New Japan Pro Wrestling (NJPW) is finally back after having to cancel some shows due to COVID-19 and it is good timing seeing that it has felt like forever since Wrestle Kingdom 16. They are currently on their New Years Golden Series tour that features four major events with must-see title matches. The first of those four is this Friday as El Desperado will defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship against Master Wato in the main event.
Here’s what is on tap for the show.
NJPW New Years Golden Series Full Card (2/11/22)
– Yuto Nakashima & Tomoaki Honma vs. Kosei Fujita & Ryohei Oiwa
– BUSHI & Hiromu Takahashi vs. BUSHI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru
– YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto & Tomohiro Ishii vs. Dick Togo, Yujiro Takahashi & EVIL
– Ryusuke Taguchi, Togi Makabe & Toru Yano vs. TAKA Michinoku, Taichi & Minoru Suzuki
– Satoshi Kojima & Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb
– Kazuchika Okada, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Yuji Nagata vs. Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & Shingo Takagi
– Tiger Mask vs. Taiji Ishimori
– YOH vs. SHO
– IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado (c) vs. Master Wato
NJPW New Years Golden Series Match Preview
IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship: El Desperado (c) vs. Master Wato
Master Wato managed to snag a pinfall victory over El Desperado at Wrestle Kingdom night two, one night after the champion had defeated Hiromu Takahashi in a successful defense of the title. The win earned the young Wato his first-ever IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship match and it will be one that he does not want to mess up. It’s asking a lot to expect Wato to stand up to the champion and beat him once again, this time in singles action. The track record of Wato is that he has all the tools but the tools have never sharpened themselves out. He’s still far from a finished product but the unpredictability gives the 24-year-old a fighting chance come Friday.
El Desperado, however, has been on a level that he’s never experienced before. After defeating Robbie Eagles for the gold, he showed that he was no placeholder of a champion by taking down Takahashi once and for all inside the Tokyo Dome. It makes him almost seem invincible now but seeing that Wato got his number once, he has to be careful.
There’s no guarantee as to who will win this match but all directions point to Desperado walking in as champion and walking out with his belt.
Prediction: El Desperado
More from LWOS Pro Wrestling
Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world. You can re-watch all 2021 NJPW events and plenty more tremendous wrestling content from New Japan Pro-Wrestling on NJPWWorld.com.
