Wrestle Kingdom 13 has its first and second title changes as Will Ospreay has defeated Kota Ibushi to win the NEVER Openweight Championship and Los Ingobernables de Japon have won the IWGP Junior Tag Team Championships. The highly anticipated bout opened New Japan Pro Wrestling’s climactic event and has set a high bar early in the night.
Ospreay has appeared to be slowly transitioning into the heavyweight division and took another step towards that with this victory. The two competed in a battle with plenty of aerial maneuvers and devastating strikes.
Ibushi busted his nose open when he went face-first off the ring post. Following that move there was some question about Ibushi’s well-being. Ospreay delivered a powerful forearm strike to the back of Ibushi’s head before putting him away with the Stormbreaker.
Kota Ibushi won the NEVER Openweight Championship from Hirooki Goto at the World Tag League Finals in December. This title change comes after the NEVER title changed hands a record six times in 2018.
BUSHI and Shingo Takagi won the Junior Tag Titles by defeating SHO & YOH and Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado. Desperado and Kanemaru held the titles for 304 days in 2018. Their reign was the second longest in title history, however their run was brought to an end by LIJ.
As Wrestle Kingdom 13 continues we will bring you updates on all the biggest news. You can follow along with the live coverage of the show here.
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