The first match is official for NJPW Resurgence.
NJPW announced Jay White will defend the NEVER Openweight Title against David Finlay on August 14 at NJPW Resurgence in Los Angeles. This will mark White's first NEVER Openweight Title defense. He won the title from Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestling Dontaku 2021.
NEVER Championship match first official bout for LA card
The first match to be made official for Resurgence at the Torch at L.A. Coliseum on August 14 will see Jay White make his first defence of the NEVER Openweight Championship against David Finlay.
Jay White will be the first wrestler in history to be in IWGP US Heavyweight, IWGP Heavyweight and NEVER Openweight Championship matches on US soil. The bout will see the NEVER title defended in America for the first time since G1 Supercard in Madison Square Garden in 2019 when Jeff Cobb defeated Will Ospreay.
White nominated Finlay as his first challenger immediately after defeating Hiroshi Tanahashi at Wrestling Dontaku on May 3. Proudly boasting of his achievement to complete an incredible grand slam of NEVER and IWGP US, Intercontinental and heavyweight Championships, the Switchblade stated that his next goal would be to crush the dreams of Finlay, after being shown up during the New Japan Cup.
Finlay’s victory over White during the spring tournament was one of the biggest shocks of 2021 to date. The match snapped a ten match losing streak for Finlay against the current NEVER Champion, and coming in the wake of he and Juice Robinson winning the IMPACT Tag team Championships, was part of a breakout spring for the Celtic Prince.
Can Finlay follow up on his New Japan Cup victory to secure his first singles championship as crowds return to matches in the US? Find out at Resurgence!
You can learn more about NJPW Resurgence by clicking here.
