NJPW Destruction in Kobe notes: New champions crowned, NOAH, King of Pro Wrestling
News and notes stemming from Sunday morning’s NJPW Destruction in Kobe.
New IWGP Tag Team Champions were crowned at Destruction, with The Knockout Brothers (Yuto-Ice & OSKAR) defeating Tomohiro Ishii and Taichi to win the titles for the first time. They pinned Ishii after they hit their finish, the KOB. After the match, Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura came out and confronted the new champions, setting up a potential title match down the road.
Other matches were also set up during the show. After Boltin Oleg defeated Don Fale to retain the NEVER Openweight title, EVIL attacked him and made his claim for the title by laying out Oleg with the Everything is Evil. After the opening bout, DOUKI made it clear he wanted the next shot at Desperado’s IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. The two had a match earlier this year at Wrestle Kingdom, but it ended early after DOUKI suffered an elbow injury early into the match.
In the co-main event, Gabe Kidd defeated Shingo Takagi to retain the IWGP Global Championship. After the match, Yota Tsuji, who was successful against David Finlay in the previous match, came out and challenged Kidd for the title at King of Pro Wrestling on October 13.
Pro Wrestling NOAH stars also appeared to promote the group’s upcoming Wrestle Odyssey event on October 11 at Sumo Hall. After Hiroshi Tanahashi defeated Great-O-Khan, Kaito Kiyomiya came out and asked to team with him at the upcoming show, which Tanahashi accepted. Later in the night, NOAH’s Eita superkicked Hiromu Takahashi after he successfully retained the GHC Junior Heavyweight Championship against Taiji Ishimori. The two are planned to square off for the title at Sumo Hall.
The main event saw Zack Sabre Jr. successfully defend the title against House of Torture’s Ren Narita. Despite the usual interference from the group, Sabre pinned Narita with the Zack Driver for the win. That makes his upcoming title match against Konosuke Takeshita official for King of Pro Wrestling.
