{"id":18105,"date":"2018-04-29T08:49:54","date_gmt":"2018-04-29T12:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=18105"},"modified":"2018-05-01T23:04:43","modified_gmt":"2018-05-02T03:04:43","slug":"andnew-tetsuya-naito-wins-iwgp-intercontinental-championship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2018\/04\/29\/andnew-tetsuya-naito-wins-iwgp-intercontinental-championship\/","title":{"rendered":"#AndNEW: Tetsuya Naito Wins IWGP Intercontinental Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

At today’s NJPW Wrestling Hi No Kuni<\/strong><\/em> event in Kumamoto, Los Ingobernables de Japon<\/strong> leader Tetsuya Naito<\/strong> completed the LIJ clean sweep of Suzuki-Gun<\/strong> by defeating Minoru Suzuki<\/strong> to win his second IWGP Intercontinental Championship. It came following BUSHI<\/strong>‘s victory of El Desperado<\/strong>, Hiromu Takahashi<\/strong> defeating Yoshinobu Kanemaru<\/strong> and EVIL & Sanada<\/strong> defending the IWGP Tag Team titles against Killer Elite Squad<\/strong>‘s Lance Archer & Davey Boy Smith Jr.<\/strong> Following the victory, Naito refused to even acknowledge the belt he’d beaten Suzuki for, almost as if the belt was an afterthought in his quest to simply annoy Suzuki himself.<\/p>\n

#AndNEW: Tetsuya Naito Wins IWGP Intercontinental Championship<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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Naito\u2019s the only guy in the industry who would challenge for a title he doesn\u2019t covet, but rather for the pain that winning it would cause someone. Beautiful. #njdontaku<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/DaraWA3FGC<\/a><\/p>\n

— Jude Kilgour (@judekilgour) April 25, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Considering Naito’s disdain for the Intercontinental belt during his first reign, a 259-day stretch that began in September 2016 when he defeated Michael Elgin<\/strong> at NJPW Destruction in Kobe<\/strong><\/em> and ran through to his loss to Hiroshi Tanahashi<\/strong> at last June’s NJPW Dominion<\/strong><\/em>, it will be interesting to see if Naito keeps the belt or relinquishes it. Either way, it appears the LIJ feud against Suzuki-Gun may still not be over.<\/p>\n

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Here's @s_d_naito<\/a> trying to pay with his #IWGP<\/a> IC title. #LOSINGOBERNABLESdeJAPON<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WzCkOBKjh1<\/a><\/p>\n

— Kevin Kelly (@realkevinkelly) May 30, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n