DOUKI Retains IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title at NJPW Road to The New Beginning

By Noah Leatherland

NJPW were back in Korakuen Hall for the second date on their Road to The New Beginning tour. The junior titles were on the line inside Korakuen Hall, with DOUKI defending the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship defending against El Desperado, whilst the Ichiban Sweet Boys defended their junior tag belts.

El Desperado had earned this shot at the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title back at Wrestle Kingdom in a four-way. However, DOUKI was not the only person in-between him and gold, as the House of Torture got up to their usual interference shenanigans. Aaron Wolf and Master Wato helped to clear the House of Torture from ringside, but the nefarious tactics proved too much. DOUKI retained the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title.

Meanwhile, the House of Torture also gunned for more hardware on the show, as SHO and Yoshinobu Kanemaru challenged for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Titles. More underhanded tactics were used, but Eagles and Fujita successfully found a way around them. They retained their titles, continuing their reign as champions for a while longer.

Elsewhere on the show, Yota Tsuji’s first defence of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship was seemingly confirmed. Jake Lee and the United Empire tormented Tsuji, attacking his faction-mates after the bell. Riled up by the attack, Tsuji accepted Lee’s challenge, offering to meet him in the ring at The New Beginning in Osaka on February 11th.

The semi-finals for the Young Lion Cup kicked off the event in Korakuen Hall. Shoma Kato overcame Masatora Yasuda, while Katusya Murashima bested Daiki Nagai to advance to the finals. The finals are set for February 1st, back in Korakuen Hall.

Here are the full results for NJPW Road to The New Beginning Day 2, courtesy of purolove.com:

• Young Lion Cup – Semi Final: Shoma Kato def. Masatora Yasuda (6:55)
• Young Lion Cup – Semi Final: Katsuya Murashima def. Daiki Nagai (9:19)
• Yuto-Ice & OSKAR def. Shota Umino & Tatsuya Matsumoto (1:26)
• Aaron Wolf, Toru Yano, YOH & Master Wato def. EVIL, Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi & Dick Togo (9:05)
• Jake Lee, Callum Newman, Great-O-Khan, Francesco Akira & Jakob Austin Young def. Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, Hiromu Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo (11:47)
• IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Tag Team Title: Robbie Eagles & Kosei Fujita (c) def. SHO & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (16:59)
• IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: DOUKI (c) def. El Desperado (16:30)