Francesco Akira Earns IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title Shot After NJPW Road to the G1 Climax Day 3 Victory

By: Ian McCord

On June 23rd, at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Road to the G1 Climax Day 3 at Korakuen Hall, Francesco Akira earned the right to challenge YOH for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship defeating SHO, Kosei Fujita, and Master Wato in a special four-way match.

Akira picked up the victory in the four-way YOH Game match after hitting his Crown Fall finisher on Master Wato at (15:35).

After the match, Akira attacked YOH with the championship belt, declaring that the 100th champion’s time at the top is already over.

During his post-match comments, Akira claimed that YOH is the real deal and told the champion to bring it all when they face off in their upcoming match for the title.

From Francesco Akira:

“The man you guys least want to see win proved who he really is at Korakuen Hall. YOH, you’re the real deal. You were just hiding in the shadow of that failed version of yourself from a few years ago. So bring it all—show me the real you. I’ll show you the real ‘Akira 100%.’”

(English Translation via DeepL)

Akira has been on a real mean streak since the start of the year and plans to give 100% in an attempt to win the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship for the first time in his career.

Francesco Akira gets his shot at YOH and the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship when NJPW returns to Korakuen Hall for Road to G1 Climax on July 6th.