very good match, Kevin Knight & KUSHIDA won the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Title from Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney to end the War Dogs dominance. Moloney and Connors held the belts for a combined 437 days over two reigns with a break of barely 30 days in between. The match was built around the War Dogs dominating and working all over KUSHIDA before Knight made the hot tag. Knight was especially good in his role as his comebacks got the crowd excited. Intergalactic Jet Setters are now two-time champions and will walk into the Tokyo Dome as the defending champs against the winner of the Super Junior Tag League.
Mikey Nicholls & Shane Haste successfully retained the IWGP Tag Team Championships against BULLET CLUB Rogue Army’s Bad Luck Fale & Caveman Ugg in a match that was much better than expected. TDMK worked well, especially with Ugg, who had a great outing in his major match in New Japan. Haste and Nicholls retaining was the correct decision as they will face HENARE & Great-O-Khan for the belts next.
Shingo Takagi successfully defended the NEVER Openweight Championship against Ryohei Oiwa in a great match. It was all about how great Oiwa would look shortly after his excursion to NOAH, and he did fantastically. Oiwa stepped up and performed on the high level that fans expect from him. He is the best in-ring wrestler of the young generation, as he has shown during his NOAH dates. Takagi retaining the title was a little derailing for Oiwa’s momentum, but his fantastic performance was more important.
Ren Narita won the NJPW TV Championship in a three-way match with Yota Tsuji and Jeff Cobb after he pinned Cobb. The match was fun as Cobb and Tsuji did most of the in-ring part, while Narita showed his in-ring IQ well and used the moments he got to get his offense in. In the end, Narita used the push-up bar and hit the Double Cross to claim his first singles championship, which was needed for his career, and joining HoT has now brought him his first accomplishment. It seems that Narita & Tsuji will clash for the TV Title sooner rather than later.
Hiroshi Tanahashi announced after his 25th anniversary that he will be retiring on January 4th, 2026, at Wrestle Kingdom 20. With that, one of the most legendary wrestlers of all time will only wrestle for 15 more months, and it’s an understandable decision. His condition isn’t good anymore as he can barely run and move during matches. On social media, Tanahashi often shares pictures after his matches where he ices his knees even after the simplest match-ups. A lot is possible for his final months in the business as the final tag team matches with or against the likes of Nakamura, Shibata, and Okada are all possible. As well as one final IWGP World Championship match or a last G1 Climax run after going through the qualifier.
DOUKI retained the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship in 14 seconds against SHO in maybe the best way this could have gone. SHO attacked DOUKI before the match and ripped his mask off his head, but underneath the mask, the IWGP Junior Champion had a Kishin Liger-face paint on. After the Red Mist and two Suplex de la Luna, DOUKI won within a few seconds to retain for a third time. Post-match, Yoshinobu Kanemaru came to the aid of his stablemate SHO after the match but was attacked by the returning Master Wato, who came back from his knee injury due to an attack from SHO and then demanded a title match against DOUKI at Power Struggle.
David Finlay successfully retained the IWGP Global Championship against Hirooki Goto in another great outing for ‘The Rebel’. Finlay has been figuring it out more and more with every big outing, not only inside of the ring but also outside of it. The way he mocked the children of Goto ringside was great to watch and drew good heat with the crowd that was rooting loudly for Goto in this match. The veteran showed once again why he’s one of the most consistent wrestlers in New Japan, even at his age, as he has had his best in-ring year in a long time, competing in big singles spots recently. The match had a slow build but picked up quickly and had a fantastic finishing stretch with Goto giving everything until the very last second, but it wasn’t enough to beat Finlay. After the match, the champion called out the injured Yuya Uemura to redeem his loss in the G1 Climax, but instead, fellow JUST 5 GUYS member Taichi came out and made known that he would challenge instead. Taichi will get his first IWGP singles title match in over five years as he is another veteran who will face Finlay for the title after both Bishamon members. A great challenge that will set up Uemura’s comeback once his injury is healed as he will likely be the one to dethrone David Finlay.
In the main event of the show, Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Tetsuya Naito to become the 11th IWGP World Heavyweight Champion as he cashed in his title shot that he earned by winning this year’s G1 Climax. The match was great, maybe the best from a straight-up in-ring perspective for Tetsuya Naito this year, as he seems to be in a much better condition than he was a couple of months ago. He adapted his style very well and works a more grounded style in his main event matches now, and that worked well when mixed with Zack’s work in this match. The match was really slow, but they picked up the pace at the right moment to start a dramatic finishing stretch that had the crowd nearly on their feet. In the end, Zack won with a modified version of the Sabre Driver. After waiting seven years, Zack Sabre Jr. claimed the well-deserved throne of New Japan as the new IWGP World Heavyweight Champion. Meanwhile, Naito continues to never have a real world championship run in his career as nearly all of his runs either ended up getting cut short or being a transitional reign to put over someone New Japan sees as a bigger star.
After the match, SANADA came out to make the Royal Quest world championship match official, but then Shota Umino and Shingo Takagi interrupted, and both made it clear that they want a shot as well. While the crowd reacted with pops for SANADA & Takagi, they didn’t react well to Umino as they booed the moment they realised Umino would come out. If it wasn’t obvious before that Umino is not working as a main event talent – at least not with his current character – then it is now. He needs a heel turn and not to House of Torture, but rather Stardust Naito style. Umino should lean into the crowd hating him and play up the fact that he’s a nepo baby. It’s the only way that he can save his own main event career, and it’s needed considering he is likely wrestling for the world title at the Tokyo Dome. Zack Sabre Jr. said that both Shota Umino & Shingo Takagi have an equal right to challenge for the gold, so they did a lottery. If Sabre wins against SANADA, Takagi will be his next challenger, while Umino will challenge SANADA if he claims the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship in London. At Power Struggle, Zack will face Takagi, while SANADA & Umino will clash with one of the two matches being for the belt. Everything here screams that Zack will defeat both SANADA & Takagi before he faces Umino at Wrestle Kingdom. Out of all the potential match-ups, it is the most interesting choice from a story potential due to the reactions Umino got today. It will be interesting to see what New Japan will do with him, as the upcoming months could decide his fate as a singles wrestler.
