Full cards released for next month’s NJPW Destruction shows

New Japan has released full cards for their next big tour, Destruction, which will run in September.

Three big main events have been signed for each Destruction card. On 9/15, Tomohiro Ishii will officially challenge Kenny Omega for the IWGP title. A special singles match will take place between Tetsuya Naito and Minoru Suzuki on 9/17. And on 9/23, Hiroshi Tanahashi will defend his Tokyo Dome IWGP title shot, taking on Kazuchika Okada.

The other big news from tonight’s press conference is that New Japan Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi stripped Hiromu Takahashi of the IWGP Jr. heavyweight title. This was revealed in a short video where Hiromu Takahashi, who doesn’t want to be seen until he returns from his neck injury, was represented by Mr. Belt, the IWGP Jr. title. Sugabayashi stripped Hiromu of the title so that the junior heavyweight division could be revitalized. 

Sugibayashi later revealed during a press conference this evening that the IWGP Jr. title will be defended in a four man tournament, with the first match taking place on 9/23 (KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI) and the second at Fighting Spirit Unleased on 9/30 (Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll). The winners of the two matches will compete for the title at King of Pro Wrestling on October 8.

Also announced for the Long Beach show is Cody challenging Juice Robinson for the IWGP United States title and The Young Bucks defending the IWGP tag team titles against the Guerillas of Destiny.

Other noticeable matches and returns include Baretta (who will start back on this tour after a torn triceps), The Killer Elite Squad, Ayato Yoshida (who made his debut at the G1 Finals) and Satoshi Kojima, who will compete in the main event of the 9/9 Road to Destruction event in his return bout.

Here are the full cards for each show that will air on New Japan World next month:

Road to Destruction (9/7, Korakuen Hall)

  • Golden Lovers vs. Tomohiro Ishii and Will Ospreay
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano and YOSHI-HASHI
  • Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado
  • Hirooki Goto and Gedo vs. Taichi and Taka Michinoku
  • Beretta vs. Toa Henare
  • Juice Robinson, Michael Elgin, David Finlay and Ayato Yoshida vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Taiji Ishimori
  • Chase Owens and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Ren Narita and Shota Umino

Road to Destruction (9/8, Korakuen Hall)

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi and Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada and Beretta
  • Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano and Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi and Yujiro Takahashi
  • Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, BUSHI and SANADA vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, El Desperado and TAKA Michinoku
  • Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI vs. Taichi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Togi Makabe, Michael Elgin, David Finlay and Toa Henare vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Taiji Ishimori
  • Ayato Yoshida vs. Chase Owens
  • Shota Umino and Yuya Uemura vs. Ren Narita and Yota Tsuji

Road to Destruction (9/9, Chiba)

  • Manabu Nakanishi, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Yuji Nagata and Satoshi Kojima v. Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Juice Robinson and David Finlay
  • Tomohiro Ishii, Toru Yano, Beretta and Will Ospreay vs. Kenny Omega, Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi and Toa Henare vs. Kazuchika Okada and YOSHI-HASHI
  • Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Takashi Iizuka, Yoshinobu Kanemaru and Taka Michinoku
  • Hirooki Goto and Gedo vs. Taichi and El Desperado
  • Michael Elgin, Ayato Yoshida, Shota Umino and Ren Narita vs. Bad Luck Fale, Tama Tonga, Tanga Loa and Taiji Ishimori
  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura

Destruction in Hiroshima (9/15)

  • Kenny Omega vs. Tomohiro Ishii for the IWGP title
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe and Tomoaki Honma vs. Kazuchika Okada, YOSHI-HASHI and Jay White
  • Tetsuya Naito, EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr., TAKA Michinoku and El Desperado
  • Hirooki Goto, Toru Yano and Gedo vs. Taichi, Takashi Iizuka and Yoshinobu Kanemaru
  • Gorillas of Destiny and Taiji Ishimori vs. Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Ryusuke Taguchi for the NEVER six man tag team titles
  • Will Ospreay, Chuckie T and Beretta vs. Kota Ibushi, Yujiro Takahashi and Chase Owens
  • Michael Elgin and Ayato Yoshida vs. Killer Elite Squad
  • Bad Luck Fale vs. Toa Henare
  • Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask and KUSHIDA vs. Rocky Romero, SHO and YOH

Destruction in Beppu (9/17)

  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Minoru Suzuki
  • Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi for the NEVER Openweight title
  • Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma and Juice Robinson vs. Kazuchika Okada, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI and Jay White
  • EVIL, SANADA and BUSHI vs. Zack Sabre Jr., Yoshinobu Kanemaru and El Desperado
  • Beretta and Chuckie T vs. Killer Elite Squad
  • Jushin Thunder Liger, Tiger Mask, KUSHIDA and Ryusuke Taguchi vs. Will Ospreay, Rocky Romero, SHO and YOH
  • Ayato Yoshida vs. Takashi Iizuka
  • David Finlay and Ren Narita vs. Toa Henare and Shota Umino
  • Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima and Yota Tsuji vs. Yuji Nagata, Manabu Nakanishi and Yuya Uemura

Destruction in Kobe (9/23)

  • Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP title shot at the Tokyo Dome
  • KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI in a  IWGP Jr. title tournament semi-final match
  • Tetsuya Naito, EVIL and SANADA vs. Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. and Taka Michinoku
  • Juice Robinson, David Finlay and Toa Henare vs. Jay White, YOSHI-HASHI and Will Ospreay
  • Chuckie T and Beretta vs. Killer Elite Squad
  • Togi Makabe, Tomoaki Honma, Ryusuke Taguchi and Ayato Yoshida vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Satoshi Kojima, Yuji Nagata and Manabu Nakanishi
  • Jushin Thunder Liger and Tiger Mask vs. El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru 
  • Roppongi 3K vs. Shota Umino and Ren Narita 
  • Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura

Fighting Spirit Unleashed (9/30, Long Beach)

  • Juice Robinson vs. Cody for the IWGP United States title
  • The Young Bucks vs. Guerillas of Destiny for the IWGP tag team titles
  • Will Ospreay vs. Marty Scurll in a IWGP Jr. title tournament semi-final match