New NJPW junior heavyweight champion set for first title defense
New IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion YOH has a date for his first title defense, but he’s still waiting to find out who his opponent will be.
NJPW has announced that YOH will make his first defense of the Junior Heavyweight title at a Road to G1 Climax event in Tokyo on July 6. His challenger will be either Kosei Fujita, SHO, Master Wato, or Francesco Akira, with those four set to face off in a number one contender’s match on June 23.
It’s been a big month for YOH with him winning Best of the Super Juniors 33 and then going on to defeat DOUKI for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. It’s the first time YOH has held the title in his career. After his win over DOUKI, all four of Fujita, SHO, Wato, and Akira emerged as potential challengers. YOH suggested this four-way match as a way to determine who was deserving of the shot.
Fujita was the opponent YOH defeated in the BOSJ finals, while SHO and YOH have a long history together as partners-turned-rivals.
The June 23 and July 6 Road to G1 events are both taking place at Korakuen Hall and will air live on NJPW World. Along with having Junior Heavyweight title stakes, these shows will feature four play-in matches for the G1 Climax tournament.
NJPW Road to G1 Climax (Tuesday, June 23) —
- G1 Climax A Block play-in match: Taichi vs. Yuto-Ice
- G1 Climax B Block play-in match: YOSHI-HASHI vs. Aaron Wolf
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight title number one contender’s four-way match: Kosei Fujita vs. SHO vs. Master Wato vs. Francesco Akira
- Yota Tsuji, OSKAR, Shingo Takagi & Daiki Nagai vs. Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Shota Umino & Satoshi Kojima vs. Ryohei Oiwa & Hartley Jackson
- Hirooki Goto, YOH, Ryusuke Taguchi & Tatsuya Matsumoto vs. Jake Lee, Great-O-Khan, Jakob Austin Young & Zane Jay
- Yuya Uemura, El Desperado & Masatora Yasuda vs. Togi Makabe, Toru Yano & Taisei Nakahara
NJPW Road to G1 Climax (Monday, July 6) —
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion YOH defends against TBD
- G1 Climax A Block play-in match: El Phantasmo vs. Ryohei Oiwa
- G1 Climax B Block play-in match: OSKAR vs. Yujiro Takahashi
- Three-way tornado tag match: Tiger Mask & Jado vs. Taiji Ishimori & Gedo vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru & Dick Togo
- Remainder of card to be announced
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.