Title change takes place at NJPW Anniversary show
A title change took place on Friday as New Japan Pro Wrestling celebrated its 54th Anniversary.
The Anniversary event in Tokyo saw Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X defeat Ichiban Sweet Boys (Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita) to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions. At the conclusion of the 15-minute match, Robbie X pinned Fujita to win the belts.
Ishimori and Robbie X are members of the newly formed Unbound Company faction in NJPW. This is the first title Robbie X has held in the promotion, while Ishimori is a multi-time Junior Heavyweight champion as both a singles and tag team wrestler.
It didn’t take long for Ishimori & Robbie X’s first challengers to emerge. Immediately after their title win, they were attacked by Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young, furthering the feud between Unbound Company and United Empire.
A second title match headlined the Anniversary show card with DOUKI defeating Master Wato to remain IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Here are the quick results from the event:
NJPW 54th Anniversary show —
- IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion DOUKI defeated Master Wato to retain
- Taiji Ishimori & Robbie X defeated Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita to become the new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Champions
- New Japan Cup first-round match: Callum Newman defeated OSKAR
- New Japan Cup first-round match: Jake Lee defeated YOSHI-HASHI
- Ren Narita, Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi, SHO & Dick Togo defeated Satoshi Kojima, Shota Umino, Aaron Wolf, Tatsumi Fujinami & LEONA
- Yota Tsuji & Shingo Takagi defeated Don Fale & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
- Zack Sabre Jr. & Ryohei Oiwa defeated Yuto-Ice & Gedo
- HENARE, Great-O-Khan, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young defeated Oleg Boltin, Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano & Tatsuya Matsumoto
- Drilla Moloney & Daiki Nagai defeated Yuya Uemura & Masatora Yasuda
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.