NJPW reveals stipulation for Suzuki vs. Yano KOPW 2022 match
Polls to decide the stipulation for the KOPW 2022 match at Sunday’s NJPW New Year’s Golden Series event closed today, and the winning choice is set.
Minoru Suzuki will defend the provisional KOPW 2022 trophy against Toru Yano in a dog cage match. The only way to win is to lock your opponent inside a dog cage.
Polls were conducted on the NJPW and NJPW Global Twitter accounts, with Yano’s choice of a dog cage match beating Suzuki’s proposal of a handcuffs deathmatch by a 60.5 to 39.5 percent margin in the NJPW 1972 poll, and a 50.5 to 49.5 percent margin in the NJPW Global poll.
In totality, 22,099 votes were cast in the two polls.
【『#KOPW2022』ファン投票】
2月20日(日) 北海きたえーる大会
（KOPW保持者）鈴木みのる vs 矢野通（挑戦者）（A）鈴木みのる「手錠・デスマッチ」
（B）矢野通 「ドッグケージ・デスマッチ」
どちらのルールで試合が観たいですか？
※2月14日（月）昼12時締切#njgolden #新春黄金シリーズ
— 新日本プロレスリング株式会社 (@njpw1972) February 9, 2022
New Year's Golden Series #KOPW2022 Poll!
2/20 in Sapporo!
(A) Minoru Suzuki's rules:
Handcuff Deathmatch!
Each participant starts with handcuffs on one hand!(B) Toru Yano's rules:
Dog Cage Match!
Trap your opponent in a dog cage to win!Which do you want to see?#njgolden
— NJPW Global (@njpwglobal) February 9, 2022
Suzuki won the provisional KOPW 2022 at Wrestle Kingdom 16 night two in January, defeating Yano, Chase Owens and CIMA in a four-way to crown the first provisional title holder.
Sunday’s show will wrap up the New Year’s Golden Series tour. Here is the lineup:
- IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Kazuchika Okada (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito
- NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Championship: EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi & SHO (c) vs. Hirooki Goto, YOSHI-HASHI & YOH
- KOPW 2022 dog cage match: Minoru Suzuki (c) vs. Toru Yano
- Hiroshi Tanahashi, Togi Makabe, Yuji Nagata & Tomoaki Honma vs. SANADA, Shingo Takagi, Hirmou Takahashi & BUSHI
- Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Great-O-Khan
- Tomohiro Ishii & Ryohei Oiwa vs. Taichi & DOUKI
- Robbie Eagles, Tiger Mask & Yuto Nakashima vs. Taiji Ishimori, El Phantasmo & Jado
- Satoshi Kojima, Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru & TAKA Michinoku