Finals set for NJPW Junior Heavyweight title tournament
Coming out of tonight’s show in Long Beach, California, the finals of NJPW’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship tournament are set.
Marty Scurll and Will Ospreay renewed their rivalry at Fighting Spirit Unleashed, with Scurll hitting his Graduation finisher to advance to the finals. The other semifinal took place at Destruction in Kobe earlier this month. KUSHIDA defeated BUSHI, becoming the first wrestler to get a spot in the finals.
Scurll will face KUSHIDA at King of Pro Wrestling on Monday, October 8 to decide the new Junior Heavyweight Champion.
Due to the neck injury that Hiromu Takahashi suffered in his match against Dragon Lee at July’s G1 Special in San Francisco, NJPW announced last month that the Junior Heavyweight title had been vacated. Scurll, KUSHIDA, Ospreay, and BUSHI were the four wrestlers included in the tournament.
Kenny Omega defending his IWGP Heavyweight Championship against Kota Ibushi and Cody Rhodes in a three-way match is also set for King of Pro Wrestling. The full card should be announced in the coming days.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.