Time Bomb defeats Taiji Ishimori in the Tokyo Dome. 

For the eighth consecutive year, Wrestle Kingdom saw a new IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion crowned, as Wrestle Kingdom 15 gave rise to Hiromu Takahashi’s fourth reign with the title. 

Adrenaline was running high for Takahashi in the semi main event of Wrestle Kingdom 15, with the spotlight at its brightest ever over the junior heavyweight title. Yet so was pain in the right hand of Takahashi, an injury that Ishimori exploited, together with expert work over the shoulder and legs to boot. 

When Takahashi charged up for a sprinting dropkick down the line of the entrance ramp, Ishimori picked his challenger out of midair, and so started a vicious assault to the Time Bomb. The relentless champion drove his challenger into exposed turnbuckle steel and attempted to force a Yes Lock submission to no avail. As frustration mounted, he would drive repeated elbows to Takahashi who repeatedly bounced back, only to be knocked down. 

Ishimori came within inches of victory with La Mistica into the Bone Lock, but Takahashi would perservere, reaching the ropes time and again. With what strength he had left, Takahashi landed a corkscrew Victory Royal and then Time Bomb II to win a match that would main event any building in the world. 

Knowing just that Takahashi made a declarative statement in victory, yelling for the world to see that the next step will be for the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion to be in the main event at the Tokyo Dome: time will tell.