El Desperado Gets First IWGP Jr. Title Defense Against Yoshinobu Kanemaru

By: R. Faliani

After a barbaric title defense against Yoshinobu Kanemaru, the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion, El Desperado is looking forward to his next challenger, House of Torture’s SHO.

The match against Kanemaru was the usual House of Torture extravaganza, with Desperado overcoming the odds every single time against the villainous group – the difference being Desperado and Kanemaru’s relationship, whose relationship go back to the roots of Suzuki-gun.

The main event of Korakuen Hall saw not only a battle between Desperado and Kanemaru but a whole showdown between wrestlers like Ren Narita, Yujiro Takahashi, Ryusuke Taguchi, Hiroshi Tanahashi, and Tama Tonga.

After Desperado retained his belt against Kanemaru, he grabbed the microphone. He thanked Tama Tonga for his help, wishing him the best, and sharing a great story with the fans about their early days in the NJPW Dojo:

“He’s still great. I don’t know if you know, but Tama and I were in the Dojo and he took care of me. One time we were getting off the bus and he and Fale asked me to go drinking. I ended up having to stop Tama from getting in a hell of a lot of trouble that night. He repaid the favor tonight. Thank you, Tama.”

Desperado was also thankful for Tanahashi and Taguchi, the guys that saved him from losing his IWGP Jr. Title. Hewished Master Wato the best in his recovery, soon after SHO attacked Wato in front of the Korakuen Hall aficionados:

“Wato, it’ll take six, seven months for you to get better. But make sure you get healed up. This is pretty special for me to be saved by Hontai guys. Thank you to Taguchi and Tanahashi. I will keep this belt and carry you all along.”

Backstage, Desperado celebrated his victory before being attacked by SHO, who hit him with his title belt. SHO issued a challenge for Desperado, looking to set up a title challenge for Desperado’s second defense of the championship.

All photos by Masahiro Kubota for Monthly Puroresu LLC