A new king was crowned in Hiroshima. Shingo Takagi unseated Taichi for the KOPW 2022 provisional trophy in a marathon 30-count match. The unique battle capped off a series of shows from New Japan Pro Wrestling, that shifted the sands of the promotion just in time for a huge May schedule.
Both Takagi and Taichi were completely battered by the match. Takagi winced in pain throughout much of his post-win celebration. The match brought a new level of brutality to the KOPW division. Often thought of as something of a comedy division, Taichi & Takagi’s battle was an excessive, fun, hard-hitting, convoluted showcase for the two heavyweights.
.@Takagi__Shingo "Last of the Dragon"
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While Takagi was able to win gold in Hiroshima, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa & Hiroshi Tanahashi’s new union was unable to unseat NEVER Openweight 6-Man Champs House of Torture. Yujiro Takahashi dropped his former-stablemate Tanga Loa with Big Juice to send a big message ahead of Tama Tonga & EVIL’s May 1st clash. They’ll face off for EVIL’s NEVER Openweight Title.
Elsewhere on the card, Naito was able to send a message to IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada by besting him and his CHAOS compatriots in a six-man tag match. Plus Bullet Club continued House of Tortures winning ways across a pair of tag matches, and former IWGP Tag Champions Great Bash Heel got a dominant win over Tiger Mask and Young Lion Yuto Nakashima in the opening match.
Here are the full results:
4/25
NJPW Golden Fight Series: Night 7
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Great Bash Heel (Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe) def. Tiger Mask & Yuto Nakashima by pinfall. (8:21)
Tomoaki Honma pinned Yuto Nakashima via Kokeshi. - Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr., DOUKI, & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Ryohei Oiwa by submission. (10:27)
Zack Sabre Jr. submitted Ryohei Oiwa via Head Scissors. - Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori & Gedo) def. Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & TAKA Michinoku) by pinfall. (8:41)
Taiji Ishimori pinned TAKA Michinoku via Bloody Cross. - Bullet Club (Chase Owens & Bad Luck Fale) def. CHAOS (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) by pinfall. (11:09)
Chase Owens pinned YOSHI-HASHI via Rocket Launcher. - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) def. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada, YOH & Toru Yano) by pinfall. (11:27)
Tetsuya Naito pinned Toru Yano via Jackknife Clutch. - NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Championship Match: House of Torture (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) (c) def. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa by pinfall. (17:16)
Yujiro Takahashi pinned Tanga Loa via Big Juice. - KOPW 2022 30-Count Match (Must Keep Opponent Down for a Cumulative Total of a 30 Count): Shingo Takagi (29) def. Taichi (30) (c). (26:20)
Final count came via Last of The Dragon from Shingo Takagi.
New Japan Pro Wrestling has been on the Golden Fight Series Tour since April 18th. The tour has mainly been a preview of May 1st huge Wrestling Dontaku show in Fukuoka, presenting four of the tour stops on NJPWWorld, with Monday’s event being the biggest show of the tour. But Dontaku isn’t the only thing on the NJPW roster’s mind.
May will also see the next Best of Super Juniors tournament, causing Junior Heavyweights up and down jockey for position, with Junior legends and Young Lions alike giving just an extra amount of fire, in the hopes of making the often-selective field of BOSJ.
The Young Lions got a number of singles matches to show how far they’ve grown, as NJPW management assesses whether they belong in the annual tournament.
Hiromu Takahashi got a pair of big wins on the 18th and 19th, even getting cocky enough to give a cheeky name to the clutch pin with which he beat TAKA Michinoku. Come the 20th, Hiromu found himself drilled into the canvas by a DIRECT DRIVE from YOH, humbling the white-hot talent in the main event.
Here are the full results from the shows available on NJPWWorld.com:
4/18
NJPW Golden Fight Series: Night 1
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Ryohei Oiwa def. Kosei Fujita by submission via Boston Crab. (8:43)
- Suzuki-gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru) def. Master Wato & Yuto Nakashima by submission. (11:55)
Yoshinobu Kanemaru submitted Yuto Nakashima via Figure Four Leglock. - Suzuki-gun (Zack Sabre Jr. & DOUKI) def. Ryusuke Taguchi & Togi Makabe by submission. (9:15)
Zack Sabre Jr. submitted Togi Makabe via Armbar. - Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Tiger Mask def. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Gedo, Taiji Ishimori & Chase Owens) by pinfall. (10:55)
Toru Yano pinned Gedo via Rollup. - Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado def. House of Torture (EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo) by pinfall. (11:28)
Hiroshi Tanahashi pinned Dick Togo via High Fly Flow. - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) def. Suzuki-gun (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku) by pinfall. (10:37)
Shingo Takagi pinned TAKA Michinoku via Pumping Bomber. - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi) def. CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOH) by pinfall. (15:40)
Hiromu Takahashi pinned YOH via Timebomb.
4/19
NJPW Golden Fight Series: Night 2
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Matser Wato def. Kosei Fujita by submission via Vendaval. (5:51)
- Ryusuke Taguchi def. Ryohei Oiwa by submission via Ankle Lock. (7:42)
- CHAOS (Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano & YOSHI-HASHI) def. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask by pinfall. (8:35)
YOSHI-HASHI pinned Tiger Mask via Shoto. - Suzuki-gun (El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & Zack Sabre Jr.) def. Bullet Club (Taiji Ishimori, Chase Owens, Bad Luck Fale & Gedo) by submission. (10:33)
DOUKI submitted Gedo via DOUKI Chokey. - House of Torture (EVIL, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo) def. Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Jado by submission. (12:01)
SHO submitted Jado via Snake Bite. - Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & Hiromu Takahashi) def. Suzuki-gun (Taichi & TAKA Michinoku) by pinfall. (10:53)
Hiromu Takahashi pinned TAKA Michinoku via Nameless Hiromu Roll (That TAKA Will Never Counter)* - CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOH) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & BUSHI) by pinfall. (19:01)
YOH pinned BUSHI via DIRECT DRIVE.
*I am completely serious, it’s what the Japanese results said. READ MORE
4/20
NJPW Golden Fight Series: Night 3
Available on NJPWWorld.com
- Kosei Fujita def. Yuto Nakashima by submission via Boston Crab. (9:42)
- Suzuki-gun (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr. & TAKA Michinoku) def. Tiger Mask, Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma & Master Wato by submission. (9:49)
Zack Sabre Jr. submitted Tomoaki Honma via Triangle Choke. - House of Torture (SHO & Yujiro Takahashi) def. Tanga Loa & Jado by pinfall. (9:45)
SHO pinned Jado via House of Torture shenanigans. - Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI, Toru Yano & Togi Makabe def. Bullet Club (Bad Luck Fale, Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo) by pinfall. (8:46)
YOSHI-HASHI pinned Gedo via Shoto. - Suzuki-gun (Taichi & El Desperado) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Shingo Takagi & BUSHI) by pinfall. (12:10)
Taichi pinned BUSHI via Black Mephisto. - Tama Tonga & Hiroshi Tanahashi def. House of Torture (EVIL & Dick Togo) by pinfall. (9:56)
Tama Tonga pinned Dick Togo via Gun Stun. - CHAOS (Kazuchika Okada & YOH) def. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito & Hiromu Takahashi) by pinfall. (18:13)
YOH pinned Hiromu Takahashi via DIRECT DRIVE.
NJPW will return with Wrestling Dontaku on May 1st at 4am ET on NJPWWorld.com
