Yota Tsuji Retains at NJPW King of Pro Wrestling, Receives Challenge from Kenny Omega

By: Noah Leatherland

A large crowd was drawn to NJPW King of Pro Wrestling for the hotly anticipated match between the reigning IWGP Heavyweight Champion, Yota Tsuji, and the G1 Climax winner, Ryohei Oiwa. Tsuji managed to overcome his tenacious challenger, only to be met with another huge obstacle in the form of Kenny Omega.

The NJPW King of Pro Wrestling main event was a bout befitting the occasion. For over 35 minutes, Tsuji and Oiwa battled for the right to be called IWGP Heavyweight Champion. After managing to withstand Oiwa’s headlocks, Tsuji finished the bout with a Fire Blaster, finally able to keep the G1 winner down for the three-count. Receiving loud reactions in the arena and impassioned praise online, Tsuji could not bask in the confetti for too long.

A video played on the arena’s big screen, with Tsuji being addressed by a former world champion, Kenny Omega.

Taking offence to Tsuji passing up this year’s Forbidden Door event, and looking to test the current strength of NJPW against that of the 2010s peak, Omega has challenged Tsuji to a match.

Tsuji was then met in the ring by Oleg Boltin, one of the men that had defeated Tsuji during the G1 Climax. While the Kazakh was making his title intentions clear, Omega appeared out of nowhere and attacked the champion, making sure that his message was delivered as effectively as possible.

Speaking backstage, Omega has called his shot, demanding a three-way between himself, Tsuji and Boltin at Power Struggle on November 3rd. Omega noted that should he get the winning fall, he will challenge for the IWGP Heavyweight Title at Wrestle Kingdom.

Here are the full results for NJPW King of Pro Wrestling:

• Shingo Takagi & Daiki Nagai def. Hirooki Goto & Tatsuya Matsumoto (6:20)
• Taichi, El Desperado & Yuya Uemura def. Yujiro Takahashi, SANADA & Yoshinobu Kanemaru (7:03)
• Oleg Boltin & Hechicero def. Hartley Jackson & Zack Sabre Jr. (4:05)
• Toru Yano & Konosuke Takeshita def. Shun Skywalker & Ren Narita (17:23)
• NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Titles: Yuto-Ice, OSKAR & Jeff Cobb def. HENARE, Great-O-Khan & Will Ospreay (c) (15:05)
• NEVER Openweight Title: Aaron Wolf (c) def. Kosei Fujita (22:25)
• IWGP Global Heavyweight Title: Gabe Kidd (c) def. Shota Umino (22:25)
• IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title: YOH (c) def. Robbie Eagles (13:02)
• IWGP Heavyweight Title: Yota Tsuji (c) def. Ryohei Oiwa (35:10)