Two championship matches and unique rules in Kagoshima
April 28 will see night one of Satsuma no Kuni in Kagoshima. As NJPW ventures to the old Satsuma principality, the first of two nights of action will see the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships as well as provisional KOPW 2021 status, at stake.
Watch Satsuma no Kuni live or in English on demand with NJPW World!
Main event: IWGP Junior Heavyweight tag Team Championships- Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) vs Suzuki-Gun (El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru)
Direct tag record: 5-4 Roppongi 3K
Headlining night one of Satsuma no Kuni, Roppongi 3K defend the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag Team Championships against El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru in a rematch from Sakura Genesis. There, YOH returned to action after months away with a torn ACL, and used his new finish the Direct Drive to pin Kanemaru, starting Roppongi 3K’s fifth tag title reign.
With that victory, RPG3K are in rarified air; only the Young Bucks, with seven reigns, have won IWGP junior gold more times than SHO and YOH. Yet their challengers remain critical. El Desperado has long been vocal about 3K’s shortcomings, arguing constantly that the team is less than the sum of its parts. As if to prove the point, he and Kanemaru have set about consistently working over both the champions during the Road to Dontaku cards, mainly targeting YOH’s surgically repaired knee. Flashes of brilliance have seen the champs pick up sporadic advances, including a Five Star Clutch pinfall victory for YOH over Kanemaru in Korakuen Hall, but for the most part the CHAOS team has been on the back foot heading into Kagoshima.
Could April 28 see a junior tag title change in Kagoshima for the first time in the 23 year history of the belts? If so, it would make El Desperado a double champion once again, as he counts down to May 4 and a defence of the singles junior heavyweight gold against YOH. Should the champions retain however, it would be the next stop in a mysterious ‘grand plan’ for the titles that SHO has alluded to in his post match comments. What does the future hold for the two teams and the titles they’re fighting over?
5th Match: KOPW2021 Creation of Darkness Blindfold Match- Toru Yano vs EVIL
Singles record: 3-1 EVIL
In the semifinal spot on April 28, Toru Yano makes his second defence of the KOPW 2021 trophy against EVIL in a Creation of Darkness Blindfold Match.
Since the concept of KOPW was created last summer, Yano has not lost a single one of the stipulation filled matches. Winning the KOPW 2020 title, and going straight on to hold the KOPW 2021 status since Wrestle Kingdom, Yano has defended his King of Pro-Wrestling status in a variety of rules. With an array of talents so diverse that his is the longest ring introduction in professional wrestling, Yano brings equal adaptability to the range of environments that KOPW presents. When it comes to EVIL however, his trophy might be in the most danger yet.
Yano might have claimed his first victory over EVIL during G1 Climax 30, but when the two were paired up again during the New Japan Cup, EVIL found his weakness. Yano is deeply traumatized by the dark, and when the lights were turned out for Yano in Korakuen hall, EVIL was able to cruise to victory. In response, Yano decided to put EVIL in the dark with the aid of a blindfold, and the first ever Creation of Darkness Blindfold Match.
The match will begin with a blindfold placed on each of the four ringposts. In order for either Yano or EVIL to pin, submit or otherwise defeat their opponent, they must first place one of the hoods over their head. Only by putting an opponent in darkness first can you claim victory; will EVIL get a taste of his own dark medicine, or will the King of Pro-Wrestling be dethroned?
4th Match Los Ingobernables De Japon (Shingo Takagi, Tetsuya Naito, SANADA & BUSHI) vs United Empire (Will Ospreay, Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb & Aaron Henare)
Los Ingobernables De Japon and the United Empire have been locked together through the Road to Dontaku tour, and meet again in eight man action on April 28. Shingo Takagi and Will Ospreay’s battle for the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on May 4 is fast approaching, and things will only continue to escalate tonight. Meanwhile, two days after singles battles in Hiroshima, fallout will definitely be in the air between Tetsuya Naito and Great-O-Khan, and Aaron Henare and SANADA, while Henare and Jeff Cobb will be looking to make a mark before tomorrow’s main event against Hiroshi Tanahashi and Kota Ibushi.
3rd Match: Ryusuke Taguchi, Master Wato & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs BULLET CLUB (Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori & Gedo)
With May 3 and Wrestling Dontaku night one fast approaching, Hiroshi Tanahashi will be wrestling Gedo on NJPW World for the last time tonight before the Blacksmith’s blade Jay White will return to challenge for the NEVER Openweight Championship. The Ace will be partnering with a solid tandem in Team One or Eight- Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato- each of whom having previous with Taiji Ishimori in the opposite corner, while Yujiro Takahashi just enjoys stirring whatever pot he happens to be adjacent to. An intriguing balance indeed for this six man.
2nd Match: Suzuki-Gun (DOUKI, Zack Sabre Jr. & Taichi) vs BULLET CLUB (Jado, Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa)
Suzuki-Gun and BULLET CLUB’s six man battles continue tonight in Kagoshima. Only a few grains of sand remain in the hourglass before Tanga Loa and ZSJ collide with Dangerous Tekkers tag team championship careers at stake, while Taichi and Tama Tonga risk life for an iron limb in the Iron Fingers From Hell ladder match May 3. Monday in Hiroshima, Tama Tonga laid out Taichi with a ladder to draw a DQ while Tanga Loa connected with Apesh*t on ZSJ. What does Satsuma no Kuni have in store?
1st Match: Tiger Mask & Gabriel Kidd vs Yota Tsuji & Yuya Uemura
Kicking off the action, Tiger Mask joins Gabriel Kidd to take on the Noge Dojo prospects Yota Tsuji and Yuya Uemura. The tough teacher Tiger Mask will be looking to impart some characteristically strict lessons as the action starts in Kagoshima!
