Hiromu Takahashi Stripped Of His IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title – Tournament To Crown New Champion Announced

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion Hiromu Takahashi suffered a serious injury last month during his title defense at the NJPW G1 Special in San Francisco. Takahashi suffered a broken neck after being on the receiving end of a phoenixplex from Dragon Lee. Takahashi was able to fight through the injury and somehow finished the match and successfully defended his IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship.

Following the match and news of Takahashi’s injury, speculation began as to what would happen to the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Title with Hiromu reportedly set to miss at least a year of in-ring action after breaking his neck last month. The uncertainty is no more, as NJPW announced a decision on the future of the IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship yesterday.

It was announced during NJPW’s Destruction Press Conference that the company has been forced to strip Takahashi of his belt as he is not able to medically compete and defend his title. As a result, NJPW announced Four-Man Tournament to crown a new IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Champion. The tournament will feature the matchups of KUSHIDA vs. BUSHI; and Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay, with the winners of each match facing off in the finals to crown a new champion.

KUSHIDA vs BUSHI will take place on September 23rd as part of the NJPW Destruction event, while Marty Scurll vs. Will Ospreay will be featured as part of the NJPW Fighting Spirit Unleashed event on September 30th from the Walter Pyramid in Long Beach, California.

The winners from the two matches will face off in the finals which will be announced at a later date.

 
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