First two wrestlers advance in NJPW World TV title tournament
The NJPW World Television Championship tournament got underway at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Friday.
Two TV title tournament matches took place at the first show on NJPW’s Battle Autumn tour. Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Alex Zayne to advance to the next round, while David Finlay also advanced by defeating Yoshinobu Kanemaru.
Sabre and FInlay will face off in a second-round match on Thursday, October 27.
The NJPW World Television Championship was unveiled at NJPW’s Declaration of Power event this month. The title “highlights the bond between NJPW and TV Asahi, and the continued growth of NJPW World.” The inaugural champion will be crowned at Wrestle Kingdom 17 on Wednesday, January 4, 2023.
NJPW World TV title matches will have a 15-minute time limit. Tournament matches are also being contested under those rules.
If a tournament match ends in a draw, there will be a coin toss to decide the winner.
The TV title tournament continues on Saturday with Jeff Cobb vs. YOSHI-HASHI and EVIL vs. Aaron Henare in first-round matches. The full list of first-round matchups is listed below:
- Zack Sabre Jr. defeated Alex Zayne (October 14)
- David Finlay defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru (October 14)
- Jeff Cobb vs. YOSHI-HASHI (October 15)
- EVIL vs. Aaron Henare (October 15)
- SANADA vs. Taichi (October 16)
- Hirooki Goto vs. KENTA (October 16)
- Tomohiro Ishii vs. Ren Narita (October 26)
- Toru Yano vs. The Great-O-Khan (October 26)