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New Champions Crowned at GLEAT Ver. EX

ByAndrew J.T. Gelinas
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Months after Pro Wrestling NOAH began its invasion of GLEAT, NOAH’s Atsushi Kotoge defeated El Lindaman to capture the G-REX Championship. The victory came exactly one year after Lindaman defeated Katsuhiko Nakajima to win the same title. Kotoge secured the pinfall after 20:19 with a devastating Over Kill Switch, becoming the seventh wrestler to hold GLEAT’s top championship.

Kotoge made history with his victory, becoming the first wrestler signed to another promotion to capture the G-REX Championship. While outsiders have held the title before, including Katsuhiko Nakajima, he was working as a freelancer at the time of his reign. Kotoge also became the oldest wrestler to win the championship, doing so at 40 years and 356 days old.

This marks the first openweight world championship reign of Kotoge’s career and his first title reign outside NOAH since 2022, when he held the Open the Triangle Gate Championship as part of a three-man team.

Kotoge’s victory caused a major stir, with the GLEAT roster flooding the ring following the match to confront the new champion. Kotoge then took aim at the assembled wrestlers, mocking them for allowing their own promotion’s top title to fall into the hands of an outsider.

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El Lindaman’s second reign as G-REX Champion was just one day short of matching the record for the longest title reign, which remains held by Hayato Tamura. During his year-long reign, Lindaman successfully defended the championship five times.

The G-REX Championship was not the only title to change hands during GLEAT’s major event at Korakuen Hall on Friday. The G-INFINITY Tag Team Championships also switched hands, as Black Generation International’s So Daimonji and Soma Watanabe defeated G. Sharpe and TJP. The latter duo had captured the titles on September 20, defeating Chris Ridgeway and Drew Parker.

This marks BGI’s third reign as G-INFINITY Tag Team Champions and the first without Kaito Ishida as part of the title-winning team. Soma Watanabe also made history, becoming the third wrestler in GLEAT to have held both the G-REX and G-INFINITY Championships during his career. More notably, he is now the only wrestler to have won all three of the promotion’s championships: the G-REX, G-INFINITY and G-RUSH titles. The latter is GLEAT’s high-speed division championship, comparable to STARDOM’s High Speed Championship or Pro Wrestling NOAH’s GHC200 Championship.

GLEAT Ver. Ex is available to watch for free on the promotion’s YouTube channel under the Live tab.

For the latest news from GLEAT and the wider Japanese professional wrestling scene, stay tuned to WrestlePurists for further updates.

Full Match Results:

  • 6-Man Tag: Jo Yamamoto, T-Hawk, & Takehiro Yamamura def. Chris Ridgeway, Drew Parker, & Quiet Storm (3:17)
  • 3-Way Trios: Junjie, Keiichi Sato, & Kohei Kinoshita def. Katsuhiko Nakajima, Kendo Kashin, & Van Very Jack and ARASHI, Kaito Ishida, & KAZMA SAKAMOTO (4:30)
  • GLEAT vs. NOAH Tag: Hayato Tamura & Ryuichi Kawakami (GLEAT) def. Hi69 & Mohammed Yone (NOAH) (11:41)
  • GLEAT vs. NOAH singles: Kazuyuki Fujita def. Tetsuya Izuchi (2:12)
  • Tag match: BUSHI & CIMA def. Kotaro Suzuki & Minoru Tanaka (9:12)
  • LIDET UWF Championship: Takanori Ito def. Simon Gotch for 3rd defense (7:06)
  • GLEAT vs. Marigold Trios: Mayu Iwatani, Victoria Yuzuki, & Komomo Minami (Marigold) def. Marika Kobashi, MICHIKO, & Unagi Sayaka (GLEAT) (15:00)
  • G-INFINITY Championships: So Daimonji & Soma Watanabe def. G. Sharpe & TJP to become new champions! (20:24)
  • G-REX Championship: Atsushi Kotoge (NOAH) def. El Lindaman (GLEAT) to become new champion! (20:19)