Destruction in Kobe (September 29) Full card, preview
Stacked lineup in Kobe World Hall
After a gripping tour of title action and packed houses, including a long awaited return to the north in Hokkaido, the Road to Destruction makes its final stop in Kobe World Hall on September 29, with five championship matches and a surprise in store from TMDK!
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Main event: IWGP World Heavyweight Championship: Great-O-Khan vs Tetsuya Naito
Singles record: 2–1 O-Khan
Our main event sees the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship on the line when Tetsuya Naito defends against Great-O-Khan.
It’s the first chance for O-Khan to challenge for the richest prize in professional wrestling, earned with a victory over the champion during G1 Climax 34. As the Dominator reasserted his claim during the tournament final weekend, Naito assented, and the title match was made for Kobe.
Both O-Khan and United Empire have been on a tremendous upswing through the Road to Destruction tour. That’s brought the crowd on side as well, and O-Khan is expecting the fans in Kobe World Hall to be behind him as they were in nagaoka against the champion during the summer. Though Naito’s popularity is perhaps unsurpassable, he still excels in a hostile environment, and his mastery of the mind games is second to none. While O-Khan carries the physical edge over his championship competition, will Naito’s big match experience win out? Who will hold the title on the way to King of Pro-Wrestling and Zack Sabre Jr. October 14?
8th Match: IWGP Global heavyweight Championship- YOSHI-HASHI vs David Finlay
Singles record: 2–1 YOSHI-HASHI
After a shock tag team match victory at the end of the G1 Climac, YOSHI-HASHI is taking his shot at the IWGP Global Heavyweight Champion David Finlay in the semi main event. While falling short of the G1 Climax cut, the Headhunter made the most of his minutes in Ryogoku, and now has a shot at the Rebel.
Kobe is the site of key career moments for both Finlay and YOSHI-HASHI, for better and for worse. Two years ago, Finlay battled Will Ospreay over the IWGP United States Championship in a match that saw Finlay arrive as an aggressive competitor with the kind of ruthless killer instinct Gedo wanted for BULLET CLUB. Back in 2018, less fond memories for YOSHI-HASHI, who sprinted to the ring to assist a mugging from Jay White and Gedo on Kazuchika Okada as both turned their backs on CHAOS; YOSHI-HASHI tripped on the entrance ramp and sustained a humiliating injury that put him on the shelf for months.
It’s a poitn Finlay has used to mock his challenger for a match he’s in danger of taking too lightly; the War Dogs leader may forget that YOSHI-HASHI holds a 2–1 singles record over him. Will YOSHI-HASHI score his greatest career achievement to dispel the memories of his most painful moment, or will Finlay move to V2 in his second reign with the Global gold?
7th Match: NEVER Openweight Championship- Shingo Takagi vs HENARE
Singles record: 3–2–1 HENARE
Not one month after HENAERE retained the NEVER Openweight Championship against Hiromu Takahashi in a Korakuen hall thriller, he must defend the gold once more against the man he beat for it in the first place- the Dragon Shingo Takagi.
It’s the third encounter for these heavy hitters in 2024 alone; at Dominion the two battled to an epic double KO draw before the Uenuku headbutt saw the Face of Fury to his first ever NJPW championship in Sapporo one week later. The crowning achievement of HENARE’s career proved his Mana and warrior spirit not only to his fellow Moari but to his challenger tonight. Will Shingo begin his fifth reign as NEVER Champion, or will it be HENARE cementing his own title run?
6th Match: IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship- DOUKI vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru
Singles record: 1–0 Kanemaru
With a victory over Taiji Ishimori on September 11 in Sendai, DOUKI finally completed a hat trick of 2024 singles victories over the so called ‘Big Three’ of the junior heavyweight division- Hiromu Takahashi, El Desperado and Taiji Ishimori. With a win over the toughest of challengers on Ishimori’s home soil, DOUKI made sure that he could no longer be perceived as a ‘paper champion’- but that’s exactly what he would be called by Yoshinobu Kanemaru mere moments after his win.
A former mentor figure to DOUKI in both Suzuki-Gun and Just Five Guys, Kanemaru taught a lot to DOUKI before selling his allies out to join HOUSE OF TORTURE. Now, the Heel Master has called his shot in his second career challenge to IWGP Junior Heavyweight gold. Will he complete the grand slam of AJPW, GHC and IWGP junior reigns, or will DOUKI secure his second defence?
5th Match: NEVER Openweight 6 man Tag team Championships: Boltin Oleg, Hiroshi Tanahashi & Toru Yano vs HOUSE OF TORTURE (EVIL, SHO & Yujiro Takahashi)
September 14 in Noboribetsu, an emphatic main event win created the feel good sight of the NEVER Openweight 6 Man Champions Hiroshi Tanahashi, Toru Yano and Boltin Oleg retaining, while HOUSE OF TORTURE was forced onto the back foot. Still the group won’t back down though; SHO protested that the reason H.O.T lost was playing to the country town up north. Tanahashi said that if he wanted another shot so bad, he just needed to find two partners, and that is not a hard task in the House. Can the NEVER 6 man champions finally be rid of the mill around their necks that is HOUSE OF TORTURE?
4th Match: TMDK (Zack Sabre Jr., Kosei Fujita & X) vs Just Five Guys (SANADA, Taichi & TAKA Michinoku)
As promised by Zack Sabre Jr. in Korakuen Hall last week, a new member of TMDK will make their first appearance in Kobe World Hall at Destruction. The opposition for this new mighty trio will be three of Just Five Guys; after SANADA pinned ZSJ in Sendai, the two are set to meet in singles action October 20 in London, and SANADA wants to build more momentum at Sabre and the newcomer’s expense.
3rd Match: Hirooki Goto vs Gabe Kidd
The Mad Bastards team of Gabe Kidd and Jake Lee, formed during the closing phases of G1 Climax 34, were on the warpath during the Road to Destruction. It seemed, as they targeted Tomohiro Ishii through the early phase of the tour, that their next targets may have been former IWGP Champions and World Tag League threepeat winners Bishamon; with both men declaring intentions on IWGP Tag gold, it certainly felt like a decent path to Shane Haste and Mikey Nicholls.
Yet with Jake Lee on the shelf, at least for now thanks to an injury sustained in Sendai September 11, Kidd has set his sights on singles action instead. This first time ever bout with Hirooki Goto should be a gripping contest right up both men’s alleys, but who will come out on top?
2nd Match: Los Ingobernables De Japon (Yota Tsuji, Hiromu Takahashi & BUSHI) vs United Empire (Jeff Cobb, Callum Newman & Francesco Akira)
With a United Empire versus Los Ingobernables De Japon theme running all the way through the Road to Destruction, as six man tag in the tour closer tonight. With BUSHI, Tsuji and Hiromu having held NEVER 6 Man gold for a brief span early in the summer, and United Empire having more than enough talent across their trios combinations, might the winners of this match have something to say about the NEVER 6 Man bout later on?
1st Match: Yuji Nagata, Tomoaki Honma & Tiger Mask vs Shota Umino, Ryusuke Taguchi & Dragon Dia
In DRAGONGATE’s spiritual home of Kobe Word Hall, Dragon Dia hits the cerulean blue for the first time since Best of the Super Jr. 31 in our opener. He teams with the man who inspired him to his first NJPW victory in Ryusuke Taguchi and Shota Umino as they take on a trio of Hontai veterans to start of a red hot night!
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