Kagoshima sees two titles on the line
As the Road to Dontaku rolls on, Kagoshima sees a special stop in the Golden Week tour, in the form of Wrestling Satsuma no Kuni. With the special event named after the historic name of the area during the Edo period of 1602 to 1871, a battle for the ages will see the KOPW title defended in the main event, as well as the IWGP Tag Team Championships on a stacked card.
Main Event- KOPW 2023 Championship Takagi Style Triad Match- Shingo Takagi vs Taichi
Singles record: 4-1 Takagi
Competitors must score any three of pinfall, submission, countout, knockout and stoppage to win.
The main event of the evening will see Shingo Takagi defend the KOPW 2023 title against Taichi. Shingo is ne year removed from his defeat of Taichi to take the KOPW 2022 trophy in a 30 count falls match; the two would have two more collisions over KOPW 2022 before the year was out, each one a hard fought and hard hitting war. Yet each one would see Taichi defeated, and the Holy Emperor has taklen his losses to heart as he approached Shingo again.
Taichi acknowledged that he didn’t have the right to call his shots against the Dragon, allowing the title holder to make a decision on the rules for tonight’s encounter without sending it to a fan poll. Takagi would have his choice of stipulation ready to go, and set up the first ever Takagi Style Triad Match. A follow up to the Ultimate Triad Match proposed by Aaron Henare in a thrilling Korakuen Hall defence, the Takagi style version requires three wins from a choice of five. Any three of pinfall, submission, stoppage, countout and knockout will get the job done, but will it be Shingo or Taichi walking out of Kagoshima with the gold?
8th Match: IWGP Tag Team Championships- TMDK (Shane Haste & Mikey Nicholls) vs Aussie Open (Mark Davis & Kyle Fletcher)
Tag record: 1-0 TMDK
Autralia carries with it a very rich tradition of tag team wrestling, but Kagoshima will see the first time in IWGP history that two Aussie teams will be doing battle over the Tag Team Championships. Mark Davis and Kyle Fletcher completed a physically and emotionally demanding journey to the top at Sakura Genesis when they captured the tag titles for the first time in their careers, and would double up just one week later, capturing STRONG Openweight gold in Washington DC. Yet getting to the front and staying there are two very different things.
Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls helped forge a path for Aussie Open through their work with TMDK over a decade ago. Their ascent in Pro-Wrestling NOAH created a pattern for Fletcher and Davis to follow, and when the two teams finally met during World Tag League, it was Histerical Shane and Mad Mikey that came out on top. Now at Satsuma no Kuni, will it be the start of a long relationship with gold for Fletcher and Davis, or a short affair ended by Nicholls and Haste?
7th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (BUSHI, Hiromu Takahashi & Tetsuya Naito) vs Just 5 Guys (Yoshinobu Kanemaru, DOUKI & SANADA)
After Hiroshima saw DOUKI and Tetsuya Naito, and Hiromu Takahashi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru, fallout in Kagoshima at Satsuma no Kuni, but more significant, a preview of Fukuoka’s main event on May 3. With Hiromu set to challenge SANADA for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship, one of the final previews in an intense tour for the Time Bomb and the champion as they head to a sellout showdown at Dontaku.
6th Match: Jado, Master Wato, Hikuleo & Tama Tonga vs BULLET CLUB (Gedo, Taiji Ishimori, KENTA & David Finlay)
BULLET CLUB is four days away from a tenth anniversary celebration at Dontaku. The annual May spectacular has seen a whole range of highs and lows for the group over the years, but David Finlay plans for his group of ‘savages’ to walk out of Fukuoka with both NEVER and STRONG Openweight Championship gold. Tonight in Kagoshima, a chance to make a definitive statement against May 3 opposition.
5th Match: Ryohei Oiwa, Togi Makabe, Tomohiro Ishii & Kazuchika Okada vs Yuto Nakashima, El Desperado, Ren Narita & Minoru Suzuki
With his NEVER Openweight 6 Man Tag Team Championship match against Strong Style fast approaching, will Kazuchika Okada finally have his team lined up by Saturday in Kagoshima? Time is running out for the Rainmaker, as he continues his pre title campaign at Satsuma no Kuni.
4th Match: TMDK (Kosei Fujita & Zack Sabre Jr.) vs United Empire (Great-O-Khan & Jeff Cobb)
The ongoing education of Kosei Fujita in TMDK sees a tough test in Kagoshima, as Ehime’s favourite son and former high school amateur star go up against two of the most formidable mat wrestlers in the game. Will the tekkers instilled by ZSJ see the two through, or will it be United Empire with hands raised mere days before Cobb challenges Sabre for the NJPW World TV title?
3rd Match: KUSHIDA, Kevin Knight & Tomoaki Honma vs United Empire (Francesco Akira, TJP & Aaron Henare)
Six man action will see fallout from Thursday’s IWGP Junior Tag Championship action in Hiroshima, as Catch 2/2 and the Intergalactic Jet Setters take to the ring. As well as ill feeling from the two teams emanating from their title bout, there may be added tension arising from the Best of the Super Junior lineup announcement as well.
2nd Match: Oskar Leube & Shota Umino vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL & Yujiro Takahashi)
Shota Umino enlists Oskar Leube in tag team action as they face the ever persistent dark force of HOUSE OF TORTURE. EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi. Pressure for BULLET CLUB members to make waves with the group’s tenth anniversary impending must surely spread in some sense to the H.O.T sub faction, and with David Finlay’s demands for ‘savages only’ a factor, it might be time for EVIL and Yujiro to step up their respective games.
1st Match: Bishamon (Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs Boltin Oleg & Toru Yano
Action kicks off with former IWGP Tag Team Champions Bishamon looking to get back up the rankings ladder. They find themselves opposite a CHAOS pal in Toru Yano, who makes an intriguing team of amateur success stories with Boltin Oleg as we get underway in Kagoshima.
