NJPW sets date for Tiger Mask Junior Heavyweight title challenge
Before he retires from the ring, Tiger Mask IV will attempt to become IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion one last time.
NJPW has announced that the main event of Wrestling Hizen no Kuni will see Tiger Mask challenge DOUKI for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title. The show is happening on April 29 as part of the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour.
Tiger Mask is a six-time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion, with his most recent reign having been in 2009-2010. He confronted DOUKI earlier this month and issued the challenge for a title match. They were then on the opposite sides of an eight-man tag bout at Sakura Genesis where Tiger Mask’s team got the victory.
The longest-serving Tiger Mask in history, Tiger Mask IV (Yoshihiro Yamazaki) is retiring from the ring soon with his final NJPW date set for July 7. He may need to work some already scheduled international dates after that, but that will be his final event in Japan.
July 2026 marks the 31st anniversary of Tiger Mask IV’s debut. He initially competed for Michinoku Pro before later joining NJPW.
The two biggest stops on the Road to Wrestling Dontaku tour are Wrestling Redzone and Wrestling Hizen no Kuni. On the Redzone card, the IWGP Heavyweight and Junior Heavyweight Tag Team titles will each be defended.
NJPW Wrestling Redzone (Saturday, April 25) —
- IWGP Tag Team Champions OSKAR & Yuto-Ice defend against either Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI or HENARE & Great-O-Khan (those two teams are facing off in a number one contender’s match on April 20)
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champions Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X defend against Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
- Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Gedo & Daiki Nagai vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
- Yuya Uemura & Tomoaki Honma vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
- Tiger Mask, Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Togi Makabe vs. DOUKI, Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo
NJPW Wrestling Hizen no Kuni (Wednesday, April 29) —
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defends against Tiger Mask
- Shingo Takagi, Yota Tsuji, Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X vs. Callum Newman, Jake Lee, Francesco Akira & Zane Jay
- Oleg Boltin, Aaron Wolf & Mistico vs. Ren Narita, Don Fale & Dick Togo
- Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Jakob Austin Young
- Yuya Uemura, Taichi, Ryusuke Taguchi & Masatora Yasuda vs. Ryohei Oiwa, Hartley Jackson, Kosei Fujita & Robbie Eagles
- Toru Yano & Tomoaki Honma vs. OSKAR & Yuto-Ice
- Shota Umino, YOH, Master Wato & Taisei Nakahara vs. Chase Owens, SHO, Yujiro Takahashi & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Both shows are living live on NJPW World.
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.