Wrestling

New NEVER Openweight 6-Man Tag Team Champions Crowned At NJPW Summer Struggle

Eight teams entered a tournament to crown NJPW’s next NEVER Openweight Six-Man Tag Team Champions and one has finally emerged, reigning supreme.

Entering night eight of the Summer Struggle tour, it was known that the CHAOS stable would walk away with the titles, given that the two teams in the finals are from CHAOS, but no one knew which group would win. In the end, the group spearheaded by YOSHI-HASHI, Tomohiro Ishii and Hirooki Goto defeated Kazuchika Okada’s group that also had SHO and Toru Yano to win the titles.

This is pretty much new territory for the YOSHI-HASHI/Ishii/Goto triumvirate as both Goto and YOSHI-HASHI have never held those titles. This goes double for YOSHI-HASHI as this is the first title he has ever won in his 12-year pro wrestling career. Ishii has technically held the six-man titles before when he won it back at Wrestle Kingdom 12, but he, alongside Beretta and Yano, dropped the titles to Bullet Club the very next day at New Year Dash.

The titles were declared vacant less than two weeks ago due to current IWGP Heavyweight and Intercontinental Champion EVIL, the first man to hold those two singles titles and the six-man titles simultaneously, defecting to Bullet Club and no longer willing to defend the latter title with his former Los Ingobernables De Japon stablemates BUSHI and Shingo Takagi. 

The YOSHI-HASHI/Ishii/Goto group’s journey to the titles started on August 7 with a win over the team of Ryusuke Taguchi, Tomoaki Honma & Togi Makabe in the quarterfinals, followed by a win over the team of Master Wato, Kota Ibushi & Hiroshi Tanahashi in the semifinals on August 8.

For full results of NJPW Summer Struggle night 8, click here.

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