NJPW KOPW 2022 Stipulation Announced For 2/20 Golden Series Event, Card Change For 2/19
The stipulation is official for Minoru Suzuki and Toru Yano.
Suzuki and Yano will meet in a Dog Cage match on February 20 as part of the New Years Golden Series tour with the KOPW 2022 Provisional Trophy on the line.
The stipulation, which was picked by Yano, beat out Suzuki’s stipulation choice of a handcuff deathmatch in the fan vote.
Polling for the second KOPW 2022 match of the year saw Minopru Suzuki and Toru Yano propose a Handcuff Deathmatch and a Dog Cage Match respectively. After five days of polling saw 22,099 votes cast worldwide, the results are as follows:
Minoru Suzuki: Handcuff Deathmatch: 9015 votes (40.8%)
Toru Yano: Dog Cage Match: 13084 (59.2%)
A Dog Cage Match is now official for Sapporo on February 20. There will be no disqualifications, and the only way to win will be to shut your opponent inside a dog cage, and lock the door!
In other NJPW news, a card change has been made to the February 19 event. The tag team match between Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles vs. El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori has been changed to a four-way tag team bout with Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi and Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado added to the mix.
When new Year’s Golden Series in Osaka saw a pair of singles previews for next week’s scheduled IWGP Junior Heavyweight Tag team Championship clash, champions Flying Tigers emerged with a pair of wins, albeit with one coming via disqualification for Tiger Mask.
Yet the champions’ night was not over, as first Ryusuke Taguchi and Master Wato, and then El Desperado and Yoshinobu Kanemaru emerged to throw their at into the contenders’ ring. Desperado and Kanemaru insisted that as former champions, they should have a rematch, while Team Six or Nine, at Taguchi’s behest, said that they deserved a chance more than BULLET CLUB’s Cutest tag Team, after El Phantasmo was disqualified in the Tokyo Dome last month.
Robbie Eagles suggested a four way match, and that bout has now been made official for Sapporo, with the following card change February 19:
1st match
Kosei Fujita, Togi Makabe, Ryusuke Taguchi & Master Wato vs El Desperado, Yoshinobu Kanemaru, TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI ->
Kosei Fujita & Togi Makabe vs TAKA Michinoku & DOUKI
6th Match
Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles vs El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori ->
Tiger Mask & Robbie Eagles vs El Phantasmo & Taiji Ishimori vs Master Wato & Ryusuke Taguchi vs Yoshinobu Kanemaru & El Desperado
Meanwhile, after Yuto Nakashima received a blow to the head last week in Korakuen Hall, the decision has been made to remove him from cards for the remainder of the tour as a precautionary measure. The following change has been made to the next broadcast card in Korakuen Hall on February 15:
1st Match
Yuto Nakashima vs Great-O-Khan->
Kosei Fujita vs Great-O-Khan
We join fans in wishing Nakashima a speedy return to the ring.
You can find results from past NJPW events at Fightful’s results section.
