Hiromu Takahashi Wins GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship, Eita Confronts The New Champion

By: Lewis Carlan

After being a five time IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion for New Japan Pro-Wrestling, Hiromu Takahashi has won another major Jr. Heavyweight Title, this time for a rival promotion.

On Sept. 8th at the opening night of the Pro Wrestling NOAH N-1 Victory Tournament, Takahashi defeated YO-HEY to become the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion for the first time in his career. The win cemented Takahashi’s status as one of the greatest Jr. Heavyweights of all time.

Photo Credit: Pro Wrestling NOAH

Despite being on the losing end of the match, YO-HEY proved that he is outstanding competitor. With the crowd fully behind him, he gave Takahashi a spectacular match and very nearly pulled out a victory on more than one occasion. During his post-match interview, and exhausted YO-HEY vowed to get the GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship back around his waist.

After Takahashi was announced has the new GHC Jr. Heavyweight Champion, Junta Miyawaki, Atsushi Kotoge and Daiki Odashima entered the ring and confronted the new titleholder. Takahashi asked them to leave as there was someone else he wanted to face at which point Eita entered the ring to the cheers of the crowd.

Takahashi and Eita had a verbal exchange and it’s appears Eita will be the first challenger for Takahashi and his newly won title.

Photo Credit: Pro Wrestling NOAH

During his lengthy post-match backstage comments, Takahashi praised YO-HEY and said he will make the NOAH Jr. Division shine.

From Hiromu Takahashi:

Too soon. Let me savor it a bit more. This is the long-awaited GHC belt. First, YO-HEY, you were amazing. It was so much fun! Even in enemy territory, being able to have this much fun must be because Hiromu-chan’s daily deeds are good, right? I’ll take responsibility for heating up NOAH Junior. I’m going to go all out and make NOAH Junior shine from the front. Odajima, Kotoge, Miyawaki, and above all, Eita. The NOAH Junior movement started today. You need allies, right? So, is AMAKUSA a teammate? Even though I’m wearing this belt, will he stand by my side? I don’t need someone like that! If we’re going to team up, you better be prepared for what it takes.”

While is does appear Eita will receive the first GHC Jr. Heavyweight Championship opportunity against Takahashi, NOAH has not yet made that match official as of this writing.