This morning's New Japan Pro Wrestling Power Struggle saw the status quo change a bit.
EVIL become the new IWGP NEVER Openweight Champion after defeating Katsuyori Shibata to win the title. The Los Ingobernables member spent some time in Ring of Honor last year before returning to New Japan Pro Wrestling. You can check out the finish of our show coverage below.
Evil then hits Shibata with a modified tiger driver for another near fall, Evil goes for the STF and Shibata counters with an STF of his own. The wrestlers get into a striking exchange while they are on their knees, the wrestlers stand up and continue the striking exchange. Shibata locks Evil in the sleeper hold and he nails him with a sleeper hold suplex afterwards, Evil rolls out of the ring and Shibata throws him right back in. Evil rolls back out of the ring and he nails him with the title belt when Shibata goes after him, Evil brings Shibata back into the ring and he wraps his head in a chair. Evil then hits Shibata with a second chair, Evil hits Shibata with a fisherman buster suplex on a chair for a near fall. Evil then hits Shibata with the STF to get the three count.
This is Evil's first title reign in NJPW.
The 33-year old Bushi also enters his first NJPW championship reign, as he defeated KUSHIDA to become IWGP Junior Heavyweight Champion. Bushi joins Evil and Tetsuya Naito as Los Ingobernables members to currently hold titles in the company. You can see the end of the match from our show coverage below.
Bushi catches Kushida with a kick to the face, Bushi sets up for the Code Breaker and Kushida counters into the Hoverboard Lock. Bushi quickly counters that into the guillotine choke, Kushida gets to the ropes and Bushi nails him with another Code Breaker for the near fall. Bushi nails Kushida with a middle rope Code Breaker for another near fall, Bushi misses a top rope dive and Kushida cracks him in the back of the head afterwards. Kushida tries removing the mask of Bushi before getting into another forearm strike exchange, Bushi then hits Kushida with a flip pile driver for a near fall. Kushida then hits a diving Bushi with a Code Breaker to get a near fall of his own, Kushida backs up and then he kicks Bushi right in the face. Kushida applies the Hoverboard Lock and Bushi eventually taps out after a long struggle.
Elsewhere on the show, Roppongi Vice defeated ACH & Taiji Ishimori to win the Super Juniors tag team tournament. You can see our full show coverage at this link. A reminder, we have live viewing parties for all major NJPW shows on NJPW World.
