Night one of New Japan Pro Wrestling‘s Wrestle Kingdom 14 is in the books and as expected, delivered on some monstrous matches. But in a huge reboot of the company, four of the five titles being defended changed hands. Here’s the current title scene heading into tonight’s Night 2 of the newly expanded two-day event.
#AndNEW: FinJuice (Juice Robinson & David Finlay) Win IWGP Tag Team Championships
2019 was the year Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa) controlled the heavyweight tag team division, holding the tag team titles for 315-days. But the rejuvenated FinJuice unit of Juice Robinson & David Finlay upended the veterans to claim their first taste of tag team gold together.
#AndNEW: Jon Moxley Regains IWGP United States Championship
Jon Moxley was stripped of his US title when bad weather left him unable to make his scheduled title defense against Juice Robinson late last year. Instead, Lance Archer faced Juice for the vacant title, but Moxley returned on Saturday with a vengeance and left Archer bleeding on a broken table, with his title back in his hands. With the win, Moxley joins Juice Robinson as the only man to hold the belt on two occasions.
#AndNEW: Hiromu Takahashi Brings Home His 3rd IWGP Junior Heavyweight Title
A comeback fairy tale win as Los Ingobernables de Japon’s “Time Bomb”, Hiromu Takahashi returned to New Japan’s grandest stage to reclaim the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship he’d lost year following a career-threatening injury in a match against Dragon Lee.
#AndNEW: Naito Wins IWGP Intercontinental Championship, Heading to Double Gold Dash
LIJ also secured more singles gold, as Tetsuya Naito defeated Bullet Club‘s Jay White to become the IWGP Intercontinental Champion for the fourth time in his career. With the win, Naito will move on to face IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada in the Double Gold Dash at Night 2 of Wrestle Kingdom 14 on Sunday, after defending his title against Kota Ibushi.
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