Koji Doi to Challenge Junya Matsunaga for the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship

By: Ian McCord

The proverbial wheel in the sky of Pro Wrestling ZERO1 keeps turning as a new challenger for Junya Matsunaga’s ZERO1 World Heavyweight title emerges in the wake of this year’s Fire Festival tournament.

At ZERO1’s Anti-Bullying Awareness event on August 9th at Aeon Mall Oyama, Koji Doi and Yuki Toki defeated Junya Matsunaga and Hayabusa in tag team competition to close out the event. After the match, Doi challenged Matsunaga for a shot at the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Title which he ultimately accepted.

The World Heavyweight Title match was made official for ZERO1’s Yamanashi Pro Wrestling Festival at the Koze Sports Park Gymnasium Sub Arena in Yamanashi on August 30th.

Doi took to social media to promote the upcoming bout. He praised Matsunaga for his crowd work before mentioning that it will be the champion’s first defense since winning it back in April.

From Koji Doi via X:

“8.30: World Heavyweight Championship to be Decided at the Yamanashi Event. We didn’t get to face each other being in different brackets at the Fire Festival, so I’m interested in this guy, Junya Matsunaga. That said, he really knows how to connect with the crowd on the mic, even with a crowd full of first-timers. According to my research, this might be the first-ever World Heavyweight Championship match in Yamanashi.”

(English Translation via DeepL)

Both Doi and Matsunaga finished the 2026 Fire Festival in third place in their respective blocks. Doi ended the tournament with 5 points, picking up notable wins over Tsugataka Sato and Hayabusa as part of Block B. Matsunaga competed in Block A, and finished with 6 points, defeating Ryunosuke Nagai and Kuroshio TOKYO Japan. Matsunaga also competed in two time-limit draws, one against Kuma Arashi and the other to the man he beat for the ZERO1 World Heavyweight Championship, Masato Tanaka.

Doi and Matsunaga will battle for the top prize in ZERO1 on August 30th when the promotion returns to Yamanashi.

ZERO1 action will return a week prior to the World Heavyweight title match, with the promotion returning to Shin-Kiba on August 22nd for an event headlined by a special singles match between the winner for the 2026 Fire Festival, Katsuhiko Nakajima, and Kuroshio TOKYO Japan.

Image Credit: Pro Wrestling ZERO1