In our live coverage of today’s event, Corey Michaels wrote of the match:
“What a hoss fight. I almost got a headache just watching them trade headbutts. Their craniums are going to hurt in the morning. I wish Henare had more title defenses, but I’m always down to see Takagi with gold.“
After a successful title defense, new challengers are waiting impatiently for Tetsuya Naito… and Shingo Takagi!
Zack Sabre Jr. vs Naito is official, but what lies beyond?
Takagi was also involved in an interesting segment after his LIJ stablemate Tetsuya Naito defeated Great-O-Khan in the main event. Zack Sabre Jr, who will challenge Naito at King of Pro Wrestling, came out to confront the champion. However, so did Takagi, who made it clear he wants a shot at Naito’s belt too. New TMDK member Ryohei Oiwa came out as well and issued a challenge to Takagi for the NEVER Openweight title, which was later made official for King of Pro Wrestling. Naito would say he’ll decide on possible challenges from Takagi as well as another of his teammates, Hiromu Takahashi after he defeats ZSJ.
This is the fifth time Takagi has won the NEVER Openweight title, tying Hirooki Goto for second all-time behind Tomohiro Ishii, who has won the title six times. Takagi holds the record for most combined title defenses with 8, while Ishii holds the record for most combined days as champion with 514.
Other notes from NJPW Destruction in Kobe:
With Naito successfully defending the IWGP World title against Great-O-Khan in the main event, it confirms that Zack Sabre Jr. will challenge him for the belt at King of Pro Wrestling on October 14. Naito, ZSJ, Takagi, and Oiwa were involved in a post-show segment that set up the two matches for King of Pro Wrestling.
Hirooki Goto, fresh off a win over Gabe Kidd, came out to challenge Global Champion David Finlay after Finlay successfully defended his belt against YOSHI-HASHI in the semi-main event.
After the IWGP Junior Heavyweight title match, Sho attacked DOUKI and demanded a future title shot.
El Phantasmo returned and helped Tanahashi, Yano, & Oleg retain the 6-Man titles by fending off House of Torture
Ryohei Oiwa was revealed as the newest member of TMDK
NJPW Destruction in Kobe results —
Tetsuya Naito (c) defeated Great-O-Khan for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship
David Finlay (c) (with Gedo) defeated Yoshi-Hashi for the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship
Shingo Takagi defeated Henare (c) for the NEVER Openweight Championship
DOUKI (c) defeated Yoshinobu Kanemaru (with Yujiro Takahashi and Dick Togo) for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship
Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano, and Boltin Oleg (c) defeated House of Torture (EVIL, SHO, and Yujiro Takahashi) (with Dick Togo) for the NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championship
TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr., Kosei Fujita and Ryohei Oiwa) defeated Just 5 Guys (SANADA, Taichi and Taka Michinoku)
Hirooki Goto defeated Gabe Kidd
Los Ingobernables de Japón (Yota Tsuji, BUSHI, and Hiromu Takahashi) defeated United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Callum Newman, and Francesco Akira)
Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi, and Dragon Dia defeated Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma, and Tiger Mask
Updated lineup for NJPW King of Pro Wrestling on October 15:
IWGP World Heavyweight Champion Tetsuya Naito defends against Zack Sabre Jr.
NEVER Openweight Champion Shingo Takagi defends against Ryohei Oiwa
