Several title matches announced for NJPW Destruction tour

  • Ian Carey
  • By 

NJPW has announced several title matches for its upcoming Destruction tour. 

The two big events upcoming will be Destruction in Kobe on Sunday, September 24 from Kobe World Hall in Hyogo and Destruction in Ryogoku on Monday, October 9 from the Ryogoku Kokugikan. 

In Kobe, Will Ospreay will defend the IWGP United States Championship against Yota Tsuji in what will be the first singles match between the two. Also on that show, Bishamon will defend the tag titles against TMDK’s Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls, and Taichi defends the KOPW trophy against SHO.

G1 Climax 33 winner Tetsuya Naito will wrestle Jeff Cobb in Ryogoku as well. Cobb defeated Naito in the G1 Climax 33 group stage. Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan has also been scheduled for the show. 

Destruction in Kobe on Sunday, September 24 announced lineup:

  • IWGP United States Champion Will Ospreay defends against Yota Tsuji
  • IWGP Tag Team Champions YOSHI-HASHI & Hirooki Goto defend against Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls
  • KOPW2023 Holder Taichi defends against SHO
  • Tetsuya Naito vs. Jeff Cobb
  • Shingo Takagi vs. Great-O-Khan

As expected, SANADA will defend his IWGP World title against EVIL, who eliminated him in the quarterfinals of G1 Climax 33. That match will headline the show on October 9. Also on that show, David Finlay will defend the NEVER Openweight title against Tama Tonga. Tonga defeated Finlay in the G1 round-robin stage. 

Bullet Club’s Gabe Kidd and Alex Coughlin will defend the Strong tag titles in  Ryogoku as well, defending against former Bullet Club members El Phantasmo and Hikuleo. 

Destruction in Ryogoku on Monday, October 9 lineup:

  • IWGP World Heavyweight Champion SANADA defends against EVIL
  • NEVER Openweight Champion David Finlay defends against Tama Tonga
  • Strong Openweight Tag Team Champions Gabe Kidd & Alex Coughlin defend against El Phantasmo & Hikuleo

The Road to Destruction tour kicks off with two shows from Korakuen Hall on Friday, September 8, and Saturday, September 9. Full lineups for both shows have been announced. 

Zack Sabre Jr. will defend the NJPW World TV Championship against Boltin Oleg on the Friday show. The NEVER Openweight six man titles will be on the line the following night as Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, and Hiroshi Tanahashi defend against Tiger Mask, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Togi Makabe. 

Road to Destruction on Friday, September 8 lineup:

  • Taichi & SANADA vs. SHO & EVIL
  • NJPW World TV Champion Zack Sabre Jr. defends against Boltin Oleg
  • Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, & Tetsuya Naito vs. Callum Newman, HENARE, Great-O-Khan, & Jeff Cobb
  • Yuto Nakashima, Tomohiro Ishii, HIroshi Tanahashi, & Kazuchika Okada vs. Tiger Mask, Togi Makabe, Satoshi Kojima, & Hiroyoshi Tenzan
  • Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, & Hirooki Goto vs. Bad Dude Tito, shane Haste, & Mikey Nicholls
  • Oskar Leube, Master Wato, Shota Umino, & Yuji Nagata vs. Tomoaki Honma, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki
  • YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. DOUKI & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

Road to Destruction on Saturday, September 9 lineup:

  • BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi, Yota Tsuji, Shingo Takagi, & Tetsuya Naito vs. Callum Newman, HENARE, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb, & Will Ospreay in an Elimination Tag match
  • NEVER Openweight Six Man Tag Team Champions Tomohiro Ishii, Kazuchika Okada, and Hiroshi Tanahashi defend against Tiger Mask, Hiroyoshi Tenzan, and Togi Makabe
  • Yoshinobu Kanemaru, Taichi, & SANADA vs. SHO, Yujiro Takahashi, & EVIL
  • Boltin Oleg, Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI, & Hirooki Goto vs. Bad Dude Tito, Shane Haste, Mikey Nicholls, & Zack Sabre Jr. 
  • Tomoaki Honma, Master Wato, Shota Umino, & Yuji Nagata vs. Yuto Nakashima, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki
  • YOH & Ryusuke Taguchi vs. TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI
  • Satoshi Kojima vs. Oskar Leube