Jay White made history on Monday. The opening night of Wrestling Dontaku saw the Bullet Club frontman become the first wrestler in New Japan Pro Wrestling to ever hold the IWGP Heavyweight, IWGP Intercontinental, IWGP United States & NEVER Openweight Championships, every singles title available to the heavyweight division.
The 28-year-old defeated NEVER Champion Hiroshi Tanahashi in a near-40 minute main event to win the title, once again living up to his staked claim as the franchise face of this era. The match was also the longest NEVER Title match in the history of the belt.
Jay White rounds the bases on his own personal Grand Slam, seizing NEVER gold from Tanahashi and issuing a challenge to David Finlayhttps://t.co/gnolfoYEoK#njpw #njDontakuDay1 pic.twitter.com/DtzL1gHqeV
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) May 3, 2021
The NEVER Title wasn’t the only hardware on the line on Monday. Taichi finally put an end to four long months of being apart from The Iron Fingers from Hell. Stolen and pampered by Tama Tonga, New Japan Management became fed up with the two wrestler’s petty feud. In Monday’s ladder match, Taichi was able to reclaim, and ultimately retire the legacy of Takashi Iizuka and the Iron Fingers from Hell.
As Tama Tonga's Gunstun backfires, Taichi gains ladder match success, and Takashi Iizuka's legacy is finally put to rest at Dontaku.
https://t.co/uLmV7xfhGz #njpw #njdontakuDay1 pic.twitter.com/f8rW4iYai0
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) May 3, 2021
Plus Taichi’s tag partner won them a future title match, and tag team matches teased Tuesday’s upcoming main events.
NJPW Wrestling Dontaku: Night 1
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Bullet Club (EVIL, Taiji Ishimori, Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi) def. Toru Yano, Tiger Mask, Master Wato & Hiroyoshi Tenzan by pinfall. (9:57)
Taiji Ishimori pinned Tiger Mask via Bloody Cross. - CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, SHO & YOH) def. Suzuki-gun (Minoru Suzuki, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado) by pinfall. (10:31)
YOH pinned Yoshinobu Kanemaru via DIRECT DRIVE. - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, BUSHI & Shingo Takagi) def. United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Toa Henare) by pinfall. (11:31)
SANADA pinned Aaron Henare via Japanese Clutch Pin. - Zack Sabre Jr. def. Tanga Loa by pinfall via Crucifix Pin to win a future IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship Match. (15:12)
- Ladder Match For Custody of Iron Fingers from Hell: Taichi def. Tama Tonga. (27:11)
- NEVER Openweight Championship Match: Jay White def. Hiroshi Tanahashi (c) by pinfall via Blade Runner. (39:01)
NJPW returns on May 4th at 2am ET with Wrestling Dontaku: Night 2
