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TONS OF NEW JAPAN NEWS, DDT RETURNING TO KORAKUEN, DRAGON GATE AND MORE FROM JAPAN

New Japan Pro Wrestling

The IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship will be officially unified to create the new IWGP World Heavyweight Championship this spring, New Japan Pro Wrestling announced today.

Kota Ibushi will be recognised as the first holder of the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship and his first defense of the new title will be against the winner of the New Japan Cup at Sakura Genesis on April 4 in Ry?goku Kokugikan.

Ibushi’s final defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship will be against El Desperado at New Japan’s Anniversary Event on March 4 in the Nippon Budokan.

Sugabayashi initially said it would be a non-title match, but Ibushi specifically asked to put the two titles on the line for one last match during a press conference today.

The match will be Ibushi’s third defense of the IWGP Heavyweight Championship and fourth defense of the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.

Additionally, the match will be the first time El Desperado has challenged for either the IWGP Heavyweight Championship or IWGP Intercontinental Championship. It is very rare to see a junior heavyweight wrestler challenge for the either title. Prior to the introduction of the double title concept, the last time it happened was when Prince Devitt (now Finn Bálor in WWE) challenged Kazuchika Okada for the IWGP Heavyweight Championship in July 2013.

El Desperado and Ibushi have a history together. When El Desperado returned from excursion at Wrestle Kingdom 8 in 2014, he challenged Ibushi for the IWGP Junior Heavyweight Championship. Ibushi retained the title against El Desperado at The New Beginning In Osaka a month later and it remains their own singles match to date.

The match will be the second time El Desperado has headlined the Nippon Budokan in three months. He lost to Hiromu Takahashi in the Best of the Super Juniors final on December 11 in the legendary arena.

Tokyo Sports’s article on the unification news can be read here.

New Japan also announced the full field for this year’s New Japan Cup and the full card for its Anniversary Event.

The full field is:

Top left bracket
• Jeff Cobb vs. Satoshi Kojima
• Great-O-Khan vs. Tetsuya Naito
• Bad Luck Fale vs. Toru Yano

Bottom left bracket
• Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi
• Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo Takagi
• Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomoaki Honma
• Juice Robinson vs. KENTA

Top right bracket
• Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Will Ospreay
• Gabriel Kidd vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• Yota Tsuji vs. Yuji Nagata
• SANADA vs. Tomohiro Ishii

Bottom right bracket
• Chase Owens vs. David Finlay
• YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi
• Jay White vs. Toa Henare

The top left bracket and bottom right bracket only have three first-round matches because EVIL and Hiroshi Tanahashi both have first-round byes.

EVIL was given a bye because he won last year’s New Japan Cup. He will face the winner of Jeff Cobb versus Satoshi Kojima.

Tanahashi was given a bye because he holds the NEVER Openweight Championship. He will face the winner of Jay White versus Toa Henare.

Cobb versus Kojima and Great-O-Khan versus Tetsuya Naito will take place at the Anniversary Event. The full card for the show is:

• DOUKI, Minoru Suzuki, Taichi and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Gabriel Kidd, Hirooki Goto, Master Wato and Tomoaki Honma
• Chase Owens, EVIL, Jay White, KENTA and Taiji Ishimori vs. David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi and Toa Henare
• BUSHI, SANADA and Shingo Takagi vs. Kazuchika Okada, SHO and Tomohiro Ishii
• First round match (top left bracket): Jeff Cobb vs. Satoshi Kojima
• First round match (top left bracket): Great-O-Khan vs. Tetsuya Naito
• IWGP Heavyweight Championship and IWGP Intercontinental Championship: Kota Ibushi (c) vs. El Desperado

The full cards for the rest of the New Japan Cup first round is:

March 5 in Korakuen Hall
• DOUKI, Minoru Suzuki and Zack Sabre Jr. vs. Gabriel Kidd, Tomoaki Honma and Yuya Uemura
• Chase Owens, EVIL, Taiji Ishimori and Yujiro Takahashi vs. David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Tiger Mask and YOSHI-HASHI
• Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Will Ospreay vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan, Master Wato and Satoshi Kojima
• First round match (top left bracket): Bad Luck Fale vs. Toru Yano
• First round match (bottom right bracket): Hirooki Goto vs. Taichi

March 6 in Ota City General Gymnasium
• Chase Owens, Jay White and Taiji Ishimori vs. David Finlay, Toa Henare and Yuya Uemura
• BUSHI, SANADA and Tetsuya Naito vs. Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Will Ospreay
• First round match (bottom right bracket): Minoru Suzuki vs. Tomoaki Honma
• First round match (bottom right bracket): Juice Robinson vs. KENTA
• First round match (bottom right bracket): Kazuchika Okada vs. Shingo Takagi

March 7 in Aimesse Yamanashi
• Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura
• Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb vs. Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma
• Dick Togo, EVIL, Jay White and KENTA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Ryusuke Taguchi and Toa Henare
• BUSHI, SANADA, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, SHO and Tomohiro Ishii
• First round match (top right bracket): Gabriel Kidd vs. Zack Sabre Jr.
• First round match (top right bracket): Hiroyoshi Tenzan vs. Will Ospreay

March 9 in Sandan-ike Park Gymnasium
• Bad Luck Fale, EVIL and Yujiro Takahashi vs. Toru Yano, YOSHI-HASHI and Yuya Uemura
• Gabriel Kidd, Satoshi Kojima and Tomoaki Honma vs. Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Will Ospreay
• Chase Owens, Gedo, Jay White and KENTA vs. David Finlay, Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson and Toa Henare
• BUSHI, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada and SHO
• First round match (top right bracket): Yota Tsuji vs. Yuji Nagata
• First round match (top right bracket): SANADA vs. Tomohiro Ishii

March 10 in Sandan-ike Park Gymnasium
• Bad Luck Fale, Dick Togo, EVIL and KENTA vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Juice Robinson, Toru Yano and Yuya Uemura
• Great-O-Khan, Jeff Cobb and Will Ospreay vs. Satoshi Kojima, Tomoaki Honma and Yuji Nagata
• BUSHI, SANADA, Shingo Takagi and Tetsuya Naito vs. Hirooki Goto, Kazuchika Okada, SHO and Tomohiro Ishii
• First round match (bottom right bracket): Chase Owens vs. David Finlay
• First round match (bottom right bracket): YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yujiro Takahashi
• First round match (bottom right bracket): Jay White vs. Toa Henare

The full tournament bracket can be seen on the tweet attached below.

New Japan has also announced the return of the New Japan Cup USA in April. KENTA won the inaugural tournament and defended his IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship challenge rights certificate against Jeff Cobb, Hiroshi Tanahashi, David Finlay, Brody King and Satoshi Kojima until his long-awaited match against Jon Moxley could finally take place.

Two qualifying matches for the tournament will take place on this week’s episode of NJPW STRONG. The DKC will face Tom Lawlor while Lio Rush will face Rocky Romero.

DDT Pro-Wrestling

DDT Pro-Wrestling has announced the full card for its show on March 14 in Korakuen Hall as well partial cards for its March 19 show in Nagoya and March 20 show in Osaka.

The announced cards are:

March 14 in Korakuen Hall
• Hideki Okatani vs. Toi Kojima
• Daisuke Sasaki and Mad Paulie vs. HARASHIMA and Toru Owashi vs. Konosuke Takeshita and MAO vs. Yuki Iino and Yukio Naya
• Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship: Antonio Honda, Saki Akai and Saki Akai’s photo book vs. Danshoku Dieno, Keigo Nakamura and Young Bucks’ autobiography
• Jun Akiyama and Makoto Oishi vs. Kazusada Higuchi and Yukio Sakaguchi
• DDT Universal Championship: Yuki Ueno (c) vs. Yusuke Okada
• KO-D 6-Man Tag Team Championships: Akito, Kazuki Hirata and Shota (c) vs. Soma Takao, Tetsuya Endo and Yuji Hino
• DDT Extreme Championship: Shunma Katsumata (c) vs. Chris Brookes

March 19 in Nagoya
• Mad Paulie, Soma Takao and Yuji Hino vs. MAO, Shunma Katsumata and Yuki Ueno
• Chris Brookes, Keigo Nakamura and Kazusada Higuchi vs. HARASHIMA, Jun Akiyama and Makoto Oishi

March 20 in Osaka
• Keigo Nakamura trial series: Keigo Nakamura vs. Maku Donaruto
• Konosuke Takeshita and Yuki Ueno vs. Mad Paulie and Yuji Hino
• Jun Akiyama, Makoto Oishi and Yusuke Okada vs. Kazusada Higuchi, Toi Kojima and Yukio Sakaguchi

Saki Akai’s photo book versus the Young Bucks’ autobiography is quickly turning into one of wrestling’s hottest rivalries and the two books will face off in a six-man tag team match for the Ironman Heavymetalweight Championship on March 14.

Dragon Gate

Dragon Gate will begin its Glorious Gate 2021 tour in Mercure Hotel Yokosuka tomorrow.

The full card is:

• Bokutimo Dragon, Masaaki Mochizuki and Ryo Saito vs. Jason Lee, Kagetora and Shachihoko Boy
• Ben-K and Dragon Kid vs. Kenichiro Arai and Ultimo Dragon
• Eita and H.Y.O vs. Keisuke Okuda and YAMATO
• Diamante and Kaito Ishida vs. Kota Minoura and Shun Skywalker
• BxB Hulk, Diamante, HipHop Kikuta and SB KENTo vs. Genki Horiguchi, Kzy, Susumu Yokosuka and U-T

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