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WILL OSPREAY VACATES IWGP WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP AND MORE FROM JAPAN

New Japan Pro Wrestling

Will Ospreay has vacated the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship due to a neck injury sustained on the second night of Wrestling Dontaku on May 4.

Ospreay has returned to England for treatment and rehabilitation and there is no timetable for his return. New Japan’s official statement can be read here.

Ospreay defeated Kota Ibushi to win the IWGP World Heavyweight Championship at Sakura Genesis on April 4, becoming the second person ever to hold the title. He made one successful defense in his reign against Shingo Takagi on May 4 (when the neck injury happened) and was set to attempt his second defense against Kazuchika Okada at the second night of Wrestle Grand Slam on May 29 in the Tokyo Dome until the show was postponed.

New Japan has announced the full card for its show on May 22 in Nagoya Congress Center Event Hall. It will be New Japan’s first show since May 4 due to the extended state of emergency in Japan. There was also an outbreak of COVID-19 on the roster, with nine positive tests publicly announced.

The full card for the show is:

• YOSHI-HASHI vs. Yota Tsuji
• Chase Owens and Gedo vs. Hiroyoshi Tenzan and Master Wato
• Hirooki Goto and Tomohiro Ishii vs. SANADA and Tetsuya Naito
• Great-O-Khan and Jeff Cobb vs. Kota Ibushi and Tomoaki Honma
• BUSHI and Shingo Takagi vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi and Ryusuke Taguchi

Dragon Gate

Dragon Gate will hold its fifth King of Gate show tomorrow in Sapporo ii One Stadium.

The full card is:

• Don Fujii and Yasushi Kanda vs. Kota Minoura and Shun Skywalker
• Bokutimo Dragon and Ultimo Dragon vs. Genki Horiguchi and Ryo Saito
• King of Gate C block: Kaito Ishida vs. U-T
• BxB Hulk, Diamante, Eita and H.Y.O vs. Dragon Kid, Keisuke Okuda, Problem Dragon and YAMATO
• King of Gate B block: SB KENTo vs. Susumu Yokosuka
• King of Gate B block: Jason Lee vs. Kzy

Going into the show, the current King of Gate standings are:

A block
1. Kota Minoura (3-0 record): 6 points
2. Takashi Yoshida (3-1 record): 6 points
-. BxB Hulk (3-1 record): 6 points
4. Diamante (3-2 record): 6 points
5. Naruki Doi (1-4 record): 2 points
6. Ben-K (0-5 record): 0 points

B block
1. Dragon Kid (2-1 record): 4 points
2. Susumu Yokosuka (1-0 record): 2 points
3. Eita (1-1 record): 2 points
-. Kzy (1-1 record): 2 points
-. SB KENTo (1-1 record): 2 points
6. Jason Lee (0-2 record): 0 points

C block
1. YAMATO (2-0-1 record): 5 points
2. U-T (1-0 record): 2 points
3. Kaito Ishida (1-1 record): 2 points
-. Shun Skywalker (1-1 record): 2 points
5. Keisuke Okuda (0-1-1 record): 1 point
6. H.Y.O (0-2 record): 0 points

All Japan Pro Wrestling

All Japan Pro Wrestling will hold a show tomorrow in Shin-Kiba 1st Ring.

The full card is:

• Izanagi vs. Kuishinbo Kamen
• Baliyan Akki, Francesco Akira and Yoshitatsu vs. Black Menso~re, Koji Iwamoto and Takao Omori
• Atsuki Aoyagi and Yuma Aoyagi vs. Shigehiro Irie and Zeus
• Kento Miyahara and Rising HAYATO vs. Shuji Ishikawa and Yuko Miyamoto
• Koji Doi and Kuma Arashi vs. Ryuki Honda and Shotaro Ashino
• Dan Tamura, Hikaru Sato and SUWAMA vs. Hokuto Omori, Jake Lee and TAJIRI

All 16 competitors for this year’s Jr. Battle of Glory tournament will be announced at the show.

GLEAT

GLEAT uploaded Masato Tanaka versus Soma Watanabe onto its YouTube channel today. The full match can be watched on the attachment below.

 

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