411MANIA | IWGP US Title Becomes IWGP Global Heavyweight Title at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18
The IWGP US Heavyweight Title will become the IWGP Global Heavyweight Title at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18...
411mania.com
New Japan Pro Wrestling has announced that the IWGP US Heavyweight Title will become the IWGP Global Heavyweight Title at NJPW Wrestle Kingdom 18. The match of Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay will crown the inaugural champion. This belt will not continue the lineage of the US belt and will instead replace. Ospreay was the US champion (before renaming it the UK title) until both of his belts were destroyed by Finlay.
Chairman Naoki Sugabayashi said in a statement: The IWGP US Heavyweight Championship came into being in July 2017 to mark NJPW’s first major event in the United States of America in Long Beach. After its introduction, it became the symbol of NJPW competition in the USA.
In the years that followed, the title would be defended in Japan, becoming familiar to Japanese fans as well. However, with the introduction of the IWGP UK Championship this summer, there was confusion among fans as to the status of the title.
With that in mind, this new championship combines and adds to the US and UK Championship roles, and will be called the IWGP Global Heavyweight Championship. As has already been discussed in a recent business strategy presentation, NJPW is working to ensure that 2024 sees our presence grow not just in the UK and the US, but throughout all of Europe, the rest of Asia and Oceania.
With a mindfulness on the international space, there was discussion of renewing the defunct IWGP Intercontinental Championship, but as we see an entirely new level of international involvement, the IWGP Global Heavyweight name was decided to be the most fitting. We hope fans look forward to seeing the brand new title and the matches contested for it.
As a result, January 4’s three way at Wrestle Kingdom between Will Ospreay, Jon Moxley and David Finlay will officially determine the first IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion. Thank you.”
