NJPW 49th Anniversary Show title match challenge accepted

New IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion El Desperado will challenge Kota Ibushi for both of his titles at New Japan’s 49th Anniversary Show later this week.

After Ibushi successfully retained the IWGP Intercontinental title on tonight’s Castle Attack show against Tetsuya Naito, Desperado came out, sporting his new IWGP Junior title that he had won in the co-main event. He brought up that he had challenged for the Junior title against Ibushi back in 2014 in Osaka, and now he wanted to challenge Ibushi for both of his championships. Ibushi accepted .

Recent anniversary shows have featured the IWGP Junior Heavyweight champion challenging the IWGP Heavyweight champion to a non-title match. Last year’s match was supposed to feature then Junior champion Hiromu Takahashi challenge then Heavyweight champion Tetsuya Natio. However, that event was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 49th NJPW Anniversary Show will take place on March 4, this Thursday, at Budokan Hall.