Stacked lineup sees title bout, two farewells
As Summer Struggle moves on, August 1 will see a big time lineup in Korakuen Hall. The NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag team Championships will be on the line in our main event, while things will get emotional in our opening two bouts, as Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura have their last matches before excursion.
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Main Event- NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Championships: CHAOS (Tomohiro Ishii, Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI) vs Suzuki-Gun (Minoru Suzuki, Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi)
Headlining on August 1 will be the NEVER Openweight 6-Man tag team Championships. This potential eighth defence for CHAOS sprung from the post IWGP Tag Team Championship match scenes at the Tokyo Dome on July 25. As Dangerous Tekkers celebrated regaining the tag gold from Tetsuya Naito and SANADA, Hirooki Goto and YOSHI-HASHI hit the ring.
Goto and YOSHI-HASHI challenged the Guerrillas of Destiny earlier in 2021, and though they fell short, their consistent smooth teamwork in NEVER 6 defences have kept them a formidable team. Evidently the two feel the same way, and called their shot to challenge the new champs, with a challenge for the NEVER titles held to sweeten the deal.
With YOSHI-HASHI and Goto set to join Naito and SANADA as challengers in a tag team three way on September 5 in the MetLife Dome, we now also have this NEVER 6 title match set, as Minoru Suzuki will join ZSJ and Taichi. Every NEVER Openweight 6-Man title match has been an instant classic that has electrified Korakuen Hall this year, and this should be no different. With the tag team champions joined by the King in Minoru Suzuki, are the titles under greater threat than ever before?
4th Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Shingo Takagi, SANADA & BUSHI) vs BULLET CLUB (EVIL, Dick Togo & Yujiro Takahashi)
After two nights of four on four action, LIJ meet with BULLET CLUB in a trios match tonight. EVIL, Yujiro Takahashi and Dick Togo have shown how effective they are as a unit when it comes to taking down one man- Tomohiro Ishii, who only saw defeat at the hands of EVIL in Nagoya last week after all three were involved- but how will they do against three, including the IWGP World heavyweight Champion? We find out Sunday.
3rd Match: CHAOS (Toru Yano, SHO & YOH) vs BULLET CLUB (Chase Owens, Taiji Ishimori & El Phantasmo)
CHAOS and BULLET CLUB collide in the third match of the night. Toru Yano and Chase Owens continue to count down toward their September 4 KOPW 2021 clash, while former junior heavyweight tag champions Roppongi 3K will battle with the team they lost their titles to in El Phantasmo and Taiji Ishimori.
2nd Match: Yota Tsuji vs Tetsuya Naito
Yota Tsuji’s last match before heading on a long awaited excursion will be long awaited in its own right. For months Tsuji has campaigned for a singles match with Tetsuya Naito, going as far as to launch his own social media campaign, only to be snubbed by El Ingobernable. Now though, he finally gets his dream match; the question is whether his dream opponent will be impressed, or will Naito shut down the young Lion in his last bout in black tights?
1st Match: Kazuchika Okada vs Yuya Uemura
Kicking off the night, Yuya Uemura will have his own graduation match, as he faces Kazuchika Okada. Over a decade ago, it was Hiroshi tanahashi wrestling a promising Young Lion named Kazuchika Okada to prepare for his excursion and return as the Rainmaker. Will tonight be a similar clash of present and future megastars? It’s an unmissable way to kick off the action Sunday!
